Sources: Mets willing to bid Dark Knight farewell for reliever
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — With a very limited stash of prospects to draw from and limited payroll space, the Mets have talked about dipping into their strength of starting pitchers to address their needs heading into the 2018 season. In their searches for a second baseman, a difference-making reliever and insurance at first base and in the outfield, the Mets have talked to at least two teams about trading right-hander Matt Harvey this offseason, two sources told the Daily News.
“They are willing to move him,” one source said, “and they said they wanted to try and flip him for a reliever. They seemed more willing to move him then (Robert) Gsellman or (Seth) Lugo.”
Sunday night, the first of the annual MLB Winter Meetings, Mets GM Sandy Alderson said that no player in the organization is untouchable. The Mets, however, have made it clear to teams that Noah Syndergaard and Jacob de Grom are not on the table.
This isn’t just a surreptitious fall for the one-time Dark Knight to be dealt for a bullpen arm, but also an example of how competitive the market is when shopping for a reliever right now.
Sunday afternoon, before the Winter Meetings even began at the Disney Swan and Dolphin Resort, the Cubs locked up free agent set-up man Brandon Morrow, reportedly giving him a two-year deal. Another free agent reliever that the Mets could have used, Luke Gregerson, was signed by the Cardinals Sunday afternoon on a twoyear deal.
Alderson has been loath to give relievers’ multiyear deals, but he may have to bite the bullet on this to get a decent back-of-the bullpen arm to go along with Jeurys Familia, Jerry Blevins and A.J. Ramos. Dealing away Harvey, even if his value has dropped significantly from his 2013 All-Star season, could be one way to avoid too painful a hit to the payroll and to a farm system that Alderson admits is already thin on talent. “Right now our situation is as such, that our best players are our young players in the system. They are a long way away, might make them more attractive to trade, not going to benefit us very soon. On the other hand several of them have very high upsides,” Alderson said. “So, we’re just going to see how it plays out. We’ve made trades in the past that haven’t involved our top prospects. In his final year of arbitration, the Mets always planned to move Harvey at some point before he hit free agency in the fall of 2018. Now, however, it may be at his lowest value after two horrific years. After struggling in 2016, he was shut down in June with Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. He had surgery and missed the rest of the season. Harvey’s recovery from TOS surgery was slow and, because it’s a relatively rare procedure, it was a series of trial and error. After a humiliating team suspension early in the season when he failed to show up at the ballpark, Harvey’s season only got worse. He tried to pitch through a weak shoulder, ended up missing significant time and finished the season with a very humbling 5-7 record and 6.70
ERA.
Harvey will not be surprised if he ends up somewhere else. He knew he had put himself in a position where the Mets could consider trading him.
“That’s obviously not easy, I don’t want to leave the Mets, I don’t want to not play in New York, it’s not at all that I want to leave, but that’s the business,” Harvey told The News in August. “It’s kind of maturing and learning the ins and outs of baseball and realizing especially this year, seeing guys like Curtis Granderson, who loved playing here and who loved playing in New York, now he’s helping the Dodgers, you realize that’s always a possibility.
“I never wanted to imagine it would be, but with the injuries I’ve had and some of the other outside distractions that I have caused, which I am not proud of, it makes those decisions easier for management,” Harvey continued. “It sucks, but it’s the way it is. The only thing I can do is move forward and try to put myself in the best position to help this team win and whatever decisions they make, I will just have to deal with it.”
This week, the Mets are certainly willing to look into that possibility to see if they can make a deal for their future.