It took one day for ideal NY Mets offseason trade partner to nix a last-minute deal

A long MLB offseason can include enough twists and turns to give you vertigo. It’s easy to forget some of the hottest and heaviest New York Mets rumors of the offseason. Back in early December, we were looking at a variety of opportunities for the Mets and San Diego Padres to strike a deal.

The speculation went as far as to include Francisco Lindor going from New York to Southern California with an opposing suggestion of Fernando Tatis Jr. coming to the Big Apple. In all regards, it seemed to be a way for the Mets to add to their roster with the Padres subtracting from their payroll.

As the offseason progressed, the likelihood of a match for a trade seemed less plausible. The Padres didn’t cry poor, re-signing Michael King for a deal that’ll guarantee him at least $25 million for this coming year. The Padres have continued to spend money. Their latest additions aren’t quite as costly, Nick Castellanos coming on the league minimum and Griffin Canning for an unknown amount.

Patience paid off for the Padres who never needed to trade with the Mets after all

Two of the better perceived matches for the Padres in terms of a trade would have given San Diego a pair of players with some similarities to the two players they just picked up. David Peterson and Mark Vientos made a lot of sense for the Mets to subtract and the Padres to add. Peterson would’ve been a less costly starting pitcher they could have swapped for Nick Pivetta. Vientos, as an addition to that package with maybe a few more players involved as well, would’ve given them right-handed power out of the DH spot and a guy they could hold onto for a few more years.

Canning is coming off of a strong half-season with the Mets that ended unceremoniously with an Achilles injury. He has a lot to prove this coming year as a guy who’ll need to put it together for the length of a full year. Sound familiar? That’s what the Mets need from Peterson.

Castellanos and Vientos are similar players with the biggest difference on the field being their age. Vientos has a chance to rise. Castellanos is in a fall.

It didn’t take long for the Padres to link up with Castellanos after his divorce with the Philadelphia Phillies. Canning, meanwhile, had to wait until pitchers and catchers already reported to have someone believe in him. The circumstances with those two couldn’t have been much different, Castellanos cut from the Phillies because of behind-the-scenes issues more than his play on the field. Canning had to go into free agency with questions about his health and a career where he hasn’t quite put it all together.

If there was any thought of a last-second trade between the Mets and Padres, forget about it. San Diego was proactively patient and read the market well. They knew Castellanos could eventually get cut loose without having to give anything up. The Canning market never took off.