The New York Mets have been rumored to possibly having interests in trading their top prospects catcher Travis d'Arnaud and pitcher Zack Wheeler for slugger Giancarlo Stanton. However, would the Mets be surrendering too much talent to the Miami Marlins who have already packed their minor league system with a number of talented young players? Here's why I'd say no way to that deal.
The Mets have been dying to acquire a decent catcher in recent years. Long gone are the memories of Paul LoDuca manning Mets' pitching rotation and almost getting them to the World Series in 2006. Long gone are the memories of Mike Piazza getting the Mets to the World Series in 2000. Now the Mets have a chance to fix one of their biggest holes with d'Arnaud at the catcher position. He's already drawn comparisons to Piazza who came up through the Los Angeles Dodgers and took baseball by storm in his rookie season. In 1993, Piazza hit .318, 35 HR and 112 RBI.
In 2011, while in the Toronto Blue Jays' minor league system, d'Arnaud hit 21 home runs and drove in 78 RBI while hitting .318. The power numbers dropped in 2012 as he hit only 16 home runs, but the average went up to .333. A catcher with power who hits for average? No wonder he's drawing praises and comparisons to Piazza, one of the best hitting catchers in the history of the game.
Then there's Zack Wheeler, who has struggled a bit in 2012, but it's only two starts. He's 0-1 with a 3.12 ERA striking out nine in 8.2 innings pitched. The Mets already have a very positive outlook in their future with Matt Harvey mowing down the competition striking out 19 hitters in his first two MLB starts this season. Wheeler is also a power pitcher and if we've learned anything from power pitching is that getting strikeouts is always preferable over groundball and especially fly ball pitchers.
David Wright is locked up for years to come. The Mets apparently have been debating about trading Ike Davis, but reality tells them this wouldn't be a smart move since Davis provides protection for Wright in an otherwise naked Mets lineup. Trading for Stanton would compliment these guys very well, but there's too many question marks if the Mets allow their young stars to walk.
Yes, many will argue John Buck is hitting well in 2013, however, how many years does he have left? He's 32 years old with five home runs and 15 RBI, but for how long with that hot streak continue? We're talking about depending on a guy who's not only aging, but also never hit more than 20 home runs in a season and that was back in 2010.
Wheeler is expected to make his MLB debut sometime at the end of the season as the Mets have patiently allowed him to work his way up the minor league ranks. Stanton can surely get you 40 home runs, but what about pitching and catcher in the future? Where will the Mets get this from. There will be pitching free agents who are aged in the market, but Zack Wheelers aren't found every day and neither are d'Arnauds.
Sandy Alderson seems like he values prospects and spending money wisely. Though Stanton does provide pop and will give Mets fans are reason to come to the stadium, he can provide power and defense in a season where the Mets won't compete. With Wheeler and d'Arnaud the Mets will have 3/5 of their starting rotation set for the future and a catcher to accompany this pitching rotation the Mets are trying to get together.
We'll keep an eye on these rumors although hopefully for the Mets they remain only rumors.
How do you feel about this trade? Leave a comment in the discussion section. I'm curious to know how people think since some sources from the Mets offense wouldn't hesitate to make the deal.
