There were plenty of rumors, but the Mets ultimately decided not to make a move on deadline day.
The MLB trade deadline has come and gone. Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler, Todd Frazier and Edwin Diaz were all on the trading block at some point, but 4 p.m. has passed and all four players still remain on the Mets' roster.
Overall, it turned out to be a quiet deadline in Queens. The Mets did their work early, as they traded for Toronto's Marcus Stroman on Sunday, and then sent Jason Vargas to Philadelphia on Monday.
Perhaps the Mets decided to stand pat because of their slight resurgence in the NL wild-card race. Mickey Callaway's team seemed out of it at one point, but now they are only five games back of the final wild-card spot. They might have opted to sell more than just Vargas had they not gotten themselves back in the hunt for the playoffs.
General manager Brodie Van Wagenen spoke to the press not long after the trade deadline expired. He insisted that his desire is to win both in the present and in the future.
"Our focus at the trade deadline ... is to win now and win in the future," said Van Wagenen. "We evaluated a lot of different opportunities, but we wanted to make sure we only considered moves that improved our club and kept us on mission."
Syndergaard had been linked to the Padres, who have long been interested in acquiring the 26-year-old. But San Diego never met the Mets asking price for Syndergaard, which was reportedly quite high, given he was one of the most valuable players who could've been available at the deadline. The Mets' righty still has two more years left before he can become a free agent. Fans will surely be happy to see him sticking around.
Wheeler was rumored to be going to a number of teams at different points over the last few days. The Yankees, Athletics, Braves, Brewers, Astros and Rays were all reportedly looking at the 29-year-old, but no agreements ever materialized anywhere. Houston were apparently the favorites for Wheeler at one point. Instead, they traded for Zach Greinke.
Van Wagenen claimed the team wants to keep Wheeler around for a long time.
"Zack Wheeler matters to us. We think he's a good pitcher. We have interest in him being a Met for the long term."
The first-year GM seemingly thought better of trading Edwin Diaz, who has struggled heavily in his first season in New York. Diaz was only just acquired last December, and the Mets gave up quite a haul to Seattle to add him and Robinson Cano. The Red Sox were apparently interested in trading for the Puerto Rican closer, but that never came to fruition.
New York will try to continue its push up the standings against the White Sox on Wednesday night and Thursday night.
