‘GRAND’ TRADE SHIPS VET TO L.A.:
Curtis will be missed as he heads to L.A.
Players and coaches came out of the back rooms and made a beeline to the corner of the clubhouse, lining up to say their goodbyes to Curtis Granderson. The Mets veteran outfielder was hugging teammates and shaking hands as the front office was finalizing a deal to send him to the Dodgers Friday night.
In their on-going attempt to shed payroll and clear playing time for young players, the Mets sent the 36-year-old Granderson with cash to the playoffbound Dodgers for a player to be named later or cash considerations.
“It’s the first time that I’ve been moved during the course of a season,” said Granderson. “It’s been….a great four years here with the Mets organization. All of these guys have been amazing, getting a chance to talk to the coaching staff and the players up to this point, and possibly saying goodbye to these guys for a little bit. So it’s a little bittersweet to do that, but to get an opportunity to go and play into the postseason is gonna be exciting.”
And with that, the exodus from the Mets clubhouse of veteran players continued less than a week after the Mets sent Neil Walker to the Brewers. That was a few days after they had traded Jay Bruce to the Indians, which was shortly after the trade deadline when they sold off Lucas Duda and closer Addison Reed. The Mets are likely not done either. A source confirmed they were working on a deal to trade veteran back up Rene Rivera as well Friday night. The 32-year-old backstop was not in the Mets clubhouse after the game, but indications were the Mets hoped to move him and the remainder of his $1.75 salary before Saturday’s game with the Marlins.
After losing to the Marlins 3-1 in front of a pathetic crowd at Citi Field, watching yet another veteran leave the clubhouse was tough. As Granderson shook hands with young outfielder Brandon Nimmo, offering him some last minute advice, Michael Conforto watched from across the room and admitted it was hard to keep going through this.
“It’s like a punch in the gut,” Conforto said. “Especially with him. We spend every hour of every day together, we become very close. Anytime we see multiple guys, veteran guys, guys who have helped me get to where I am and all of us, all the young guys in here. I know Grandy has played a part in everybody’s developments. So it’s tough, it’s definitely tough.
“But you know the train keeps rolling,” Conforto said. “We still got a bunch of games and we’ve got to stay focused. But definitely, it’s not fun.”
It’s the right move for the Mets, who dropped their fifth straight game Friday night and fell 14 games below .500.
But it doesn’t make the process any easier.
“This is hard for these guys too,” the Mets manager said of watching teammates be sold off. “We came in, we started spring training with tremendous expectations and they all had them for themselves too. To all the sudden to look around there is new people everywhere. I think it’s a little bit of a culture shock for some of our guys.” But it wasn’t unexpected. Granderson was in the final year of a four-year, $60 million deal with the Mets. The 36-year-old had 19 home runs and 52 RBI in 111 games this season. Considered an outstanding leader in the clubhouse, the Mets were reluctant to move him this winter when they were looking to clear playing time — and payroll — in the outfield.
Now, however, the Mets are all about clearing payroll and giving playing time to their kids. They had already cleared room in the outfield for Conforto to play every day when they dealt Bruce, and Nimmo and Juan Lagares were getting more playing time over Granderson of late.
The Mets need to see if they can live with Lagares and Nimmo at center and Conforto and Cespedes at the corners in 2018.
So in that light, moving Rivera would make sense as well, giving the Mets a chance to evaluate what they will do with their catching going forward. They should bring up Kevin Plawecki as soon they can and get a good look to see if they can compete with the tandem of Travis G d’Arnaud and Plawecki next season. randerson was gracious in his exit. He praised the organization, his teammates, the manager and the fans.
For the guys left behind, however, after starting out with such high expectations, it was yet another punch in the gut for this season.