Mets Silent at Trade Deadline
As expected, the New York Mets did absolutely nothing at the MLB trade deadline Wednesday afternoon, so we are stuck with this extremely flawed team for the rest of the season.
There were reports that the market for Marlon Byrd heated up in the hours leading up to the 4 pm trade deadline. However, Sandy Alderson stuck to his demands to get a top prospect for Byrd while teams were apparently offering lower-tiered players.
It is hard to say that Alderson should have pulled the trigger because we do not know exactly what was being offered. It is probably better to hold onto Marlon Byrd for the remainder of the season than to pretty much give him away for a prospect who will likely not make it.
But here’s where Alderson’s lack of creativity comes into play. Perhaps he could have packaged Byrd and a reasonably highly-regarded prospect at the lower levels of the Mets minor league system for a prospect who is nearly major league-ready. A contender in desperate need of hitting might have parted with a top prospect if it also could have gotten another prospect in addition to Byrd.
But in the end, Stand Pat Sandy lived up to his nickname. He will surely soon promise that he will go crazy this winter acquiring players to transform the team. It’s a tune we have heard before, one that consistently falls flat.
“Perhaps he could have packaged”…. “A contender in desperate need of hitting might have parted with a top prospect”….. Lots of assertions. No facts. Plenty of criticism. Typical. This isn’t rotiss. baseball.
If Alderson and company do not resign Byrd for next season then you have a point.
In the words of “The Simpsons”:
Marge: You know, Homer, it’s easy to criticize.
Homer: Fun, too.
Byrd will not be resigned for next season.
I think this one will be interesting. I think Sandy and Mets management will be under some pressure to sign him just because they didn’t trade him AND they can’t have a repeat of Jose Reyes for nothing. The hard part of all this speculation is we really don’t know what goes on behind closed doors. They will need a bat or two or three for next year… a shortstop, a first baseman, etc..
On a bright note – I am 4 autographed baseball cards away from having a complete set of every Met who appeared in a game during the 1962 season! Elio Chacon is akin to being the “Holy Grail”!
That’s a cool project. Do you know about this site?
http://theamazingsheastadiumautographproject.blogspot.com/