I know you’re frustrated. How could you not be?
After an 11-1 start, the Mets are five games under .500 a week into June. They are 7.5 games out of first place, and are looking up at two teams who were supposed to be rebuilding this year. (Phillies and Braves.)
Finding yourself six games out of the second wildcard spot in June isn’t ideal, but it’s not the end of the world. It goes way beyond the standings though. It’s how the team is playing now that has fans sick to their stomachs.
If you don’t count Zack Wheeler, the Mets have one player on the team hitting over .270 this season. They were just swept at home by the Baltimore Orioles, in a series where they scored one single run. Factor in the atrocious relief pitching, shoddy defense, and a complete lack of basic fundamentals and you’re looking at some very bad baseball.
The Mets just called up Jose Lobatòn (2 weeks after releasing him) and penciled Kevin Plawecki in the cleanup spot. Watching this team will make you crazy. Please don’t go insane though.
Facebook groups, Met group chats, #metstwitter, sports talk radio, newspapers etc… I hear the pleas to trade Jacob deGrom to facilitate a rebuild. I’m asking you, from one Met fan to another, to please reconsider.
If we continue this current downward spiral, we should sell. We have the Subway Series this weekend followed by a two game set in Atlanta. After that, we play four games versus the Rockies and Diamondbacks respectively. For all intents and purposes, the season could be over in 2 weeks.
Jeurys Familia, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jerry Blevins, Todd Frazier? Let them fly. If you can find someone who wants AJ Ramos I’ll jump for joy.
Jacob deGrom though?
I can sit here all day and give you insane Jacob deGrom stats. It’s not necessary. We’ll hear all those stats when he’s inducted into Cooperstown. Anyone who has seen him work out of a bases loaded jam knows what kind of pitcher he is. In his postseason début, when he beat Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke on the road, he let the world know he’s built to pitch in big games.
This is a guy you build around!
DeGrom will turn 30 in less than 2 weeks, which is why some fans think he should be dealt. I think they should extend him.
When Max Scherzer signed his monster deal at 30 years of age, he had thrown 20,954 pitches in his career. Jacob deGrom, to this point, has thrown 11,862 pitches! It’s important to remember that deGrom was a shortstop. We shouldn’t be surprised if he cruises into his mid-thirties.
He’s already had Tommy John surgery. He’s a slender and athletic pitcher. The data suggests that he will be effective, even as he begins to lose velocity later in his career.
Jacob deGrom is under team control for two more seasons. He is eligible to become a free agent after the 2020 season. The fact that he is only 4-0 this season with a 1.49 ERA is criminal. He is one of the only bright spots in what is quickly becoming an embarrassing 2018 campaign.
Can I talk you into 2019 though?
Amed Rosario and Brandon Nimmo (hopefully) enter next year having played everyday over the course of a full season. What if they continue to progress this year and break out next season? We hope that Michael Conforto’s struggles are entirely related to him missing spring training after his shoulder injury and he reverts back to his 2017 form.
Noah Syndergaard only pitched 30 innings last year. What if he gets his feet back under him over the course of this year, and reverts back to 2016 form next season? Steven Matz only pitched 66 innings last year, and had bone spur surgery this off-season. Zack Wheeler only pitched 70 innings last year after missing the entire 2015 and 2016 seasons. They’ve been fantastic lately. What if they continue to make strides and put it all together in 2019?
I’m not saying these are givens. It’d be foolish to make any predictions regarding Matz or Wheeler given their injury histories. I do believe in Nimmo and Rosario though. I don’t believe Conforto peaked in 2017, which was his first full season. I don’t believe Syndergaard peaked in 2016, which was his first full season.
Jacob deGrom is under team control through 2020. Let’s not give up one of our most valuable players a month into 2018 is what I’m saying.
The farm system is viewed as barren due to the lack of MLB ready talent. There are some studs. They just happen to be at the lower levels. Roberto Correa, who is well versed in these matters, believes that the Mets could potentially have up to five players listed as Top 100 prospects next year. Obviously, that remains to be seen, but the organization isn’t as bereft of talent as you might be led to believe.
