The Mets send former first-round pick Pete Crow-Armstrong to the Cubs for Javier Baez and Trevor Williams. Crow-Armstrong seems like a heavy price to pay for a rental and a swing man but Baez does offer something that the club really needs in his ability to hit LHP. In 80 PA versus LHP this year, Baez has a .301/.363/.603 line, including 7 HR. The strikeouts are a big issue and it remains to be seen how well he’ll hit once removed from Wrigley Field. But he’s a terrific defensive player with the sock the Mets were looking for from the right side of the plate.
Williams has upped his K/9 to a career-high 9.4 this season in 58.2 IP. He’ll likely move to the pen but offers the club some SP depth, too. Williams does not throw hard but has a full arsenal of pitches. His change has been hit hard this year and it will be interesting to see if he ditches that pitch with a move to the pen.
Crow-Armstrong impressed this year in MLB Spring Training and was off to a hot start at Lo-A St. Lucie before being sidelined with a shoulder injury that required surgery. He had both a torn labrum and injured cartilage in the shoulder area. A healthy Crow-Armstrong probably would have been off limits in a trade for a rental. But it’s another case of a new GM trading away the draft picks from the previous regime.
Sketchy, indeed! I haven’t seen any info on who the Mets traded away.
We’re sending Crow-Armstrong. We need more pitching—Williams isn’t much…..
Rumor that we might be getting Kenta Maeda from the Twins. For JD Davis?
Reports are that it’s Pete Crowe-Armstrong. If that’s true I hate it.
I hate it too.
For Pete Crow-Armstrong? Oh c’mon!
Word is that Lindor spoke to Cohen about getting Baez. Oh, really? That’s a shocker.
Our #5 prospect Crow-Armstrong and other(s) for a rental and a 5th (?) Starter pitcher. It was Baez and not Bryant, and Williams not Davies. Dissatisfied at first blush.
Yeah, I wonder how much Lindor speaking up for getting Baez to Steve Cohen had to do with this? A lot I’m guessing.
But if it had been Crow-Armstrong for Davies and Baez (though I preferred Bryant), I’d be OK with it. Regardless, it makes us better short-term. And maybe we’ll get Kenta Maeda, or a better pitcher than Williams in the next 20 minutes.
Steve S – lets hope we get Maeda,
Yeah, Maeda is under contract through 2023 and has a good arm! JD Davis for him, even up?
The Phillies got Gibson and Kennedy for 2 recent players drafted and Howard to the Rangers. It was better than the Baez trade.
Here’s my take on the Mets thinking. They have to be satisfied with Nimmo’s improved play in CF and with Smith in left (since Nimmo isn’t moving there). They like Davis for a DH spot in the new contract, but they would need a third baseman. They believe they can re-sign Baez given his remarks about playing with Lindor and plan on using him either at 2nd base or maybe 3rd in which case McNeil either moves to third base or stays at second. In the end, the defense would be at least as good, if not better and Davis would give them a powerful hitter as a DH, enhancing the lineup.
You might be right. The problem is that they could sign Baez in the off-season without giving up a top prospect if he really wants to play here with Lindor. By trading for him now they are basically saying that he greatly improves their chances of winning it all and therefore it’s worth parting with our top pick from a year ago. I don’t think he does that. I think they should have gotten more if they were going to move PCA.
Another possibility is that McNeil would move to right field, if Conforto doesn’t re-sign with Davis remaining at 3rd base.
I agree with you. First, I hate giving up prospects for rentals. I believe the Mets strategy will be to sign Baez to play third and let Conforto walk. For equal dollar in a new contract, who would you rather have, Baez or Conforto? RF Conforto much easier to replace than Baez.
Agree, Mike.
JamesTOB, that’s an interesting way of looking at it. I was assuming all along that Dom and Pete would split 1B and DH, but this actually makes more sense. However, word was they were making Davis available in trade.
Baez is fine as a rental but I’m concerned that locking him up will limit our ability to lock up the other FAs (Syndergaard, Stroman, Conforto) and soon to be FAs (Nimmo, Lugo). I think when considering contracts the Mets have to consider more than just value, but also “replaceability.” I’m okay with letting Conforto walk because lefty corner OFs are plentiful. McNeil can always shift to third and second base is the easiest position to fill.
Looking at all the plethora of trades this past week the prospect price seems to be higher overall than in year’s past.
It also seems like trade activity is much higher than usual. Have we entered an era of the game where even real GMs are treating it more and more like fantasy baseball with trades for the sake of trades? Or are just GMs antsy to do something this year after not having anything to do last year.
