BRODIE NOT SCARED OF UNPOPULAR DEAL

Mets GM unafraid of unpopular move

B RODIE Van Wagenen insisted he would be bold and unafraid in his quest to make the Mets winners in 2019 and into the future. His first major trade is showing just how fearless he is, because the move is being widely criticized in the industry and generally panned on social media by his fan base.

It is hard to assess a trade until all the details and explanations are complete, until subsequent maneuvers made possible by that deal are completed and until a few years go by to escape the hot take and learn for certain who won or lost. But in real time, the Mets were being brutalized. Even with a new administration, they seemed cast back into that familiar bubble in which what makes sense to them does not to the industry and public.

As of late Thursday night, the Mets and Mariners were in agreement on a trade that would bring Edwin Diaz, Robinson Cano and cash to offset part of the $120 million over five years still due Cano and send to Seattle Jay Bruce, Anthony Swarzak, Justin Dunn, Jared Kalenic and Gerson Bautista.

Physical review was still ongoing and Cano had to waive his no-trade clause — but that was considered likely since he is believed to badly want to escape Seattle and come back East, plus he would be joining a team led by his former agent, Van Wagenen, with whom he has an excellent relationship.

But already Thursday, Van Wagenen’s credibility and competence were being challenged.

As word circulated throughout the sport, the general tone from executives reached was that, unless Seattle were paying down the vast majority of Cano’s contract, the Mets were blundering. These executives saw the Mariners’ willingness to tie Diaz, a highly desirable commodity on his own, to Cano, and thus potentially lower Diaz’s value, as a sign of just how desperate Seattle was to unshackle itself from Cano. Translation: An acquiring team should have all the leverage.

The industry sees Cano as among the hardest-totrade players in the majors. Yes, he can still hit. But he is 36 at a time when teams have turned decisively against players in their mid-30s and older. He is signed through age 40. He had an 80-game suspension last year for violating MLB’s performanceenhancing drugs protocols. He is a low-motor performer. He would be going to a league without a designated hitter to give him a landing spot should he become a non-factor in the field.

Executives felt that if a team absorbed Cano — even if you do it in conjunction with Diaz — that club should either pay little of his remaining deal and/or give up little in prospect collateral. Kelenic is the Mets’ third-best prospect per MLB.com and Dunn is ranked their best pitching prospect.

Giving up the youngsters most distressed Mets fans, especially to acquire the former Yankee Cano, past his prime and after his PED suspension. So why was Van Wagenen so deep into doing this? First, it was not publicly known how much of Cano’s pact Seattle was eating. The Mets are essentially taking on $83 million over five years once the $37 owed Bruce and Swarzak is erased from their docket. Remove, say, another $23 million and the Mets are paying five years at $60 million — more than Cano would be worth on the open market, but something they could theoretically take on, especially if he performs well. Second, the Mets may not value the youngsters to the same degree as, especially, the fan base. Dunn, in particular, did not seem beloved internally by the Mets.

Third, Van Wagenen likes Cano and his baseball acumen, and still believes he has good years left. While Van Wagenen was still an agent, he helped negotiate the 10-year, $240 million pact that has five years remaining. Fourth, Diaz is worth a ton more than he will be paid. He has four years of control and is not arbitration eligible until after the 2019 season. Fifth, Van Wagenen really does want to win in 2019 and this trade — if completed — should upgrade the Mets. The Yankees, for example, traded their first-round picks of 2015, James Kaprielian (for Sonny Gray), and 2016, Blake Rutherford (for Todd Frazier, Tommy Kahnle and David Robertson) in July 2017 to go for it. Kaprielian and Rutherford have yet to give any indication they will haunt the Yankees and maybe the same will be true about Dunn and Kelenic for the Mets.

Diaz becomes the anchor closer for the Mets, allowing Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo to work as set-up men. And perhaps the Mets will still add a free agent such as Adam Ottavino or Robertson. Cano, assuming there is not a severe downturn after his suspension, should be an above-average performer for 2019-20.

Again, the full implications of a trade are not overt until all the details are revealed and time has elapsed. But in the moment the perception is Seattle’s wheeler-dealer GM Jerry Dipoto had prioritized getting rid of Cano and might not have had anything close to acceptable besides the Mets — even attaching Diaz to the trade.

That should have allowed the Mets to do more than just keep their top two prospects — Andres Gimenez and Peter Alonso — off the table.

But Van Wagenen has headed down this path defiantly, honoring his promise not to be concerned by the New York microscope. His honeymoon may be short because of that. But ultimately he will not be judged by the popularity — in the industry or among the fan base — of a trade in real time. He will be judged by if he was right or not.

The bold GM is not playing safe, not at all.