If the Mets don't come away with Gagne, the only remaining bullpen choice on their menu is now Cordero. Teams that have spoken with the Mets say they no longer have interest in Devil Rays closer Al Reyes, and they've gotten nowhere in their talks with the White Sox about Jon Garland. So they've narrowed their focus just to Gagne and Cordero, and weren't optimistic about coming away with Gagne. But Cordero hasn't appeared a whole lot easier to deal for, either. The Nationals have been pushing for Lastings Milledge, and the Mets are now telling clubs Milledge is on a list of six young players they won't change under any circumstances. The others: outfielders Carlos Gomez and Fernando Martinez, and pitchers Mike Pelfrey, Kevin Mulvey (currently in Double-A) and Deolis Guerra (currently in Class A). So can these two teams structure a deal around a prospect like highly regarded former No. 1 pick Philip Humber? We'll see. With the clock ticking toward the deadline, they were still talking.
Put this together with the comment I quoted from MetsGeek:
Humber was skipped in the Zephyrs rotation. Bostick hopped ahead of him and pitched last night.
Draw your own conclusions…
Humber for Cordero or Gagne, anyone? Anyone?
UPDATE:
Jayson Stark says that a 3-way deal where the Mets traded Humber to Arizona and received Cordero from the Nats almost happened, but ultimately died:
MARKET REPORT
The three-way deal that would have sent Chad Cordero to the Mets, by way of Arizona, is dead. The teams couldn't agree on players, and the Mets weren't willing to add a second player to the deal. It's still believed that the one player the teams had agreed upon was pitcher Philip Humber, but Washington wasn't willing to trade Cordero for Humber, one for one.
3 comments:
This is all very confusing to say the least. First, why would we trade a legit starting prospect (Humber) for a closer (Gagne), when we already have wagner on fire this year? Second, the only reason to have pursued Gagne in the offseason was if, like me, you had no faith in Wagner. Given the way Wagner's played this year though, that concern has to be way down on the list. So if the Mets didn't want Gagne when they could have had him for basically nothing (just $6M for one year), why pursue him now when it will cost so much more?
Also, if you really want a pitcher (starter or bullpen), why not do a trade with red sox? They have more starting and relief pitching than they can handle (especially with lester back and healthy, and gabbard kicking ass), so they'd probably be willing to move one of those guys for an outfielder. Besides Manny and top prospect Ellsbury, they don't have much in OF. Crisp is one of the best gloves in CF i've ever seen, but has been disappointing at the plate at best. JD Drew is, well, JD Drew. And the only thing worse than wily mo pena's bat is his glove. So I'll bet you could get something done here, if that was really what you wanted.
Finally, I don't see why they would skip Humber's spot in the rotation if they were going to trade him, unless they were concerned about a freak injury blowing the deal or the team with which they intend to trade requested it for some reason. More likely, I would imagine that they skipped Humber's spot so they could call him up to majors to take either Perez or Sosa's spot in the next two days, assuming one of those two guys is on the trading block. I'd hate to think we're parting with Perez, but if management believes Pedro will be as good as he claims, they might be willing to part with Perez. Especially since his stock is about as good as it could be.
Update: looks like Gagne may be heading to Red Sox, according to ESPN sources..
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2955966
I'm not sure I see the point of this, it gives them papelbon, okajima, and gagne. Overkill. Not to mention too many starters (Schilling, Beckett, Dice-K, Wakefield, Lester, and Gabbard).
One thing I find interesting is that boston area sports seem to be making a lot more moves than NY. Look at Red sox, pats, and now Celtics, compared to Mets, Jets, and Knicks. Red Sox and Pats are already at the top of their game, yet added significant offseason talent.
Typical to pull a player out of rotation when your shopping him, either (1) to avoid injuty, and (2) b/c the team your negotiating with wants him available from day 1, and and it's a small act of good faith that can aid in acquiring a target player.
Your other alternative, that he's going to be brought up to replace someone else, seems entirely possible, though it seems that there are other spot starters (namely Pelfrey and Vargas) who Omar thinks are more ML ready at this point in time.
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