For weeks, as the Mets slogged along in a going-nowhere season, fresh trade rumors involving their young starters had become the norm. The question was no longer if General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen would start rebuilding but when the process would begin.
No scenario was unthinkable: Even the idea of swapping with the Yankees, whose rotation is in crisis, was credible.
On Sunday, things turned upside down as the Toronto Blue Jays agreed in principle to send Marcus Stroman, an All-Star right-hander, to the Mets for two top prospects, according to a person familiar with the details of the trade who was not authorized to discuss it publicly.
The deal caught much of baseball by surprise. The Yankees were said to be deep in talks for the dynamic Stroman, who is both familiar with the local market (he is a Long Island native) and on a notable hot streak (2.96 E.R.A. since May 11).
But the chances of Stroman’s landing in the Bronx collapsed when the Blue Jays reportedly asked for the right-hander Deivi Garcia, who is the Yankees’ No. 1 prospect and is currently at Class AAA. That allowed the Mets to swoop in Sunday after they had completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates at Citi Field with an 8-7 win.
A formal announcement of the Stroman trade is awaiting completion of physical examinations.
The cost to the Mets is said to be steep: Anthony Kay, a left-hander who was a first-round draft pick in 2016 and is the Mets’ most developed pitching project, as well as Simeon Woods Richardson, a right-hander who was the club’s second-round pick in 2018.
Although adding Stroman to their current staff would give the Mets a terrific starting rotation, executives from other teams believe that Van Wagenen has another move up his sleeve before Wednesday’s deadline: trading Noah Syndergaard as a way of replenishing the farm system.
Stroman was the most sought-after starter on the market. Now that he is a Met, the value of the remaining assets, like Syndergaard, will continue to tick upward. The haul for Syndergaard, whose contract is under club control through 2021, could be considerable.
The second possibility is dealing away Zack Wheeler, who will be a free agent after this season. But the Mets’ ownership is believed to look more favorably on Wheeler’s trend line and could make him a qualifying offer, guaranteeing a draft pick should he sign elsewhere. The Mets are also strongly considering locking Wheeler down with a long-term contract extension.
Beyond the team’s front-end starters, the Mets are entertaining offers for closer Edwin Diaz, who has struggled this season, and Jason Vargas, the winning pitcher on Sunday.
The more pressing question is where the Mets are headed, in both the short and the long term, and whether they see themselves as contenders for one of this year’s wild-card positions. The answer could be revealed by their next move, assuming one is coming.
For now, the Mets are on a roll that has muddied the waters. They have won four straight and 10 of 15 since the All-Star break. No National League team has been hotter. Although the Mets are still six games back in the wild-card race, they have caught and passed four other clubs in two weeks with an easy stretch in front of them. The next 10 games are against teams with sub-.500 records.
After Sunday’s victory over Pittsburgh, outfielder Michael Conforto gave voice to his teammates’ unanimous sentiment when he said, “I think we’re starting to put it all together.”
On Friday, Wheeler, who had been on the injured list with shoulder fatigue, proved he was healthy in a strong five-and-two-thirds-inning performance. The following night, Steven Matz threw the first shutout of his career.
Vargas put the finishing touches on the wipeout of the Pirates on Sunday after being given a 6-0 lead in the first inning. He left in the sixth, and although Pittsburgh made the Mets squirm with a four-run rally in the ninth, the net result was unchanged: The Mets believe nothing is impossible over the final two months of the season.
“I know we can win now,” Manager Mickey Callaway said. “Brodie and I both feel we can win and get on a roll.”
Conforto seconded his manager’s optimism, with a plea to not shake things up in the other direction.
“Hopefully we get to keep most of our guys together,” Conforto said.
What was left unsaid was that this weekend’s sweep had come at the expense of the majors’ worst team of late. The Pirates have dropped eight in a row and are 2-14 since the All-Star break. That hardly seemed to matter to either the Mets or their fans. The series drew more than 100,000 people, evidence that the enthusiasm has not waned in Flushing. That may or may not influence the Wilpons’ thoughts in regard to trading Syndergaard, which would signal the start of a rebuild.
Van Wagenen traded two recent first-round picks last off-season to acquire Diaz and Robinson Cano, back when the Mets were all-in for 2019. The next few days will tell whether they are officially going for it one more time.