Mets have pitching. Yankees need pitching.
With that being said, blogs need site traffic. Sports talk radio shows need listeners. Print media, which is evolving into digital media requires clicks. Stop feeding into it!
Might as well say it. The Wilpons are not giving deGrom to the Yankees. But for the sake of argument, let’s play along.
Like I said, I know this season is quickly becoming a dumpster fire for the Mets. Can we step back for a minute and remember where the Mets play? New York City. The biggest media market in the world. Just because Sandy Alderson is here doesn’t mean that we are in Oakland.
The Mets are the sixth most valuable franchise in baseball. They are valued at over 2 billion dollars. Instead of creating cheap click bait, and luring passionate fans into calling up the radio station with trade proposals, take the Met ownership to task! Hold them accountable. Ask why they aren’t putting a team around deGrom instead of rallying Met fans to give him to the Yankees.
But, believe me I get it. These companies have a bottom line, and they’ve found a formula. You can’t walk two feet without being bombarded with “trade deGrom” talk.
I get it. But Met fans- can you know your worth? We really want to gift wrap the Yankees a championship this year and a potential dynasty for a few prospects? And I have to say it again. Can you know your worth? When did we become the Yankee farm system?
Think about the pitchers who are going to be available at the trade deadline. An aging Cole Hamels? J.A Happ? Tyson Ross? Have you seen the trade proposals these Met “fans” have talked themselves into for deGrom?
Ronald Torreyes? Brandon Drury? Austin Romine? I feel like I’m taking crazy pills.
So, for a third time. Met fans know your worth! Here’s a hypothetical. This is going to require a lot of imagination. In fact it’s going to require a complete suspension of reality. But please, indulge me.
Imagine that the Yankees were playing like the Mets this year, and the outlook in the Bronx was bleak. Do you think Yankee fans would be clamoring to trade Luis Severino?
Heading into a season where the Yankees didn’t know if they would be able to compete, they acquired Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman. They were able to get a haul that year.
Heading into a season where the Mets said they were competing, they acquired Adrian Gonzalez and Jose Reyes. They won’t be able to get that haul the Yankees got. Unless of course, they do the unthinkable.
I do consider trading deGrom “the unthinkable.” I believe that if we got to that point, we’d be too far gone for the players our ace would net to help.
I’m thinking that if deGrom is in fact traded, it would be during the 2020 season. Obviously, that would mean that the front office failed to capitalize on the window we had by putting a championship caliber team around Jacob deGrom. Furthermore, it would mean that the front office is not interested in extending him.
Let’s just say, for the sake of argument, that trading deGrom nets three blue chip prospects. As these prized prospects make their way through the system towards Citi Field, it’ll be time to pay Syndergaard.
Fans love to think of the haul they’ll get by dealing deGrom. In that scenario for some reason, they block out the factors that would lead to a deGrom departure.
The main factors of course, would be poor roster construction from the General Manager (which we have currently) and an unwillingness from ownership to spend (which we have currently.)
Again, I know the team looks horrendous right now. Will trading deGrom make the Wilpons spend? I don’t see the correlation. In fact, I fear the opposite.
So, you’ve traded your future hall of famer and the prospects you’ve landed are with the big club. Have the Wilpons repaid their loans they took out against the team and SNY yet? I hope so. Because if not, those prospects might need “mentors,” and the roster might be filled with aging veterans making the league minimum.
I can see it now.
“Your 2022 New York Mets! At first base, Albert Pujols! Playing second base, Daniel Murphy!”
I’ve said all that to say this.
Yoenis Cespedes is signed through the 2020 season. Jay Bruce is signed through the 2020 season as well. Everybody else on the roster is either on a one or two year deal or under team control!
Everyone wants to compare our situation to the Yankees’ when they dealt Miller and Chapman. The Mets don’t have A-Rod, Teixeira and Sabathia contracts coming off the books, putting us in a place where we need a full rebuild. Believe it or not, the Mets are in a good spot. Whether they take advantage or not is the question.
In a nutshell, don’t trade deGrom. And if you do trade deGrom, it’s already too late.
Featured image credit: Jay McClure