WASHINGTON — The Mets’ talented and deep pitching rotation remained intact through Tuesday’s non-waiver trade deadline, but that doesn’t ensure the unit will stay together for 2019.
In what could amount to kicking the can down the road for the next general manager, team officials declined to trade Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz or Zack Wheeler, and will use the next two months and beyond in an attempt to find a successful formula for next season.
“We’re interested in contending next year,” assistant general manager John Ricco said on a conference call before the Mets’ ugly 25-4 loss to the Nationals Tuesday night. “We want to build around the pitching we have and have a winning team and compete for a playoff spot next year. All we said [Tuesday] is there was no deal on the table that we thought made sense at this point in time. That does not say anything about how we are going to treat our assets heading into the offseason and how we are going to plan for next year.”
Also remaining with the Mets were Jose Bautista, Devin Mesoraco and Wilmer Flores, all of whom were potential trade pieces. The Mets’ pre-deadline action in recent weeks consisted of trading impending free agents Jeurys Familia and Asdrubal Cabrera to the Athletics and Phillies, respectively, for minor league players.
Trades can still occur if a player clears waivers, but it’s extremely unlikely such a deal involving a Mets starting pitcher would materialize. It’s generally easier to deal players in the offseason, Ricco said, because major league talent is more readily available. In the heat of a pennant race, contenders do not often subtract from their major league talent. And non-contenders are less likely to want a significant piece in season.
Wheeler had been the most likely of the starting pitchers to be traded, but Ricco and special assistants Omar Minaya and J.P. Ricciardi — who are overseeing the front office in the aftermath of GM Sandy Alderson’s medical leave of absence in June — set a high asking price on the 28-year-old righty that wasn’t met.
“In order to make a deal at this juncture, it was going to take a team to step up and pay a premium,” Ricco said. “We know the talent that we have, particularly on the pitching side, and we were not going to move those players unless it involved considerable talent coming back in our direction. While we had many offers and a lot of dialogue, we ended up not making a deal at this point through the deadline.”
Wheeler has pitched to a 3.20 ERA over his past 11 starts while displaying a 97 mph fastball for his most impressive stretch with the Mets. But interested teams, according to sources, were evaluating Wheeler on his total body of work and not just his recent surge.
And that total body of work included 2 ½ years on the disabled list beginning in 2015 because of Tommy John surgery and a stress reaction in his right arm.
“It’s nice to have all four of us stay together,” Wheeler said, referring also to deGrom, Syndergaard and Matz. “And hopefully compete this year and next year.
“I think we have a good core, maybe [lacking] a couple of pieces here and there. But I think if we stay healthy, obviously that is the biggest issue, I think we will be ready to do well next year.”
Alderson, who is battling recurring cancer, is unlikely to return, and team owners Fred Wilpon, Jeff Wilpon and Saul Katz are expected to go outside the organization after the season to hire a new GM.
But Ricco insisted the triumvirate running the front office had the authority to make a significant deal if one were available.
“We were not only given the opportunity, we were asked by ownership to be creative and open to all possibilities, including those type of impactful trades,” Ricco said. “We talked to really every club and explored those types of deals. We had the ability to do that and were looking into doing that.”
