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2 Mets Winter Meetings rumors we wish happened, 2 we're glad never did
The Mets would have looked much different if any of these rumors came true.
The New York Mets have not been shy of creating headlines from the winter meetings. This is when all thirty Major League Baseball general managers and every agency representing the players come together and negotiate with one another. Some moves occur right on the spot, while some are finalized in the weeks to proceed. The only guarantee that comes from the winter meetings is that Scott Boras will take his annual jabs at the Mets- and everyone will pretend he's funny.
The Mets have been in free agent and trade speculation every year at the winter meetings since they won the National League pennant in 2015. Much of that has had to do with the rise in expectations for the team to contend every season. Some of those rumors are also in consideration of Cohen's endless resilience to build a World Series contender. Some are in regard to the words of Brodie Van Wagenen, "We will win now, and in the future". Regardless of the offseason, baseball writers have had much to cover surrounding the Mets. Considering all of the rumors we have debated, which ones do we wish happened and which ones are we glad did not?
1. Trading Amed Rosario to Miami for J.T. Realmuto
Heading into the 2018-19 offseason, the Mets had a clear hole at catcher. Travis d'Arnaud was coming off of Tommy John surgery, and the tandem of Kevin Plawecki and Devin Mesoraco was ineffective. The Miami Marlins were still in a full rebuild having dealt Stanton, Yelich, and Ozuna the offseason prior, leaving just J.T. Realmuto as the last notable name on the team. He was without question the best catcher in baseball having hit for a .277 batting average with 21 home runs and threw out a whopping 38% of base stealers in 125 games.
Knowing Realmuto was on the trade block, rookie general manager Van Wagenen did everything he could to pursue him. Having just traded two of the organization's best prospects to the Seattle Mariners for Cano and Diaz, the Mets' farm system was depleted of high-end talent aside from Pete Alonso and Andres Gimenez. This meant Van Wagenen would either have to deprive the Mets of any talented prospects or trade a young major leaguer off the roster plus some mid-level prospects. The young major leaguer Miami requested was Amed Rosario.
Mets fans in 2018 were mixed on trading Rosario to the Marlins for Realmuto. On one hand, Rosario was coming off a disappointing 2018 where he hit .251 with 9 home runs and 16 errors at shortstop. On the other hand, Rosario was the second-best prospect in all of baseball and was still just 22 years old. In hindsight, the Mets would have maximized Rosario's value had they made this trade. He never lived up to his prospect expectation, while Realmuto would go on to win 2 gold gloves, 2 silver slugger awards, and earn MVP votes with the Philadelphia Phillies. Add this with Gimenez's development in Cleveland, the Mets should have made this trade in 2018.
2. Trading Noah Syndergaard to San Diego for prospects
There are very few topics that entire fanbases are in agreement on. In 2018, Mets fans agreed that Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard could not be traded unless ownership was completely 'blown away'. We were all disgusted with the Daily News back page cover that featured deGrom and Syndergaard in Yankees uniforms. Trading one or both of them would have signaled an early end to the 'Flushing Five' rotation the Mets had been building around for years.
The San Diego Padres tried to pry Syndergaard away from Van Wagenen and the Mets at the 2018 Winter Meetings. According to reports, the Padres were willing to talk prospects aside from their best at the time, Fernando Tatis Jr. This report turned every Mets fan off to the idea because Syndergaard meant more to us than just one or two top-tier prospects. Since the Padres never came forward with a proposal that blew Van Wagenen and the Wilpons away, the Mets never dealt Syndergaard.
In hindsight, the Mets should have dealt Syndergaard for other prospects in the Padres system. This deal could have included players such as MacKenzie Gore or Chris Paddack, both of whom have had inconsistent careers. Regardless, prospects can also be used as assets in other trades such as for Realmuto or Diaz with or without Cano. Syndergaard would also never be the same after 2018, only pitching one more full season for the Mets in 2019 where he had a 4.28 ERA in 197 innings pitched.
3. Trading Brandon Nimmo to Pittsburgh for Andrew McCutchen
The Mets were coming off an abysmal 2017, having finished with a 70-92 record after having World Series aspirations on opening day. At the trade deadline, Sandy Alderson traded away much of the roster including outfielders Jay Bruce and Curtis Granderson, meaning the Mets had holes to fill. The Pittsburgh Pirates were beginning a rebuild after trading Gerritt Cole to the Houston Astros. McCutchen was the definition of an "Alderson-type player"- he walked, struck out a lot, and hit 20-plus home runs a season. It made sense at the time for Alderson to be interested in the former MVP.
The Mets had only one notable prospect at the time in Gimenez. Rosario and Dominic Smith were viewed as the 2018 shortstop and first baseman by the organization, meaning the Mets had only one other young and upcoming player- Brandon Nimmo. Though he was solid when on the field in 2017, Nimmo could never shrug off the "injury-prone 4th outfielder" label. He had just played 69 games in 2017 and was highly underrated even though he hit .271 with 5 home runs.
This trade could have been amongst the worst trades in franchise history along with Tom Seaver and David Cone back in the 1970's and 1990's. McCutchen never regained his MVP form with the San Francisco Giants in 2018 and hardly played during his tenure with the Phillies. Nimmo has become a franchise Met, someone all the fans gravitate to. With all the criticism Alderson received in 2017 when he said, "We never considered Stanton because we have Nimmo", he ended up being correct about that decision.
4. Signing Ben Zobrist
Coming off their World Series appearance in 2015, the Mets had a multitude of areas they needed to improve upon. It felt unlikely the Wilpons would open the checkbook for Yoenis Cespedes and Alderson was never a big fan of Daniel Murphy. Alderson also wanted a versatile player who could hold down second base until then-top prospect Dilson Herrera was ready. The player that fit this bill best was Ben Zobrist.
Coming off a great postseason performance for the Kansas City Royals, Zobrist was targeted by many different teams. It was surprising given the Wilpon's lack of resources that the Mets were in strong pursuit. He did fit the team well given his versatility to play both the infield and outfield. It felt inevitable that the Mets would sign Zobrist to a contract but were unwilling to go the length of a 4-year contract, thus Zobrist signed with the Chicago Cubs.
Though Zobrist was the World Series MVP in 2016, the three seasons to proceed were not great for the Cubs. Zobrist would hit just .232 in 2017 and only appeared in 47 games in 2019. Had the Mets made this commitment, there is no guarantee the Wilpons allow Alderson to sign Asdrubal Cabrera, trade for Neil Walker, and retain Cespedes all in the same offseason. Given the lack of resources throughout the Wilpon era, the Mets were better off with the short-term contracts they did sign in 2015-16 rather than giving Zobrist the 4-year contract.
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