Steve Mitchell-USA Today Sports
When you are the New York Mets and are in the market for a MLB-ready outfielder that can hit for power and average, a guy like Giancarlo Stanton comes along only so often. But when you are the Mets and have no viable financial means to pay this kind of outfielder the money his stats will demand, then a trade for a guy of Stanton’s caliber seems far-fetched.
The Miami Marlins are not actively seeking to trade Stanton, but they have listened to several offers for the highly sought after right fielder. The Marlins, if they were going to trade Stanton, are looking for top level pitching that is either major league ready, or very close to it. That would dictate the Mets being a good candidate to offer a package for Stanton, right?
Not so fast. Do the Mets actually want to part ways with Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler for a guy like Stanton? Keep in mind that the Mets just received two top prospects from the Toronto Blue Jays for R.A. Dickey. Maybe it would only take one of those two pitchers, but add in Jenrry Mejia and Jeurys Familia and possibly another lower level outfielder.
Either way, we already know what Harvey will be at the big league level, and can only hope that Wheeler will be the same. But do you mortgage your pitching future for an outfielder now that only makes $480,000/year, but will be due a huge increase as contract talks heat up? Stanton is not going to be an option, because you can get by more than not with a stud pitching staff with an average outfield than the other way around.
It would be nice to wake up one morning to read the headlines and see Stanton in a Mets uniform, but only if they did not have to part with Harvey and Wheeler. If the Marlins were willing to take Dillon Gee, Familia and a player like Wilmer Flores or a Michael Fullmer, I’d make that trade any day. But two pieces you can not afford to give up are Harvey and Wheeler. The future will show the reason why.
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