Atlanta Braves are scouting Mets starter Zack Wheeler
Trade rumors are starting to rumble through the league like thunder from a Summer storm… except that much of this seems media-driven so far.
The Atlanta Braves are monitoring pitching… their own, their prospects, their competitors. That will likely be the case for the better part of July.
But like sharks drawn to blood in the water, the writers around certain teams are already identifying potential targets – mostly on teams that are sellers-to-be.
Over the next couple of weeks, we’re going to look at some of these and try to figure whether they make sense for the Atlanta Braves.
Few – if any – of these potential trade targets have a cut-and-dried “yes” or “no” answer to them. There’s a lot to consider with each one, including team willingness, the price, the fit, and the long-term considerations.
Today we’ll start with Mets starting pitcher Zack Wheeler.
How will this leverage thing work?
As we enter the weekend’s action, the Mets have lost 8 of their last 10 games and are mired 4th place in the NL East.
Their plight is actually worst than that.
They have a new General Manager who boldly and famously pronounced his new club to be the ‘favorites’ to win the NL East last December:
Brodie Van Wagenen on 10/30 to Mike Francesa:
— Matt Ehalt (@MattEhalt) December 18, 2018
"Who in the National League East is going to beat us, and why?"
Brodie Van Wagenen on 12/18 to SNY
"Internally we would argue we’re the favorites in the division right now.”
From start to now, Brodie not fearing NL East foes.
Van Wagenen got this job, in large part, because he sold the owners that he could make the moves to bring this club into contention – that a rebuild was not needed.
Since June 12th, this club has gone 6-15 – worst in the National League.
- The closer they paid dearly for (Edwin Diaz) has crashed and burned on them [yeah – I wanted him for the Braves]. He’s likely about to lose that 9th inning role, too.
- Robbie Cano, brought in during the same deal, was expected to fade over time, but that time period was maybe 3 years (of the remaining 5 on his contract!). Instead it’s looking more like 3 months.
- Their usual array of bizarre and debilitating injuries continue to exasperate even the most optimistic Mets fan.
So now the media vultures are asking the questions…
The Mets have indicated to other teams that they want to wait a little longer before settling the buy-or-sell question. A lot of teams seem to be taking that approach, for now.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) July 4, 2019
That quote isn’t surprising by itself. The notion that the Mets could turn this around and stifle any “sellers” talk is.
The Metropolitans are 10 games under .500, in 4th place, and are staring at these realities coming up:
- Zack Wheeler, free agent at year’s end
- Todd Frazier, free agent at year’s end
- Juan Lagares, free agent at year’s end
- Yoenis Cespedes, still due $29.5 million in 2020
- Robbie Cano, still due $24 million each year through 2023
Of these, they have really just a single trade asset of any worth: right-handed starting pitcher Zack Wheeler. So the media’s interest probably isn’t misplaced.
Wheeler won’t be getting a Qualifying Offer and he’s going to be in some demand this off-season. He doesn’t have real ties to the New York area – move on that in a bit – and if the Mets were going to extend his stay… well, that chance for that opportunity has pretty well passed already.
The Mets almost have to trade him, and the longer they wait, the closer they will be to the ‘zero leverage’ line…. 4pm on July 31st.