A couple of days ago, rumors surfaced about a potential interest from the New York Yankees in acquiring New York Mets‘ starter Steven Matz. A deal is already unlikely because of how little time before the season the two squads would have to come to an agreement, and because the Mets won’t just give their homegrown lefty away.
Now, after looking at Matz’ remarks to the press when questioned about the Yankees’ supposed interest, any trade seems even more unlikely.
At one point, he couldn’t escape the rumors: after the report came out, his phone was about to explode with texts from friends.
“Of course, being from New York, all my friends are either Yankees or Mets fans,†Matz said to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. “That was the only thing. I understand the rumor mills, and unless I hear it myself, I’m not going to acknowledge it.â€
Matz had a 4.21 ERA in just over 160 innings last season. He was a steady presence in the New York Mets’ rotation, and even though the team added some pieces to the staff this time around, he still has a great chance of sticking in the unit.
The Mets added some pieces
Despite the Mets adding Michael Wacha and Rick Porcello to the rotation, Matz is focused on winning his spot. “As the offseason goes along, those thoughts cross your head,†Matz said. “But like I said, I think Brodie is a pretty good communicator with that stuff. Whatever transpires, I think he would come to me and tell me.â€
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said on Tuesday that he hasn’t talked to anybody about trading for a pitcher.
“We have not reached out to one club looking for anything,†Cashman said. “So I can tell you at this stage, we have not engaged with any team about, ‘What do you [have] available? What are you trying to do?’ It’s pretty early and we might very well have all the answers in camp. Doesn’t mean we won’t [reach out], but we’re still trying to determine what we have and what we don’t have in terms of the alternatives. And we like what we see.â€