Adam Rubin of ESPN recently tweeted that he spoke to Hairston, and although Hairston doesn’t know who claimed him off of waivers, he figured it was the Arizona Diamondbacks.
There are two basic reasons why the Diamondbacks may have claimed Hairston – the first reason could be to block Hairston from being picked up by another NL West opponent – the second reason could be that they have an actual interest in Hairston. That second reason could also be significant for the Mets, and should have Mets fans clicking their heels.
If the Diamondbacks are genuinely interested in Hairston, it means that he could definitely be included in a package that could be used to bring Justin Upton to Flushing. The notion that the Diamondbacks GM Kevin Towers is willing to listen to offers on notions scares some people away. They think it raises red flags because why would anyone want to trade away such a talented player? The Mets shouldn’t bother asking those questions. The only question the Mets should be asking themselves is who they would have to include with Hairston in order to get Justin Upton in a Mets uniform…period.
Justin Upton is a Silver Slugger, two time all-star, and he is only 25 years old. The Mets should be willing to part with just about any of their prospects in order to bring in a player of his caliber. Prospects are unproven players who may never live up to potential – Upton is a proven player and the Mets should stop at nothing to get him. If the Diamondbacks are willing to part with Upton, there will be plenty of suitors out there, and with all the Mets needs in the outfield they should be one of them.
The problem with building a team from the ground up, which seems to be the direction the Mets are going, is that the prospects that are developing down on the farm may never turn into every day major league players. No matter how talented the player is, it’s somewhat of a crap shoot. That’s why certain teams seem to always be rebuilding. There are no guarantees that the top flight prospects will be able to take their game to the next level. So why wait two or three years to find out that the rebuilding has to start from scratch, because the prospects you were counting on didn’t pan out? When the opportunity arises, they should turn some of these prospects into a legit player that fills a need – in this case corner outfielder Justin Upton. We aren’t talking about a 30 year old outfielder here. Justin Upton has a lot of baseball left in him, has yet to reach his prime years, and is more of a sure thing than anyone in the Mets farm system right now. It seems like a no-brainer.
Right now, the talk about the Diamondbacks being interested in Hairston is merely speculation. Nobody knows for sure if it truly was the Diamondbacks that claimed Hairston off of waivers. Maybe we will never know. But it seems obvious that if it were true, the Mets should definitely entertain an offer that would include Hairston in bringing Justin Upton to the city that never sleeps. And wouldn’t it be funny if the Mets were the team that claimed Justin Upton off waivers?
Today is the last day for teams to make waiver trades and players will still be eligible for the post season roster. Also, as an FYI – the two teams can trade the principles and fill out the rest of the trade package with players to be named later without having to announce them until after the season.
