First the New York Mets tried to trade starter Bartolo Colon before the July 31 deadline, but nobody would take him unless the Mets ate some of his salary. Then they tried shopping Dillon Gee this offseason and it hasn't gone too well. Will Gee be on the move before spring training?
With Matt Harvey returning in April from Tommy John surgery, the Mets will have six starting pitchers to kick off the 2015 season. And that's not counting the eventual promotion of top prospect Noah Syndergaard, who is expected to reach the big leagues at some point in 2015. Gee, Colon and Jon Niese were subject of trade talks earlier in the offseason, but nothing has developed since the Rangers, Rockies, Padres and Giants expressed interest in Gee as recently as two weeks ago.
Is he the most likely to be traded?
According to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, it doesn't look like it right now. He says the team is "not close" to trading Gee, or any of their other starters. Jay Jaffe of Sports Illustrated suggests Gee or Niese are likely to be moved before Opening Day, but he doesn't limit them to those options. New York has a stockpile of young talent pitchers, including Syndergaard, Rafael Montero, Steven Matz and Marcos Molina.
"That wealth of young pitching may be unequaled in the game today and it's clearly the future on which the team's competitive aspirations rest, but that doesn't mean the Mets should hoard it," Jaffe writes. "Instead, they can use their surplus of arms to fill other needs."
Well, the Mets are apparently unwilling to surrender their young pitchers, which was revealed when they refused to send a couple of top prospects (which would have included Syndergaard or Matz) to the Tampa Bay Rays in a three-way deal that would have yielded them shortstop Ian Desmond from the Washington Nationals. It was said New York was hoping to land shortstop Troy Tulowitzki by sending the Colorado Rockies a trade package centered around Syndergaard, but it was rejected before the 2014 deadline.
Nonetheless, out of their possible trade pieces, it appears Gee will be the most likely to go. The right-hander is owed $5.3 million in 2015 and is under club control through the 2016 season, compared to Colon (owed $11 million in 2015) and Niese (owed $16 million through 2016). The 28-year-old Gee has also garnered the most interest in trade talks, so keep an eye out for any teams that suffer injuries to their starting rotations within the next three weeks.
They might be giving the Mets a call to fill any voids heading into the season.
