Mets make some moves at trade deadline, but should they have done nothing like Yanks?
Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen before a game between the Mets and the Washington Nationals on Aug. 10, 2020. Credit: AP/Kathy Willens
The Mets acquired catcher Robinson Chirinos, reliever Miguel Castro and the GM’s friend Todd Frazier before Monday’s trade deadline.
The Yankees got nothing done.
So which team did the better job? Hard to say.
Brodie Van Wagenen’s haul doesn’t exactly move the needle. Adding Chirinos to the current backstop mix can’t hurt, especially with Tomas Nido still on the IL for undisclosed reasons and Wilson Ramos seemingly moving worse by the day. Castro, only 25, has big strikeout ability but also cost a potential future starter in Double-A prospect Kevin Smith.
Frazier? Seems like the Mets have enough third basemen, even with J.D. Davis still hurting from that 100-mph fastball to the hip. But Van Wagenen spoke glowingly of his righty bat and clubhouse presence, so what the heck. Maybe the Jersey guy brings a spark to Flushing again.
“We weren’t motivated to move from the top of our of our prospect system,” Van Wagenen said. “But we also wanted to show this team and show this market that we are we are far from quitting on the season. We’ve got to play better baseball but we think these three pieces can help us do that.”
Van Wagenen gets points for not burning down the farm in what could have been his final trade deadline as Mets’ GM. With Steve Cohen now in exclusive negotiations to buy the franchise, he’s almost certain to do his own renovations at Citi Field, and Van Wagenen was hand-picked by outgoing COO Jeff Wilpon.
The Mets’ jaded fan base had to be thrilled that Van Wagenen didn’t pull off one of his patented prospect dumps, as he did for Marcus Stroman a year ago and Edwin Diaz/Robinson Cano within days of his Flushing arrival in 2018. With only a month left to this oddity of a regular season, and the Mets misfiring in a number of areas, the expectations going forward are considerably more modest than back in March. There was nothing within the Mets’ reasonable reach at this deadline that was going to change that — especially with Cohen’s looming takeover.
“We recognize that we only have 30 days, and we hope to have another 30 days in October,” Van Wagenen said. “ But even that, we’re only talking about a very short sample size. At least from our perspective we didn’t want to move too many pieces from the top of our system that we value is a big part of what we’re going to be about going forward”
As for the Yankees, they claim to still have eyes on a 28th title, but GM Brian Cashman wasn’t willing to sacrifice anything substantial in the quest to do so. Can’t say I blame him there. With no gate-related revenue on the horizon, and no benefit of home playoff games, the Yankees’ restrained approach just seems like the more rational course of action given the hazy future ahead.
Cashman said he was discussing potential deals right up to the deadline, but couldn’t find a fit, mainly because the Yankees are relying on a number of their top prospects to fill holes at the moment. Mike Clevinger and Starling Marte — both of whom were traded, to the Padres and Marlins, respectively — would have improved Cashman’s banged-up roster. But with Aaron Judge, Gleyber Torres, Giancarlo Stanton, Zack Britton and presumably James Paxton anticipated back in the coming weeks, the Yankees also have the luxury of merely staying afloat long enough for a September boost to the playoffs.
“I know we have a great team, clearly, when we’re full capacity,” Cashman said. “I didn’t stand down because we were waiting on these guys in the wings. If we found the proper matches, we would go to ownership and execute. But we do have a great team when we’re at full capacity and knowing that we’re getting everybody back at some point, that’s certainly exciting. I’m very comfortable not doing what was being asked of us. But you gotta go through those motions.”
If the Yankees continue to lose as many players as games over the next month, it’s going to be a moot point anyway. Judge didn’t even make it through his first game back from a calf strain before immediately returning to the IL with the same injury. So the fragility of both Judge and Stanton has to keep Cashman holding tight to Clint Frazier, and the Yankees’ top prospect Deivi Garcia must have strengthened the GM’s resolve with Sunday’s impressive debut in the 5-2 win over the Mets.
“We don’t believe he’s the only one down there waiting in the wings for an opportunity,” Cashman said of Garcia. “Clearly, the goal of mine would have been to add to what we already have. But not at the expense of what we’re already relying on, and that was the difficulty of our navigation.”
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
