You have certainly read reports that the Mets would need to be “overwhelmed” to trade Bobby Parnell (who Detroit and Boston have interest in) but what you may not have read is that they need to be equally “overwhelmed” to trade the thirty five year old rental, Marlon Byrd.

Parnell is only 28 and looks to have shaped into a fairly reliable closer.  He’s got two controlled years on his contract and he’s got lots of value.  When the Mets say they’d need to be overwhelmed they actually have something of significant value.  So if the Red Sox offer Jackie Bradley Jr. or the Tigers offer Avisail Garcia, the Mets could say, “Yeah… no thanks.” They can say this because trading Parnell does leave them with problems for 2014 and beyond and neither Bradley Jr. nor Garcia are slam dunks to succeed in the majors.

Now… if the Mets were to be offered Xander Bogaerts or Nick Castellanos things might be different.  Those guys are superior prospects and passing on them to hold on to a valuable closer would be hard to do.  Thus… they’d be “overwhelmed.”

The issue now, is that Byrd is not 28.  Being 35 and playing the second-best baseball of his 11 MLB seasons doesn’t shout lasting value.  Neither does the fact that at the end of 2013, Byrd could very well choose to sign with the Mets again… and you’d better believe there wouldn’t be draft pick compensation.  So… what exactly do the Mets mean when they say, “We need to be overwhelmed.”?

Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh are the two franchises that seem the best match for Byrd.  Both could use an outfielder who can hit with some power and replace the rotating squads of part-timers that they are rotating out there.  Yet with a statement about the Mets not being that willing to trade Byrd, what are they expecting?

Do the Mets think that the Rays would part with an injured Hak Ju Lee?  Or do they think they could nab multiple players in the ranks of Drew Vettleson, Mike Mahtook, Tim Beckham and Patrick Leonard?  Frankly, anyone on that second list would be a boon to the Met farm system and could be a lasting part of the Met future… but is getting one of those players being “overwhelmed?”

Equally, the Mets would love the Pirates to trade Alen Hanson or Gregory Polanco for Byrd, but that would be CRAZY.  It is probably a stretch to even name Josh Bell in the running for a trade of Byrd and he’s in the SAL!  The Mets should be happy with getting Barrett Barnes, Alex Dickerson, Willy Garcia or Jin-De Jhang, but none of those names would scream “OVERWHELMED!”

I realize, that a team can’t say that they’re looking to trade one of their best offensive players for a song, but to make Byrd sound like he’s part of the Met future is laughable.  The Met offense only has 4 players right now who factor into the team’s future: David Wright, Eric Young Jr., Daniel Murphy (Unless he’s traded) and Ike Davis/Josh Satin (Take your pick).  Everyone else should be on the table.

17 comments on “Dear Mets front office: What’s your definition of overwhelmed?

  • peter

    I think so much depends on the Commissioner’s office and the pending suspensions. Detroit and Oakland would be hit hardest. What will the Tigers do you if they lose Peralta for the remainder of the season? How about the basis of a trade with Austin Jsckson and Garcia for Tejada, Duda, Flores or Murphy and Parnell?

  • Jim OMalley

    who closes if we trade Parnell?

    • Jerry Grote

      Given the manager, I’d guess committee until someone got “hot”, with lead shots to Torres and Aardsma. Both are effective against LH/RH hitters.

    • David Groveman

      I like Parnell a lot but for now you could allow Aardsma to close out the year. In 2014 Familia would be in the mix.

  • jb hill

    Ok, i’ll admit that i’m still new to this site, but starting off my sunday morning with a groverman piece means it’s a gonna be a good day. 1st off, considering the appalling lack of offense in the mets lineup, giving up byrd puts a ton of extra pressure on a young mets pitching rotation. how many 1 run games have we already lost this year? so yeah, if we wind up trading him to a team in contension, then offer us something hard to pass up. most of the teams that could really use him, ie, pitt,tb,detroit are neck in neck with division rivals and most likely to remain so til regular season ends. same goes with parnell, as boston has enough injuries to their pitching that he is most likely the difference maker between wild card & division winner. mets are rarely in this position, so should take advantage. yeah, overwhelm us and we’ll listen.
    ps: loved the video insert. you’re a friggin hoot.
    pps: damn you dave, for tempting me once again with xander bogaerts……

    • David Groveman

      Thanks for the kind words.

      You need to understand that I don’t have any great desire to see the Mets finish strongly to end at .500. I care about 2014 and 2015 much more than 2013. Byrd does a ton for the 2013 Mets but he could do a lot for the future squad by being traded. We could also sign him back this offseason.

      • Metsense

        If Byrd brought in a prospect better than Puello then it would make sense. Otherwise I would be sitting with his agent and extending him for a year. Byrd wants to stay, the Mets did his agent a favor by inviting him to camp, and he is a hard worker and role model, a total asset to the team. He is one of the better RF in the NL in 2013 and nobody in the Mets system is ready to replace him.
        I have to agree with JG’s Polanco post below as that is the value of Byrd to the Mets.

        • David Groveman

          That isn’t a bad method, but I don’t really want to pay him more than we do now.

          While the Mets need Byrd as a starter we aren’t winning anything.

  • Jerry Grote

    Polanco – who is irretrievably blocked by McCutcheon – is far, far more possible than Bogearts whom the Sox have already said is coming to Fenway this fall. The Sox simply aren’t trading Xander, but you could sweeten a Byrd-Polanco deal to make it palatable for the Pirates.

    I completely reject the idea that Byrd in our future is “laughable”. A regression to simply normal performance for Byrd would be around 16 HR and around a 770 OPS for 2014. There’s nothing comedic about that given our organizational weakness in position players.

    • Jerry Grote

      … failed to mention, as always David a good piece above summarizing options on “overwhelmed”.

      I rarely agree with you, but I always want to hear what you have to say. A great compliment, in my mind.

    • David Groveman

      How about trading Byrd and signing him back after the season?

      • NormE

        Okay, David, I’ll bite. The only reason to trade Byrd and then resign him in the off-season is if Sandy A. fails to upgrade the OF either by trade of in free agency. Given Sandy ‘s history with the Mets, that might be a possibility.

    • Mike Carlini

      Polanco isn’t going anywhere! if he does, it will be for a far better return than the Mets can give them.

  • Jim OMalley

    if we trade Parnell quick enough, we could develop another closer and then trade him too before the deadline and have two future OFs….

    • David Groveman

      Huh?

  • jb hill

    ummm, jim. counting today, the mets have 11 games left til the trade deadline. are you suggesting we create a mariano rivera in the next 11 games??? i’m guessing your comment was meant as an attempt at humor….

  • Name

    A trade is when two parties willingly enter into an agreement to swap something of value. Both parties must be content with the return compared to what they are giving up in order for a trade to occur. The goal of trading is to increase the overall value and production of the team, and not to “win” or “rip off” the other team in the trade.
    The trades that will occur are those who you would take either side of the deal rather than trades where you would take one side over the other more than 90% of the time.

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