The New York Mets have the financial backing of owner Steve Cohen. As a result, any veteran player who could be on the trade market this offseason with a high salary wouldn’t be an issue for New York as long as the player fits within their payroll structure.
Trades within division rivals don’t happen often, but if the Philadelphia Phillies want to hit the reset button and offload their expensive veterans, could they make an exception, with the end goal being getting a player off their books?
On Oct. 6, during an appearance on 97.5 The Fanatic, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale threw more fuel on the fire on the idea of the Phillies shopping guys this winter, including potentially Bryce Harper.
Meanwhile, on the Oct. 7 edition of “Baseball Tonight in New York,” the idea was floated that the Mets could be a potential destination for Harper, and SNY’s Jim Duquette could see that happening, as New York could afford to take on the money that the veteran is still owed.
“There would be a lot of hoops to have to go through,” Duquette said. “The good news on something like that is, he has a no-trade clause, but he might be willing to accept it because he and Dave Dombrowski, the president of baseball operations, don’t see eye to eye from last year and all that. But I think there are some hurdles to come, but I’ll throw this out there just as a starting point.
“[The Phillies] need outfielders. Obviously, the Mets can use a first baseman. Would you be willing to give up A.J. Ewing plus something else for Harper? Do you want to do that? Harper’s starting to get a little bit in his mid-30s.”
Mets Urged to Steer Clear of Phillies’ Bryce Harper
Meanwhile, in that same segment, SNY’s Keith Raad stated that he doesn’t want to see the Mets in any discussions with the Phillies regarding Harper.
“I’m gonna be a big party pooper here: No,” Raad said. “I think he doesn’t want it. I think it would be a bad marriage. I think it would be a little bit strange. I’m gonna be a big party pooper. [Harper has] played with the Nats. He’s played with the Phillies. He’s eaten the Mets’ lunch for a long time. To be a Met at the end of his career, I would be blown away, and it wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.”
New York Shound’t Pull All the Stops for Tarik Skubal
Speaking of the offseason, there’s a lot of back and forth about whether the Mets should seriously pursue pending free agent Tarik Skubal, who is off to the NLCS with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
New York could meet all those demands if they choose to, but should the Mets go all out for Skubal? SNY’s Chelsea Janes doesn’t think so.
“I’m going to say something insane [but] I’d rather have two really good starters than one Tarik Skubal, and I don’t think they should do whatever it takes to get him,” Janes said on the Sept. 28 edition of “Baseball Night in New York.” “I’ve heard people say that to get people to come play here, you have to pay them more because of all this, right? We all know what that means.
“We saw how they reacted to Pete Alonso, and the guys didn’t like that. To me, if you want to be here, come. [The Mets will] give you a fair offer. [The Mets will] say we want you to be here. I’m not reaching for a guy who has kind of indicated he likes being in LA. I don’t know how real that was.”
Mets Get Realistic Take as Potential Destination for Bryce Harper