Mets Reject Ian Desmond Trade With The Nationals
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – According to FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal, the Mets, Nationals and Rays recently discussed a three-team deal that would have brought a top-tier shortstop to Queens. The Mets would have received shortstop Ian Desmond, the Nats would have received Ben Zobrist and Yunel Escobar and the Rays would have received Mets prospects, Rosenthal reported. Trade talks broke down, however, when it came to which prospects the Rays wanted from New York. According to Rosenthal, the Rays wanted two top prospects from a list of three, including starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard. That price was too high for Mets general manager Sandy Alderson. Syndergaard, 22, is considered the Mets’ top prospect. It wasn’t reported which other prospects the Rays asked for. Desmond, 29, will be a free agent after the 2015 season. He would have been a clear upgrade over Wilmer Flores, who is projected to be the Opening Day starter. The 2012 All-Star batted .255 with 24 homers and 91 RBIs for the Nationals last season. The Rays ended up trading Zobrist and Escobar to the A’s on Saturday.
People have been chirping at me all day like “The Mets being the Mets, as per usual.” “Mets blow it again” etc etc. Like Ian Desmond is like Alex Rodriguez in his prime or something. I would have been absolutely livid if the Mets gave up Syndergaard and another prospect for Ian Desmond. I’m the first guy to call out the Mets for being cheap and timid but this is not the time. This was a good job by the Mets rejecting this deal. And this is coming from a guy who is fucking MISERABLE about the shortstop situation this team is stuck in. It makes me wanna puke that Wilmer Flores and Ruben Tejada are gonna be at short this year. 20-25 home runs coming out of the short stop position would be a dream come true right now. But not at the expense of a potential ace pitcher. I’m all for moving prospects for proven MLB talent, but giving up on Syndergaard – who at times arguably has shown the most promise of all these big arms – for a shortstop who batted .250 last year and is a free agent after 2015, is crazy. Knowing the cheap ass Wilpons they’d never open the wallet to re-sign this guy (again, in this case I agree, but the point still stands) so you’re essentially talking about Syndergaard and more for an OK shortstop rental. I think the Mets should actually be transitioning into Win Now Mode, but not at that cost.
If it was something like Montero for Desmond, now we’re talking. But all these teams know the Mets depth in the farm and they know the names they want. Every trade proposal is fucking absurd. They just rattle of names like deGrom, Wheeler and Syndergaard like it aint no thang. Its almost like the Mets cant make a move because every trade partner tries to hold them over a barrel. The Mets and their fan base need to be ready to part with some of these guys but they need someone to be realistic along with them for a trade to actually happen.