Both the Mets and right-handed pitcher Zack Wheeler agreed to circle back to each other before any signing decisions were made this winter…or so Wheeler thought.
“It was basically just crickets when I (circled back),” Wheeler told Greg Joyce of the New York Post Thursday. “Because it’s them. It’s how they roll.”
The 29-year-old spent seven seasons with the Mets (though he missed two after undergoing Tommy John surgery). In his last two, Wheeler really came into his own, putting up 8.9 fWAR in 2018-19.
The Georgia native cashed out this winter, signing a five-year, $118 million deal with the Phillies after reportedly not hearing back from the Mets, who only ever extended him a $17.8 million qualifying offer.
“Obviously everything starts at the top and it filters down,” Wheeler said, according to the New York Post. “Whether it be somebody’s fault or not, it starts at the top and goes down. Maybe the top gives them the OK but lower down they don’t want to do something. Or maybe up top, they don’t give you the opportunity to do something but everybody else wants to do it. That’s kind of how it was there at certain points. Everything was kind of jumpy because certain people would want something, others wouldn’t. I don’t think everyone was on the same page.”
The Mets decided to take a chance on starting pitchers Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha instead of courting Wheeler on a potential long term deal.
Mets’ general manager Brodie Van Wagenen responded to Wheeler’s comments on Friday, saying he felt “surprised” and “disappointed.”
“(Mets) helped him parlay two good half-seasons over the last five years into a $118 million,” Van Wagenen said according to Tim Healey of Newsday. “I’m proud of what our group was able to help him accomplish. I’m happy he was rewarded for it.”
