RA. Dickey Trade Rumors Deserve Their Own Thread

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

I get it. I just wish some of these bitching teammates were as good about self-promotion-- like, say, putting their name in the paper-- when slagging a guy who's on the way out, with a Cy Young in his wake.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Sherman now saying that Gose is not part of the deal. Still waiting to hear from Peabody.

[nymr83]

The Mets are a non-contender. If they can trade a 38 year old with a two year track-record of pitching well for a prospect the caliber of d'Arnaud I think that's a deal that has to be made.

I hate to see Dickey go, but would I rather see him pitch well here for another non-playoff year? I think I'd rather see a good catcher behind the plate 5 years from now catching Wheeler and Harvey.

[ashie62]

Swan Swan H wrote: Sherman now saying that Gose is not part of the deal. Still waiting to hear from Peabody.

Good! Gose had 59k's in 189 AB with no power

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Rubin tweeted that one iteration of this deal had Thole going north and John Buck and a 19 year old pitcher named Noah Syndergaard coming back. May still be the case.

[ashie62]

I saw a tweet on Rotoworld from Jeff Passan that this may be morphing into a multiplayer trade on both sides.

If Thole goes wouldn't Arencibia have to be the C coming back? D'Arnaud is not 2013 ready with that knee I think.

[Edgy MD]

The Mets management spoke evil about Dickey?

[RealityChuck]

D'Arnaud is the big catch, but he won't catch for the Mets until at least midseason. Current rumors have Thole going to replace him; that leave the Mets with Mike Nickeas and whatever sub-.200 catcher still available as a free agent.

Is Hobie Landrith still available? Because without a catcher, you're likely to have a lot of passed balls.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Davidoff with the good, old-fashioned hit job. I'll take the baseball doubts about age, track record, risk, et al as legitimate factors, but the dark personality stuff? To quote one of my favorite comics, "Who cares?" If that's what it takes to win, then let every Met get a little self-absorption going and direct it as Dickey has. All smoke and mirrors. They don't want to pay him. Yeah, get the best package you can for him if that's the ultimate outcome. But the "oh, you know, he was an awful human being" smear job to win people over to their side is wholly unnecessary. Dick Young wrote the same heaping pile about another Cy Young winner in 1977.

And Sam Page just drank said hacker's sad fucking milkshake here.

The hell? How did we go from promoting the Mets as a contrast to the Yankees who made a decision based on a player's likability to this crap about Justin Turner being miffed he didn't get a chapter in Dickey's book? I hate to shatter anyone's illusions, but R.A. Dickey is an entertainer with a very entertaining story. Yea, he wrote a book and he did the things that most entertainers with memoirs do to promote them. And you know who was more than happy to promote Dickey's story up until today? Ken Davidoff and his colleagues. R.A. Dickey's story was profitable for both the New York media and R.A. Dickey for a long while, but now I guess it only suits one of them, so out you go... Our concern now is that that R.A. Dickey � nearly the only person or thing of any positive association with the Mets � is going to sabotage their brand? Memo to Mets Public Relations: Don't allow R.A. Dickey's heartwarming story of redemption and perseverance to sabotage your personal brand, which � as far as I can tell � is currently, "White-collar criminals mismanaging the public's money in order to destroy a cherished cultural institution."

[Frayed Knot]

RealityChuck wrote: D'Arnaud is the big catch, but he won't catch for the Mets until at least midseason.

What is your source for this?

[Frayed Knot]

Thumbnail sketches of D'Arnaud & the recently mentioned Syndergaard from John Sickels' site.
He rates them one-two among TBJ prospects - although Syndergaard probably jumped up a spot or three due to Gose's late season promotion and the prospect package sent to Miami for their starting roster.

1) Travis D'Arnaud, C, Grade A-: Borderline B+. He's not perfect, but D'Arnaud is either the best catching prospect in baseball or the second-best behind Mike Zunino. Could use a bit more polish with his throwing and his plate discipline, but overall he's the complete package.

2) Noah Syndergaard, RHP, Grade A-: Borderline B+. I love him. Strong sinking fastball, good changeup, breaking stuff coming around, solid command, good body, good makeup, strong sabermetric profile. Just needs to stay healthy.




Syndergaard turned 20 in August and was the 39th pick overall in 2010 out of a Texas high school. He pitched at low-A this past season so figure him probably for St Lucie in 2013 if this goes through.

