“I definitely believe that Dickey’s success will lead to more interest in the knuckleball by other professional and even amateur pitchers. However, the interest in the pitch may be short-lived if no one out there can teach it. R.A. worked hard to connect with those who could help him develop his knuckleball. Others may not have the same perseverance.:
Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson on R.A. Dickey and the future of the knuckleball in MLB.
Source: Adam Rubin, ESPN.com
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According to MLBtraderumors.com, “A National League talent evaluator thinks the Mets should give some thought to trading R.A. Dickey while his value is skyhigh. The Mets don’t have the money to make the deadline upgrades that they need, so they could instead continue with their three- or four-year plan by making the right-hander available.” Dickey has been a great success story since coming to the Mets; I would hate to see him leave. However, for the welfare of the team’s future should the Mets try to deal him now?
Absolutely not. Starting pitching is so hard to come by. Dickey is in the top 15 in ERA over the past three years (ESPN telecast is my source).The object in the minors is to develop players like Dickey, not to trade them away in hopes of getting players like Dickey! Dickey probably has at least 3-4 good years left and isn’t the teams future beginning now? Isn’t the goal to make the playoffs and this morning the Mets are still a wildcard team.