DEAL DEGROM?!?!
Bobby Jacob V says, while yes, Mets should ship Jacob while value is high
Former Mets manager Bobby Valentine thinks his old club shouldn't lose the opportunity to cash in on one of its most valued assets right now — starting pitcher Jacob deGrom — since the 2018 season is already sinking fast.
"I think they should trade deGrom," Valentine told the Daily News on Monday at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, N.Y., where former Yankees closer Mariano Rivera was hosting a charity golf event to benefit White Plains Hospital and Rivera's foundation.
Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said last week that the team is somewhere "in the middle" of the divide between teams that are going to be sellers and those that will be buyers at the trade deadline. But after getting swept by the Dodgers this past weekend to fall to 31-44, how much farther do the Mets have to fall to convince Alderson to make some deals?
Valentine says strike while the iron is hot if you've got a talent like deGrom, who turned 30 on June 19.
“I don't think they should trade (Noah) Syndergaard because he's not healthy and you can't get full value," said Valentine. "But (deGrom's) not going to ever have any more value. If you understand how to get value (back), the Mets need a lot of pieces, I think. He'll never have higher value over (age) 30."
Valentine wasn't ready to say the Mets need to do a full rebuild — "That's somebody else to make that determination," he said — but he said he thinks plenty of players on the current roster should be "nervous" about the fast-approaching trade deadline.
"Everyone except for maybe (Brandon) Nimmo and (Michael) Conforto," said Valentine, referring to the two young outfielders. "Maybe (just) Nimmo. Conforto's probably a little nervous. I don't know why he's not playing as well as he should. They can't trade (Syndergaard) now. They can't get high value. He has some ceiling. Last year he had high value at the end of the year. He's pretty damn good. But can't trade him now." Syndergaard, 25, is currently on the DL with a strained ligament in his right index finger.
Valentine said a big reason the Mets have slumped to 13 games below .500 (entering Monday's home game against Pittsburgh) is because their "X factor" — Cuban slugger Yoenis Cespedes — remains entrenched on the DL. Valentine wasn't prepared to say that Alderson and the Mets had made a mistake signing Cespedes to a four-year, $110 million deal before the 2017 season.
"He's a difference-maker. And you don't know how much of a difference, because you can't get these games back," said Valentine. "Cespedes has made it really tough on them. They know their players better than I do, I hope. They had him and signed him. They better know. I'll bet you they'd be .500 if he was playing. Five or six back (in the National League East), that's where they should be. I think they should be sellers if they knew more about the teams ahead of them. I'm not totally sold about all those teams are all that good — Atlanta and Philly especially."
Former Major League reliever Rob Dibble, however, said the Mets should hold onto deGrom, unless there was a trade scenario similar to what Yankees GM Brian Cashman pulled off two years ago, when he dealt relievers Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman to Cleveland and the Cubs, respectively. Each reliever yielded four players to the Yankees in return.
"God, no. That's the worst thing you could do (trading deGrom)," said Dibble. "Never trade pitching for hitting because there's not enough of it. If you're going to trade anybody, trade Syndergaard. DeGrom's too good to get rid of — too young, too good."