The first domino to prompt the New York Mets’ selling season could very well fall soon.
According to multiple reports this week, the Mets have discussed trading starting pitcher Zack Wheeler with the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.
The 29-year-old right-hander has regressed in 2019, posting a 6-6 record and 4.69 ERA in 19 starts. It’s a significant drop-off from the sterling second half he had last year in which he went 10-1 with a 2.06 ERA in his final 15 outings.
That plus stuff last year is what makes him one of the top pitching targets on the market as Major League Baseball’s trade deadline approaches at the end of the month.
Wheeler is a free agent at season’s end and is a prime trade candidate for a Mets team that should be in full sell mode.
However, the organization said it would use their opening series of the second half against the Miami Marlins as one final gauge of whether they should dismantle the team. The Mets are 40-50 through their first 90 games and 13.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East.
Given Wheeler’s impending free agency, the price isn’t expected to be all that high. However, the Mets could continue to build up their talent pool in a middle-of-the-road farm system.
Both the Yankees and Red Sox require starting pitching help for the second half of the season.
The Mets’ crosstown rivals recently got Domingo German back from injury but could use an established talent like Wheeler to provide another option for the shaky bottom half of the rotation.
JA Happ continues to struggle in 2019 as his ERA is at a bloated 5.02 while James Paxton and CC Sabathia carry marks over 4.00.
They have reportedly explored possible deals for the likes of Cleveland’s Trevor Bauer, Giants ace Madison Bumgarner, and Toronto’s Marcus Stroman.
Boston is in dire need of a consistent fifth arm to round out its rotation.
Behind Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, and Eduardo Rodriguez, the Red Sox have had six-different pitchers make starts due to Nathan Eovaldi’s right elbow surgery.
The Red Sox could be seen as a more plausible trade candidate considering Mets VP/assistant GM for scouting and player development, Allard Baird, and VP of player personnel, Jared Banner, worked with Boston in the past and know their farm system.
The problem is, Boston’s farm system is considered to be one of the worst in baseball. The Sox don’t have a single prospect ranked within MLB Pipeline’s top-90.
The Yankees have two in the top-100.
