Remember the rumors back in the summer of 2019 that the Yankees were suitors for, and potentially close to a deal to acquire, then-Mets righty Zack Wheeler?
Turns out that was true, as revealed by new Yankees Special Advisor to Baseball Operations Omar Minaya during his introductory press conference Thursday.
Minaya was asked what his dealings were like with new boss Brian Cashman during Omar’s tenure as Mets GM, and after bringing up the one trade they consummated together – Mike Stanton for Felix Heredia in December 2004 – he revealed the Wheeler news.
“Back in 2019, we had Wheeler out there; Brodie Van Wagenen was the GM, but a lot of the conversation was me and Cash,” Minaya said. “There was a trade in place, and I said, ‘I don’t know, I’m going to pass.’”
Minaya then offered the piece de resistance: “Looking back, I think the names that he gave us were guys we maybe should’ve taken!”
That can only lead to wonder what could’ve been, as Wheeler was not dealt and instead left for Philadelphia in free agency that winter, and the Yankees kept whomever it was that was offered – although back in January, SNY’s Andy Martino reported that what actually nixed the deal was someone involved failing a physical.
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While Van Wagenen was the Mets’ GM at the time, Minaya was on the staff as a special advisor, and had been part of a trio (along with John Ricco and J.P. Ricciardi) who filled in for Sandy Alderson during Alderson’s leave of absence from his then-GM duties in mid-2018.
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