Things had been looking so good of late. Sandy Alderson had finally responded to what had become patently obvious to the more observant quadrants of Mets fandom. Even the densest of us could see that an offensive upgrade was needed, but to the more nuanced eye, even an incremental improvement would make a pretty substantial difference – i.e., even adding a league-average hitter or two would at least lengthen the bench and put less pressure on the sagging non-sluggers. Alderson brought in Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson from the Braves for a couple of marginal pitching prospects. Great! He turned around and added to an area of seeming strength by acquiring Tyler Clippard as a bullpen addition – not knowing at the time that Jenrry Mejia would be knuckleheaded enough to get himself suspended a second time for using the same steroid for which he got nailed in April. Terrific and timely, as it turned out. Now, to go and get that big bat we’d been looking for since last December…
As Bartolo Colon was in the midst of getting cuffed around by San Diego, word filtered out that such a move was soon to be in the offing. No real particulars were mentioned, but Adam Rubin assured us that we’d be “pleased.” Speculation ran rampant. Yeonis Cespedes? Carlos Gonzalez? Jay Bruce? Ryan Braun? The return of Jose Reyes? Little by little, word trickled out. It would be Carlos Gomez coming back to his original team, with Zack Wheeler and Wilmer Flores heading to Suds City. Joel Sherman said it was a “done deal.” It was mentioned on the radio and on the TV broadcast. At the same time, nobody covering the game could figure out why Flores was still playing. Inning after inning, he trotted out to his shortstop position and no one thought to inform him that he had been traded? Nobody could call down to Terry Collins and tell him to get Flores off the field to avoid disastrous injury? Flores ended up playing all nine innings at short, finally departing for a pinch hitter in the ninth with the Mets down 7-3. But it was the seventh inning that was the strangest. By that time, Flores had been told – by fans near the dugout, no less! – that he had been traded. He took up his position with tears streaming down his face as the crowd gave him continued standing ovations. Collins was looking either incredibly mean or incredibly blind. Finally, we found out why Flores stayed in the whole game: There was no deal. An agreement had been reached in principle, but in the end it fell though for some vague, nebulous reason. Howling from a number of corners followed, about the evils of Twitter, the efficacy of cell phones at the ol’ ballpark and about the sorry state of journalism in this day and age.
The immediate reaction over here, of course, was that our beloved, benevolent owners took a look at the 2.9 million dollars Gomez is owed this year, as well as the nine million dollars he’s due next year and killed the deal. With enough time to start up the spin machine, it later came out that the Mets backed out because they were scared off by a hip issue Gomez had back in June and they didn’t like the looks of the MRI. The MRI hasn’t seemed to bother the management of the Houston Astros, though, who acquired Gomez late this afternoon. David Lennon in Newsday opined that at least this aborted deal shows how far ownership is willing to go to win. Of course it could be argued that this aborted deal could also be an elaborate ruse, when this ownership has no intention whatsoever of spending any more that what’s available from the insurance policy on David Wright and Mejia’s withheld salary. Fans hold the Wilpons as just slimy enough to try and pull something like that. We have no reason to believe otherwise or trust these guys as far as we can throw them. We haven’t for some time now.
And, oh, by the way, Alderson still hasn’t acquired that “big bat.” When asked last night if there was another deal to be made, all he could answer was, “It’s not Friday yet.”
It’s doubtful anyone will be surprised, either way.
Follow me on Twitter @CharlieHangley.
Oh grow up. All your pent up anger is misplaced here. They’re trying. Despite the communication issues with the Gomez deal they’ll get something done by tomorrow.
As I said: that wouldn’t surprise me, either.
I thought I read where MLB had given Alderson a heads up on the imminent suspension for Mejia and because of that Sandy went out and traded for Clippard
The explanation that resonates with me is the one which says that Milwaukee didn’t want Lagares (money? health?) but the Mets needed Juan in the deal to meet their budget restrictions. A package of Wheeler/Flores for Gomez was too rich for the Wilpons blood–not enough payroll money going out and too much coming in. The Gomez hip was the excuse.
I think that Charlie pretty much hit the nail on the head.
