Mets may make local call in trade talks
The cold war between the Mets and Yankees has thawed some in recent years, and much of that probably had to do with the continuing friendship between former general manager Omar Minaya and his Bronx counterpart, Brian Cashman.
With Minaya gone, the relationship between the teams -- and how they view themselves in the New York market -- becomes particularly important at this time of year, with less than two months to go before the July 31 non-waivers trade deadline.
The conventional wisdom is that the crosstown rivals are better served not answering each other's phone calls. If a deal winds up too lopsided for one club, the reasoning goes, it will be embarrassing for the other.
Even though this is Sandy Alderson's first year in New York, coming from the Bay Area, he understands the special dynamic in a two-team market.
"It ups the ante a little bit," Alderson said. "It's like making it to the World Series. You hate to be the one that lost. It becomes part of the local baseball lore."
That takes on added significance in this case. But from the Mets' perspective, there never have been any unwritten rules, or as one former team official said recently, "no restrictions" about dealing with the Yankees.
In Alderson's case, he has bigger issues than bragging rights to worry about in trying to rebuild the Mets on a frugal budget. And if a deal makes sense, he's got to pull the trigger.
It's not as though the Mets haven't made a few crosstown trades -- nine, to be exact -- but most were of limited or no impact for either team. The last deal was 2004, when the Mets sent Mike Stanton to the Yankees for Felix Heredia.
This year, however, the Mets are expected to make just about everyone on their roster available, including pending free agents Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran along with Francisco Rodriguez and his $17.5-million vesting option.
The possible fit for the Yankees is Beltran, who has proved himself capable of playing rightfield on two questionable knees and would be useful as a switch-hitting DH. It's worth talking about, and despite the obstacles that exist, there are factors that make the Yankees perhaps the ideal landing spot from the Mets' standpoint.
At the top of the list is Beltran's full no-trade clause, but he's already made it clear that's negotiable. The Yankees not only would give him the chance to remain in New York this season, but would allow him to pursue one of his few unfulfilled goals in baseball.
"Honestly, at the point where I am in my career, where I've been in the big leagues for 13 years, I haven't been able to win a championship," Beltran said. "You dream of that. You want to become a champion. You want to have the opportunity to be in the playoffs again."
Beltran is earning $18.5 million in the last season of his seven-year, $119-million contract. By July 31, he'll be owed roughly $6 million, sizable for the final two months, and that's where trading him becomes sticky.
With the Mets' financial problems, having a team assume that entire prorated portion has got to be attractive. In exchange, however, the Mets likely would have to forfeit any shot at a decent prospect in return.
"There's a sliding scale," Alderson said. "The more money somebody picks up, the less likely they are to give up prospects. On the other hand, the more money they pick up, arguably the more money one has to turn around and spend it in the international amateur market or in the draft.
"So it's not just money versus prospects, but prospects versus the players you can acquire with the money that you get back. Whatever one gets back, whether it's money or prospects, can be beneficial to the club, and not just in financial terms, but also in acquiring more talent."
