There have been grumblings in Mets nation as they sold two aces, a closer, and other daily bats. I’m here to tell you not to panic as a Mets fan. I will tell you why this will improve your Mets from a fantasy perspective and a real-life perspective. As always follow me on twitter (X?) at Ed Fingerhut (@TWS_Irish) / X (twitter.com)
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Out with the Old
The Mets, sinking out of contention, made a decision to sell. Most would have called this a fire sale, but I truly see this as something different altogether. It was almost like a real-life team playing fantasy baseball or a franchise on the show. The Mets weren’t going to win the division. The farm was bottom half of the league even with Mark Vientos and Brett Baty coming up. Here are the trades made by the Mets at the deadline and the system rankings for the new Mets prospects:
- Free agent David Robertson: 39—Marco Vargas #9 Mets
- Free agent Tommy Pham: 35—-Jermey Rodriguez Not Ranked
- Free agent Dominic Leone: 34—Jerimiah Jackson #22 Mets
- Free agent Mark Canha: 34—-For Justin Jarvis #15 Mets
- Free agent Max Scherzer: 2024 38—-For Luis Angel, Acuna #2 Mets
- Justin Verlander: 2024 or 2025 (vesting option) 40—-Drew Gilbert #4 Mets Ryan Clifford #6
- Eduardo Escobar: 2024 Club option—–Coleman Crow #16 Mets and Landon Marceaux 25# Mets
Scherzer has been hampered with injuries and is having trouble giving up the long ball as his two-seam baseball seems to be failing him in the twilight of his career. Verlander isn’t the pitcher he once was but who is at age 40? Robertson despite his career resurgence is still a middle reliever at age 39. Leone is low leverage. Canha and Pham at this point in their careers are bench bats at best. If you look at it this way, what are the Mets really giving up?
In With the New
The Mets added six prospects to their top 30 prospect rankings with the flurry of trades they had over the past week.
Most say they are giving up, but I don’t see it that way, not only as a fan but as a baseball mind. As mentioned above every player being shipped out has flaws with the most common flaw being age. It may not be the end for all these players but their elite days as fantasy options and real-life options are coming to an end.
Bringing in seven top 250 prospects, including two top 50 prospects is quite a haul without trading away Lindor, Alonso, Baty, Nimmo, or McNeil. The real core of the team is still here. Building from prospects is something the Braves and Marlins in their own division have done over the years equaling a ton of success.
Future
With the Mets leadership now seeing they can’t buy a title I think you see a more patient approach with building from within becoming a priority over buying older overpriced players. I personally have scouted and been high on Luis Angel Acuna for years and think with him and all the other prospects the future is bright.