The fact that a principle player in an alleged trade was still in a 7-3 game was foolish and under the circumstances a poor public relations move. It was foolish because if he were hurt then it would have messed up the trade. In today’s social media world the Mets need to get much better in their media relations department. One tweet from the Mets during the course of the game stating “contrary to media reports, no trades have been finalized” would have been a direct way to connect to their fan base directly and immediately.
So I’m just curious how all these rumors are let out of the bag. Is it some Secretary leaking stuff to insiders to make some extra cash or some executive talkin?. i see no reasons why they couldn’t keep it a secret until it is truly finalized.
My guess would be Boras.
The Mets PR guy is 80 years old.
Jay Horowitz is old; he is also practically the only guy in the Mets front office that everybody can agree is a decent, stand-up guy, as demonstrated when he abstained from throwing David Cone under the bus all those years ago. Additionally he is the only remaining connection to the glory days of the 1980’s, unless you count Fred.
The Mets handled the information of the Gomez not-trade sloppily, obviously. Still, I am surprised that you were so willing to cut a break for Jenry Mejia only a couple of days ago — and if reports are accurate, Mejia failed his second drug test while under suspension — but not for Horowitz, who has never caused me to regret my rooting interest in the Mets.
Personally I’m not ready to land upon either of them, Mejia or Horowitz; but if I were to chose one it wouldn’t be Jay.
Good comments, DED, but I think you are conflating two distinctly separate issues.
On Mejia, I still consider him a resource and I would not walk away in a snit. And yes, I do feel a degree of compassion for him.
The Mets PR does not impress me. The club is complaining about Twitter and phones. The Mets own site was providing misinformation two days ago, even after Sandy refuted it. The technology has shifted exponentially. I don’t believe the Jay is the right guy at this time, despite a long and decent career.
Well, since we are sort of on the subject, let me just mention that I would very much like any update available on an idea that was tossed around at the time of Mejia’s first suspension; namely, that there were sports “products” available over the counter, so to speak, in the Dominican Republic, that would register on an Major League drug test.
There are so many holes in the way the League enforces its drug reg’s — thinking here of Miguel Tejada, banned for 101 games (at age 39, essentially a lifetime ban) for taking a drug for which he had had a prescription, lapsed, and which I believe Mike Pelfrey is still taking, but there are others, such as Alex Rodriguez’s year-long ban without benefit of a failed drug test — that I have little confidence in the enforcement arm.
That said: what an idiot Mejia must be. It’s the pattern of drug users to spread out the suffering among those involved with them, and the Mets are sure paying a price for Mejia’s screwup.
Par for the course Metsense. Maybe Jeff is bored and is undermining SA? Surely Alderson is not going to leak any information out unless it’s to his benefit.
I am happier having Wheeler a met the having Gomez back. I wanted Gomez but Houston got him for a far inferior package. (Especially when you consider they gave up Fiers too)
The Mets handled this terribly, but I’m glad Wheeler is still with us. I want to see the core 5 pitching in 2016.
I feel the same way David. Is Carlos Gomez really going to help push the Mets forward? They need a power bat to go along with Duda. Gomez hasn’t been stealing bases, and he is not a guy who draws a lot of walks. Granted it would have been an upgrade over Lagares, but I still would rather have Wheeler.
http://nypost.com/2015/07/30/the-trade-that-wasnt-inside-mets-last-second-gomez-back-out/
The above article attempts to put the night in chronlogogical order. The fact that the Mets started Flores indicates to me that the Mets were not “signed off” on the deal prior to the game and still thinking it over. Sandy never thought that he would have needed to explain nixing the deal …..until it suddenly was leaked. The Mets PR staff needed to respond immediately that there was no finalized deal. Sandy screwed up by not informing the PR staff to do this while he was deciding. The Mets had medicals to evaluate or maybe money to secure. The Astros and Brewers medicals agree that Gomez was not a health issue. If the Mets take on salary today by 4PM then there would be little doubt that they have money to spend. A trade for an incorrect piece would be a foolish way to prove that your franchise is solvent to your fanbase.
Sandy and his public relations staff really dropped the ball.
Interesting, but the Post has an agenda here too. Sherman broke the story that turned out not to be a story. Whatever the Post decides to print about this incident needs to be considered in that context. They are likely CYAing as much as possible.
I think the front office blundered badly here, on many levels.
