(more…)

Dickey’s two-year extension includes a $12 million option for the 2016 season.

5:25 PM: The trade has become official as Dickey officially passes his physical, tweets Andy Martino.

Sep 27, 2012; Flushing, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher R.A. Dickey (43) pitches during the second inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-US PREWIRE

1:56 PM: The glue holding the trade between the Mets and Blue Jays together was whether or not R.A. Dickey would agree to an extension with Toronto. Before both sides agreed in principle to a deal, rumors pointed towards the Cy Young winner not doing so. However, those rumors were squashed, and the two trade partners continued to move closer to a deal. It was announced yesterday that Toronto would have a 72-hour window to agree to an extension with Dickey, which would expire tomorrow at 2pm EST. MLB Trade Rumors reports they have agreed upon a two-year/$25 million contract for 2014 and 2015, pending a physical.

What was taking Sandy Alderson all winter to do, Alex Anthopoulos did in about a day. Obviously, we realize Alderson had his reasons for taking negotiations as slow as he did, but it’s kind of funny to see how quickly it came together with the Blue Jays and Dickey’s representation. It was rumored the knuckler may have been aiming for more than the $26 million he was asking from the Mets, but he elected job security over a richer contact, which isn’t surprising.

Dickey is already in Florida at the Jays’ spring training facility to undergo his physical before the extension and trade is made official. Buster Olney also tweeted that some of the $25 million he’s due will come in the form of a signing bonus, adding to his $5 million salary for 2013.

Barring with any unforeseen problems (maybe they’ll find out he has no UCL or something…), the deal will be made official and announced sometime later today. So, that means Dickey will head north of the border with his personal catcher, Josh Thole, along with a “non-elite” prospect (I wouldn’t want to be that guy now that they’ve labeled it as such) in exchange for top prospects Travis d’Arnaud and Noah Syndergaard, catcher John Buck, as well as another “non-elite” prospect and some cash to off-set Buck’s $6 million salary for next year.

As fans, it’s tough for us to take emotion out when deals like this happen. All weekend, I’ve been excited about the potential these prospects have, but sad because we’re not only losing a great baseball player, but a great person. We grow attached so easily to players on our favorite teams and it’s tough to watch them go. That connection with players is the reason why we love sports so much, and why it hurts when a player like R.A. Dickey gets traded, or when Jose Reyes leaves via free agency. Matthew Cerrone of MetsBlog hits it on the head in his coverage of this news, and I totally agree. Baseball is a business; if I were Sandy Alderson and I was approached with this kind of proposed trade, I would have taken it as well. Although the outfield still needs some fixing and the bullpen could still use some work, the New York Mets will have seemingly gotten better as a whole today.

However, it still sucks to watch a Cy Young pitcher and person leave because of it. Thank goodness he pushed Terry Collins to let him win #20 in front of the home fans.

Sep 27, 2012; Flushing, NY,USA; New York Mets starting pitcher R.A. Dickey (43) waves to the fans after recording his 20th win of the season in the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field. Mets won 6-5. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-US PREWIRE

The Mets Hot Stove is glowing a bright orange today.  A deal to trade the 2012 National League Cy Young award winner to the Toronto Blue Jays appears to be near complete.  The two main players involved are, of course, R.A. Dickey in exchange for the Blue Jays’ top catching prospect, Travis d’Arnaud.

As Tweeted by Mike Puma, there is the possibility the deal can expand to include as many as seven players.  This morning, Andy Martino Tweeted the Blue Jays are willing to include both d’Arnaud and outfielder Anthony Gose in a potential trade.   If Travis d’Arnaud is not included in the package, then catching prospect J.P. Arencibia becomes a strong candidate to be moved.

Toronto would like for such an expanded deal to be contingent upon them being able to sign R.A. Dickey to a contract extension.  Naturally, today has been filled with conflicting reports as to whether R.A. Dickey would be amicable to extending with Toronto.  This afternoon, Joel Sherman suggested Dickey’s reluctance to extend with the Jays might be what is holding up the deal.  But Andy Martino has stated otherwise.  And Jon Heyman also seems to agree Dickey might possibly sign with Toronto.

For the Mets, if they were to receive either of Toronto’s catching prospects, and land a center fielder in the way of Gose, they would have potentially addressed two glaring needs with perhaps two major league ready prospects.  The loss of R.A. Dickey would then leave the Mets trying to figure out their fourth and fifth starting options for next season’s rotation.  Along with R.A. Dickey, it is also rumored Josh Thole could be included in the trade.

This evening on ESPN New York 98.7fm, Adam Rubin suggested there remains a strong possibility the deal does not get done tonight.

Stick with Rising Apple tonight.  I’m on it.