[RealityChuck]

His career path. Most articles I've seen indicate he's not quite ready to jump to the majors, since his year in AAA was cut short.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

RealityChuck wrote: D'Arnaud is the big catch, but he won't catch for the Mets until at least midseason. Current rumors have Thole going to replace him; that leave the Mets with Mike Nickeas and whatever sub-.200 catcher still available as a free agent. Is Hobie Landrith still available? Because without a catcher, you're likely to have a lot of passed balls.

John Buck was reported to be in the deal.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Correct, Monk-- the most current offer, as per Mike Puma: Dickey, Thole, Player X for D'Arnaud, Buck, Syndegaard and Player Y. Collins is apparently lobbying Sandy for Gose's inclusion, but that-- to Puma eyes-- looks unlikely.

D'Arnaud did injure his PCL last June, keeping him out until almost the end of the AAA season.

[ashie62]

Probably none? Speculation based on fairly recent ACL Surgery I assume.

[Frayed Knot]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: D'Arnaud did injure his PCL last June, keeping him out until almost the end of the AAA season.

Right, but also avoided surgery and only missed the remainder of the season because it was already closing in on end of the season.

If he's not on the opening day roster through choice that's one thing, although he has had almost 800 PAs in the upper (AA + AAA) minors at this point.
I thought the implication was that the injury would keep him out.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

If the trade is as reported, the Opening Day starting slot would appear to be up for grabs between the youngster and Mr. Likes to F*ck.

[MFS62]

Eddie Coleman told Steve Somers that the deal might not be completed until tomorrow (Sunday) - a lot of moving pieces. Ed said he spoke to Thole and Josh said he has not been told about the deal (as in, he might be included).

Later

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Correct, Monk-- the most current offer, as per Mike Puma: Dickey, Thole, Player X for D'Arnaud, Buck, Syndegaard and Player Y. .

As of a few minutes ago Sherman is still reporting that this is the deal, with the qualifiers that Players X and Y are non-elite prospects and a few bucks may be heading south to cover Buck's salary.

[Guest Mets � Willets Point]

This isn't for real is it? The Mets are not really shipping off the Cy Young Award winner? Everyone on Twitter makes it sound like it's a done deal.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Part of it's that it appears to be more or less a done deal, but... well... I think I'm starting to come around on this (mandatory Really Awful mourning process aside).

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'd like it more if it came with an outfielder.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Given who they had/were apparently willing to give up, I think I'd rather have Syndergaard than Gose (in Den Dekker and Kirk, we've got two of that, no?).

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Agree with LWFS - Syndergaard (isn't that the screen you put up in front of the fireplace?) makes much more sense than Gose.

Some perspectives from the baseball pundits:

Buster Olney ?@Buster_ESPN
The broad perception in the industry is that if the Mets pull this discussed Dickey deal for d'Arnaud, it's an incredible trade for them.

Buster Olney ?@Buster_ESPN
Evaluators around MLB are beyond shocked TOR is talking about trading Travis d'Arnaud for a player with one year on his contract, Dickey.

Jon Heyman ?@JonHeymanCBS
rivals love d'arnaud/syndergaard combo for mets. not crazy tho. value sky-high for top SPs. $147M for zack, $80M for anibal

Adam Rubin ?@AdamRubinESPN
Still sources were adamant predicting for 2 weeks Dickey would return because they didn't figure they'd get overwhelmed. Looks like they did

[ashie62]

My only caveat is he missed time in 2010 with two bulging discs and this would be his third organization.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

Fair point on the back issue, but he will, if this happens, be the centerpiece of two deals for Cy Young winners. If anything that expresses value to me, not concern.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Given who they had/were apparently willing to give up, I think I'd rather have Syndergaard than Gose (in Den Dekker and Kirk, we've got two of that, no?).

Perhaps then the right idea is to use our growing collection of good young arms for an outfielder.

[RealityChuck]

Frayed Knot wrote: LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: D'Arnaud did injure his PCL last June, keeping him out until almost the end of the AAA season. Right, but also avoided surgery and only missed the remainder of the season because it was already closing in on end of the season. If he's not on the opening day roster through choice that's one thing, although he has had almost 800 PAs in the upper (AA + AAA) minors at this point. I thought the implication was that the injury would keep him out.

I saw that they get to control him an extra year if they wait until June to bring him up.

The Mets always rush prospects. It'd be better if they start out D'Artagnan in the minors and bring him up later.

[Edgy MD]

I think the notion that the Mets rush their prospects if overstated, and most of the evidence supporting it is left over from the Minaya/Bernazard era.

[Guest Swan Swan H]

The deal is agreed to in principle. Toronto now has 72 hours to agree to an extension with Dickey.