Zack Wheeler, New York Mets
The Mets may officially be wondering whether they’ll be buyers or sellers at the trade deadline. But with a 40-50 record and a general manager that’s throwing chairs in post-game meetings, they should be sellers. While veterans will get moved if made available, Brodie Van Wagenen needs to use his most attractive trade asset in Wheeler to reinvigorate his squad.
Wheeler is set to become a free agent at the conclusion of this season, and based on what’s transpired thus far, it doesn’t seem like he’ll be sticking around in Flushing for the long haul. So why not trade him, right?
Although his 4.69 ERA is more than a run higher than last year’s 3.31 mark, Wheeler’s peripherals (3.98 SIERA, 25.6% strikeout rate, 6.7% walk rate) tell us he’s pitching better than some of his traditional numbers. He’s also far enough away from Tommy John surgery and the issues that followed for clubs to have any immediate injury concerns. Plus, it’s helpful that his average fastball velocity has increased again, as it’s currently sitting at 96.8 miles per hour.
It looks like Wheeler’s time with the Mets has run its course — even if he says he’d be open to coming back to Flushing (I mean, what else is he supposed to say in that scenario?) — and their overall lack of competitiveness makes this an easy trade scenario to imagine. It also wouldn’t be hard to imagine him getting on a roll with a squad that has a better team defense behind him.
About Matt Musico
Matt Musico currently manages Chin Music Baseball and contributes to The Sports Daily. His past work has been featured at numberFire, Yahoo! Sports and Bleacher Report. He’s also written a book and created an online class about how to get started as a sports blogger. Check those out and more helpful tips on sports blogging at his website.
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