Earlier in the offseason the New York Mets were in trade talks with a few teams regarding starting pitcher Dillon Gee. The talks died down, but the team expects them to gain traction again in the near future.
New York was actively shopping Gee during the MLB Winter Meetings early on in December. The San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins, San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals and Texas Rangers inquired about the right-hander and the Rangers were seemingly the most serious about a trade. However, it was reported the Rangers were "not enamored" by Gee and nothing ever came to fruition. The Giants, Twins, Royals and Padres addressed their starting rotation needs in some capacity since expressing interest in Gee.
Although the discussions have stalled in the past month, a source within the Mets' organization "expects trade talks to heat up soon," via Mike Puma of the New York Post. The source also noted that if New York cannot trade Gee, Bartolo Colon or Jonathon Niese, then "there is a chance the team would go into spring training with six starters and potentially begin 2015 with one of them in the bullpen." Matt Harvey is expected to make his return in April after missing the entire 2014 season as he recovered from Tommy John surgery and the Mets need to make room for him.
Harvey might not be alone. The team also has right-hander Noah Syndergaard starting his second season at Triple-A Las Vegas and left-hander Steven Matz likely starting the year at Double-A Birmingham. Syndergaard is considered the team's top prospect, but struggled a bit in 2014 after logging a 9-7 record with a 4.60 ERA and 1.48 WHIP in 26 starts. The 22-year-old has progressed through the minors nicely, but the Mets might have him spend a little more time developing before he reaches the major league level, which could still be in 2015.
Matz is already receiving praise after his wild success in the minors. In 51 starts between the rookie league, Class-A, Advanced Class-A, and Double-A, the left-hander owns a 17-16 record with a 2.32 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. He also has struck out 286 batters in 276 innings. The former second round pick in the 2009 MLB June Amateur Draft is drawing comparisons to a successful pitcher in the Mets' starting rotation.
"I am not making any kind of explicit predictions here, by any stretch, but there are a lot of similarities here between [Jacob] deGrom and Matz," said Paul DePodesta, the Mets VP of Player Development and scouting, via this New York Daily News article. "I am not predicting the rookie of the year 2015 by any stretch, but I do think there are a lot of similarities between the guys."
deGrom, of course, won the 2014 NL Rookie of the Year after going 9-6 with a 2.69 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 144 strikeouts in 22 starts (140 1/3 innings). Matz is projected to make his major league debut in 2016, which is when Bartolo Colon becomes a free agent. Niese and/or Gee will perhaps be easier to trade at that point as well because they'll only be one season away from free agency.
Keep an eye out for the Mets to trade one of these three in the near future.