It’s New York Mets’ rumors time! A potential trade for Starling Marte is still in the cards, apparently. The latest report has the Pittsburgh Pirates exchanging names with the Mets, but nothing is close at the moment.
The Mets will introduce Dellin Betances next week, after the New Year’s celebrations. Other players, meanwhile, continue to receive trade interest.
Here are the New York Mets’ rumors of the day:
Jon Heyman: According to Jon Heyman, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets exchanged “wishlists†regarding a Starling Marte trade. He says that nothing is imminent, but the two teams continue to talk about the All-Star center fielder.
Mike Puma: The Mets will have an introductory press conference for their newest signing, Dellin Betances, on January 2nd. The team announced the agreement on December 24 in spectacular, Christmas-y fashion.
Betances lost nearly all of 2019 due to injury, but figures to be one of the most important bullpen pieces for the 2020 New York Mets. Citi Field will be the venue for the press conference, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post.
NY Post: The NY Post named the Mets’ Jacob deGrom as its New York Athlete of the Decade. The paper considered a list of impressive athletes that played professional sports in the Big Apple. In the end, deGrom’s triumph is mighty impressive considering the names involved in the discussion.
Some of the athletes that played in New York in the past ten years are Odell Beckham Jr., Henrik Lundqvist, David Wright, Derek Jeter, Aroldis Chapman, Eli Manning, Aaron Judge, Carmelo Anthony, Darrelle Revis, Victor Cruz and Mariano Rivera, among others. DeGrom won a Rookie of the Year award and two straight Cy Youngs.
MetsMerized: Per information reported by Mike Mayer of MetsMerized, Steven Matz and Marcus Stroman are drawing trade interest. Given that the Mets signed both Michael Wacha and Rick Porcello, they have six hurlers capable of starting.
They do have some depth, with prospect David Peterson also expected to be ready at some point in 2020. Jon Heyman also reported, a few days ago, that Stroman and Matz’ names were in the mouths of other teams’ officials.
Matz had a 4.21 ERA in 2019, while Stroman had a 3.77 ERA. The latter came via trade from Toronto in July.