I personally do not think Baez is a good player at all and would not have given him up for anything or even free and Trevor Williams is a thrown in AAAA player whose only asset is being a healthy body (does this mean that the Mets think that our injured pitchers are farther from returning than they are letting on?)
I agree Name and if the injured pitchers are further away from being ready Trevor Williams is going to make the difference?!? I really don’t get this one.
2 seasons over 6.5 war and on pace for 4 war this yr. Runner up MVP and 2 time all star. Electric defender. How is he not a “good player at all”?
Yea i admit to using a hyperbole. When watching Baez i see a very flawed player who is very very easy to exploit at the plate and any halfway decent pitcher should be able to strike him out every at bat. But i guess there are enough bad pitchers in the league who make mistakes to him at the plate to boost up his stats.
Baez mashes lefties.
When Lindor comes back we ‘ll have the best double play combo in baseball assuming McNeil goes to 3rd.
He s clutch and will thrive in the NY market. (We ‘ll sign him long term methinks.
He probably becomes our best baserunner immediately.
Playoff experience.
Love pca but he has a pretty serious injury to come back from and even before that was at least 4 yrs away.
Dont love Williams. Would have loved Maeda who could have swung/piggybacked for Walker and Carrasco or Hill even. But maybe they plan to use Noah that way.
Not sure what all this means for Davis unless McNeil is abt to go back on the dl but the team has a lot of options now for matchups and keeping everyone fresh.
Plus dont forget rich hill. Even though we got him a week ago it still counts as a solid deadline pickup.
Baez is very good against LHP but Bryant is better. The fact that they chose Baez means that they valued his ability to play SS while Lindor is out. Does this mean the Lindor injury is more serious than they’re letting on?
For the record, I don’t hate this trade. It’s not what I would have done but everyone talks about how the Mets need to get athletic players who can play defense and when they get one of those guys, they find something else to complain about. As for Williams, he’s an upgrade on Yennsy Diaz and if Carrasco and/or deGrom don’t come back, he gives you a SP option better than Eickhoff. He’s not exciting but he adds value.
Brian, I agree with you about Baez, but I can’t get behind Williams. Guy had one good year three years ago and has otherwise been awful. Sounds like Eickhoff. If we couldn’t get Berrios, Scherzer or Gibson, I thought we’d at least get Davies, Kelly, or Pineda. September might not matter if we get slaughtered trying to make it through the August gauntlet behind starting pitchers who are all either gassed (Stroman and Walker), untested (Carrasco, Megill), old AF (Hill) or clunkers (Williams).
My initial impression is that this was a trade more or less for the sake of making a trade. Yes, it improves the club. Yes, the price is high, but from what I surmise from the many other deals, prices this year are extremely high. Of the “top” prospects, PCA is the least painful to part with for me.
I am not a huge fan of Baez but he is certainly talented and at times exciting. Likewise, he will also drive you crazy. I’m not sure what to make of the Lindor connection but initially it does make me a bit uneasy. The notion that they’ll just extend him is a bit nuts…they have already overpaid for Lindor, who is a much more disciplined player than Baez. He will want huge money, which is absolutely better spent elsewhere IMHO.
The Braves loaded up, and they Phillies likely improved more than the Mets. It will come down to the Mets underperforming guys to step up from here on out.
I’m not sure the phillies improved more than the mets. Kyle Gibson may get rocked in that park. Already trending down with 13 runs allowed last 26 innings. Kennedy should be a solid bullpen piece but overall meh. The Braves got better but they had to replace Acuna s production and even with his production they played .500 ball. Solid move to get Rodriguez. I think it will come down to us vs them but I like our odds if our rotation is at full strength.
Boomboom,
You may be right on the Philly deal. It will certainly be a three dog race to the finish and the Mets did not hurt themselves today, despite dealing the #5ish prospect. A highly motivated Javy Baez does have the potential to be a difference maker in a 60 game sprint to the end of the season and his free agency.
Rodriguez was a good Braves move. He is controlled until 2024. He would have been good for the present and for the future for the Mets. The Braves gave a struggling pitcher and a sub 30 prospect. The Mets could have beaten that price.
Agreed on this. Should have been a target.
If they resign Baez after the season, that is going to be quite a logjam at second base next year since Lindor will be at short, that will leave McNeil, Cano and then Baez vying for time, and Luis Guillorme is good anywhere in the infield but he’s probably best at second. Would mean no room for Villar either next year.
The shocker to me was the Dodgers getting Scherzer and Trea Turner. Never saw that one coming with Turner.