“I’ve not specifically been told about him saying that, but that’s not happening. He has a lot of control over where he goes, and it’s a division rival, so what’s been communicated to me, it’s probably a little of both.”
The words of acting Mets GM Zack Scott, speaking to Carton & Roberts about the rumors that Max Scherzer has refused to waive his no-trade clause to come to Queens.
That said, even after Rich Hill was acquired last week, and even with Carlos Carrasco due back this weekend and Jacob deGrom hopefully next week, Scott says pitching is still the Mets’ priority ahead of Friday’s trade deadline.
“The deal for Hill helps, and we have Carrasco and deGrom coming back, so I feel pretty good on our direction,” Scott said, “but we had three recent games where TBA was our starter, and that’s less than ideal. We’re still interested though because our depth is still pretty much who we have right now. If we can acquire someone who improves that depth, we’re open to that.”
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According to Scott, though, it likely won’t be a Jose Berrios-type top-tier starter, but more of a back-end starter who can step up and help the Mets there.
“Right now, assessing the market, I’d say it’s more of a depth guy; I do think we have good top of the rotation guys. We have a good chance to make the postseason, and if we have our top three healthy with Carrasco continuing to get lengthened out, we have some depth there. It’s more likely to be someone who raises our floor than our ceiling, in a sense, to keep us from having less than ideal options taking the mound.”
The bullpen may also be a possibility to be bolstered, so when Craig & Evan naturally asked about Craig Kimbrel, Scott reiterated that he has faith in Edwin Diaz, but also has faith he could pitch outside of being the Mets’ closer.
“I have no concerns about Edwin pitching in any inning, and I don’t believe the narrative about pitching in non-save situations,” Scott said. “Sometimes the results haven’t lined up, but that’s just sometimes the way things go, and you can create a narrative on small sample size. He can handle any role, and I understand that Luis Rojas has to manage these guys, but I think Edwin can be an impactful arm in any situation.”
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Scott noted that he understands defined roles can be important to some players – including Kimbrel, whom he had briefly while he was in Boston – but he believes that it’s important to have conversations with players who might be shifted due to trade acquisitions about that before making a deal.
“Here’s how I look at it: if we were going to acquire someone, I would definitely want to talk to Luis and the players themselves before we finalize that, because I think it’s important,” Scott said. “The positive culture we have is part of what’s helped this team survive some really adverse times, and I don’t want to do something that can drastically effect that. I want to be open and talk to the players when there’s something potentially disruptive.”
To that effect, Scott relayed a story about the Red Sox acquiring Eric Gagne in 2007 when they already had Jonathan Papelbon, and how that unfolded.
“Gagne didn’t turn out well for us, but we had that conversation with Papelbon and told him we’re acquiring a potential Hall of Fame closer. There were emotions, and that’s understandable, but it was good to have a conversation,” Scott said. “So, if I went to Francisco (Lindor) and said we’re going to add a shortstop and maybe he’s not comfortable with it, maybe we don’t do it. The thing is, we don’t just do a move that may be disruptive to a clubhouse and they find out on twitter. That’s not the way to do business.”
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