The MLB Trade Deadline has passed, and some teams did really well, but it’s the teams that didn’t do well that’s getting the headlines today.
Everywhere in life, there has to be winners and losers. It seems pretty clear who lost this one. There were some teams that made the big move and went for the big win, and others decided to stick with what they had, despite having some MAJOR issues on their roster.
These five teams lost the biggest. And it wasn’t close.
5. New York Mets
What happened here? The New York Mets won five straight games. That’s fine and dandy, but they’re still 11.5 games out of first place in the NL East and five games out of the Wild Card with four teams ahead of them. To say things are bleak in Queens is an understatement. Yet, with so many huge pieces they could trade to rebuild the farm system, instead, Brodie Van Wagenen decided to not only keep his best assets, he traded for Marcus Stroman, one of the biggest pitching pieces to move.
Stroman is a good player and is arbitration-eligible after the season, giving the Mets another chance to wow him if things don’t work out this season. So, that isn’t too bad, right?
No, actually it makes very little sense. The Mets have to resign him now, and he knows he’s a hot commodity. The Mets went in big on a season where nothing they’ve done so far has worked. Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz have been major busts, and the pitching staff hasn’t been able to carry them anywhere.
Speaking of Diaz, the Mets keeping him probably made the least sense. He was very good with the Seattle Mariners, but he’s been awful in the Big Apple. After logging a masterful 1.96 ERA is Seattle last season, the righty has a 5.05 ERA with the Mets. The Mets traded for him at his highest value, and didn’t want to trade for him at his lowest. Maybe it makes sense, or maybe they should trade for him while he still has any value at all.
Then there was passing on not only a Noah Synergaard trade, but a Zack Wheeler trade as well. Wheeler can leave for NOTHING at the end of the season. Teams needed starter help, and the Mets are flushed with starters. Maybe keeping Syndergaard made sense since they have him locked up, but keeping Wheeler makes just about no sense.