One of the most telling parts, to me, is the fact that “bridges have been burned” with Milwaukee.
Why is that?
The two clear targets that would help the Mets and fit a tight budget were Gomez and Parra. After Gomez failed, why can’t the Mets work a deal for Parra? I mean, yes, they can’t because Bob Melvin seems unwilling to deal with the Mets organization. For whatever reason, he has an extremely negative perception.
In the end, ownership is the underlying problem here. There’s no money, so it’s difficult to impossible to make a transformational deal.
To me, I’ve never understood a Jay Bruce deal. Short term, okay, you push Conforto to AAA, where he gets to hit .350 BA. What happens next year? And what happens with Lagares, who seems to need surgery or will forever be a diminished version of the player he could have been.
Do the Mets trade Bruce again in the off-season?
If the Mets trade for Bruce, it sucks to be Michael Conforto.
One potential move would be to shift Granderson to CF. It’s not ideal but neither is playing a guy there who can’t throw and who carries a .613 OPS.
Brian, I know, I keep reading that scenario. Trying to stay open-minded about Bruce. While I don’t think he’s a great fit, I do think he’s a good power bat at a time when those are at a premium.
I hate to think about an outfield defense of Conforto/Granderson/Bruce. I thought one of the lessons of 2015 was the slow realization that hey, defense matters.
My take was that Granderson in CF was unthinkable. But I guess not.
I think I’ll be neutral on this trade, should it happen. The concern here is that in order for the Mets to get back money, that they will give up too much in terms of talent. That’s been a Wilpon staple for many, many years. I remember the unconfirmed rumor that they could have gotten Adrian Gonzales for Benetiz if they didn’t insist on getting back money.
Believe me, I am no Sandy Alderson apologist. But the scenario that makes the most sense to me is:
The teams had a verbal agreement for Gomez for Wheeler/Flores, pending medicals.
The Brewers are aware that Gomez’s hip is an issue.
The Brewers side (FO or Boras) leak the deal to put pressure on the Mets to go forward.
Meanwhile, the Mets examine the medicals and decide that Gomez is tainted. (His 2015 stats clearly show a drop in productivity, esp in the speed categories. The evidence we have to see supports an injury.)
The Mets back out.
Had the story not been leaked, this would have been like untold numbers of trades that fall apart behind closed doors.
Collins didnt take Flores out of the game because there was no deal.
The big mistake here is that the Mets should have tweeted that there is no deal. But they may have been negotiating still with the Brewers and this tweet could have damaged their position. We dont know and probably never will.
So, the Brewers claim a burned bridge. So the F what? They have to save face too. Their comment is meaningless.
So is the fact that the Astros went for it. That they got Gomez for less (apparently) proves that there is a hip problem. The Mets probably tried to get Gomez for less too but the Brewers wouldnt/couldnt back away from the original deal.
There seems to be an assumption that the Astros evaluation is infallible. Why is that? They may live to regret this trade.
Aside from the PR gaff, this is much ado about nothing.
Full disclosure: I am not a Gomez fan. I think he’s overrated and apparently, he’s not well regarded in the clubhouse. He’s not the kind of addition that the Mets need right now, esp in his damaged condition. Is he better than a JL/KN platoon? probably, but not at that price.
Good thoughts. Gomez has been banged up all season, on DL, and it shows on the stats. No surprises there. He’s also 29, so my take was that he’d be a quality player for the length of the contract. We may never know, but I don’t believe the medicals were the real deal-breaker here.
That’s one of the many things I love about baseball. We’ll see about Gomez soon enough. My bet is that he’s on the DL for the pennant stretch.
I spent some time on Astros and Brewers blog sites and each fan base is decidedly mixed. Many Stros fans think they gave up too much. Phillips was their #1 prospect, a 5 tool OF in AA. The other three were legit too, top 25 prospects. The real variable might be the throw-in starter (Feins?) that Houston received. They need another starter and some of their fans think they struck gold here. Makes me wonder what Niese’s value is if Feins is thought of so highly.
Does anyone have any tips about where to go to get the latest news? All I am looking at is Metsblog and the official Mets site. Metsblog is reporting that the Mets might go for two outfielders and mentioned someone named Rajai Davis as a potential CF, to which I say, “who?” LOL
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