MARLBORO, NY – It’s the end of July. If you’re a New York Mets fan and have nothing to look forward to – except a purge of the current roster before this coming week’s trade deadline – what does one talk about regarding sports? I can go in a few directions; like Dez Bryant shooting his mouth off, or the fact that Malcolm Jenkins is still keeping the National Anthem protest alive and well. But I’m not choosing either of those, despite how irksome they are to me, as my hatred of the New York Yankees is front and center on this day.
There was a time in baseball when front offices were very cautious on who trade partners were in consummating a deal. This concept has been blown out of the water recently in deals involving the locals. The Evil Empire struck transactions involving the Baltimore Orioles and Toronto Blew Jays in acquiring something that doesn’t grow on trees– a pair of arms each for the bullpen (Zach Britton) and for the back end of the rotation (J.A. Happ). Meanwhile, the Mets sent one of a very few on the team with a clue at the plate in Asdrubal Cabrera to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Listen, the teams trading away proven Major Leaguers are mired in lost seasons and have gotten unproven chips in the form of prospects, who are now given numbers to signify their big league potential. But all three of these deals have happened within divisions and to teams poised to win the AL and NL East. Why make the rich richer? Find a better deal elsewhere but by all means don’t do this within the division. Can you imagine this happening twenty, thirty, or forty years ago? It would never or very rarely happen. General Managers do owe it to the organization and fan base to get the best deal but at what cost? Seeing a rival pad a roster with proven players to win a World Series that was realized by trades from division rivals would set me over the edge if I was the GM to facilitate that championship.
Furthermore, does this wheeling and dealing within your division mean the Yankees and Mets are potential trade partners? I’d much rather an in-city swap rather than in-division trading. Yes, you have the constant memory if a former Met (Jacob deGrom?) tears things up as a member of the Yankees, but the chances of said player tearing you up are slim and only relegated to inter-league play. This is a totally one-sided viewpoint that I’m laying on you folks, as these prospects can turn out to be what they are bandied about in which case all would be well for these teams in the future but winning now is the most important thing as a fan and it appears that the Yankees and Phillies are prepared to do so.
Come back tomorrow for a man who drinks the Evil Empire Kool-Aid, DJ Eberle.
