Mack and Company: Trading Bobby

Mack:

The Mets were debating whether to trade Bobby Parnell to an unspecified team for a starting position player, reports Adam Rubin of ESPN New York. http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/mlb/346546/baseball-headlines?r=1

The Mets have strengthened their bullpen this week with the additions of Jon Rauch, Frank Francisco and Ramon Ramirez, so they have the proper depth if they find the right deal. However, Parnell is also valuable to the Mets because he is under team control for four more years. The hard-throwing right-hander posted a 64/27 K/BB ratio over 59 1/3 innings this past season.

David Groveman:

Trading Parnell makes sense if the Mets wind up with a player of value in a position of greater need. Frankly... the bullpen is a bit crowded with righties at the moment. What I wonder is what type of player the Mets might be looking at getting for Parnell. They'd want someone who was still relatively cheap and under team control, but who plays a position that the Mets don't have a solution for. The issue there is that a power righty relief arm is not worth a leadoff hitter CF, a starting Catcher or a SS upgrade to Ruben Tejada. The bigger question is, could the Mets get more in another trade by INCLUDING Parnell. Say... to Boston.

Charles Thompson:

Very hard to answer that question without knowing the details. Who would they be getting? That is the whole thing right there. I mean, who could Parnell realistically get them? Hard to figure. I'd have to think it wouldn't be anyone that's really a difference maker. I just can't see them getting back a player who would make the roster that much better. Right now, they've strengthened the bullpen up really good. Its a deep bullpen; maybe the biggest strength on the roster on a team where nothing truly stands out. Would I want to immediately break that apart? Again, hard to answer without knowing who'd they get back, but unless its like a potential all star catcher or a really good center fielder I wouldn't make the deal. Because you can't look at it as a simple player for player trade. You must consider that you loosing the player and taking the one real strength of the team, and making it average. They're probably thinking that since they have a surplus of arms now, they can afford to lose Parnell and replace him with Beato or Carrasco, who right now seems to be the odd men out. However, your talking about the guy, who last year was being talked about as the future closer, a guy who brings triple digit heat, and removing him from the bullpen. He's cheap, he's young, and he's just scratching the surface of what he's going to become in a year where he doesn't have to be "the man" and could just relax and learn his craft while coming in, in the lesser pressure packed innings while the other guys do the real heavy lifting. Again, hard to answer without knowing the guy who would be coming back because you can't just blindly say Parnell's untouchable, but unless it would be a really nice piece to the puzzle, I'd hold into him

Jack Flynn:

Great trade! Who would we get?

Bobby Parnell's career is really a remarkable story. Parnell had been a starter in the farm system since 2005 and hadn't pitched well at any level above A-ball. The Mets finally gave up on Parnell as a starter in 2009 and converted him into a reliever at the major league level, in the hopes that his plus-fastball would overpower hitters in short spurts. It didn't work.

Parnell has pitched out of the Mets' bullpen for three years and hasn't been particularly effective in any of them. Yes, 2011 was a "breakthrough" year in that he saw a drop in hits per nine innings and an increase in his strikeout rate. He also blew six saves in 12 attempts and was terrible after the All-Star Break.

The simple fact is that Bobby Parnell hasn't has a statistically good season since he was pitching in the Sally League in 2006. He has pulled the proverbial wool over the eyes of the entire organization for six seasons now - and if there is some other sucker willing to take him out of Queens for a player good enough to be in the starting lineup for the 2012 Mets, then Sandy Alderson should've pulled the trigger already.

Frank Gray:

Parnell is young and talented. He is the type of players that other teams want. The truth is his value in the trade market is just as high as his value to the Mets because he is still under team control for four years. He will not be a rental player. That should bring back a good package. Perhaps a multi-player deal. With that said, Rauch is only around for a year or two if they re-sign him. Frankie Frank is here for two or three. The Mets will need the youth and depth, this coming season and over the next several years. He is more of an asset to them in their uniform right now than he would be as an opposing player.

Michael Scannell:

It depends on the return. The Mets have many bullpen arms now and Parnell has value in trade. If the return is an average veteran, maybe not. If it's a younger player with significant upside at a position of need (catcher?) then they shouldn't hold back.

David Rubin:


Parnell may just be best-served by re-starting his career with another organization. It's true the Mets traded Nolan Ryan; would he have reached the same level of greatness with the Mets as he did elsewhere? Impossible to know, but fun to speculate on. Parnell is not in Ryan's category, not by a long-shot; he is, however, a good young kid whose heater is impressive but his ability to put it "altogether" just isn't there yet, and might never be. He has value due to his mph, like a Maserati; however, just like a Maserati,he might spend more time in the mechanic's shop then on the road, and that's why a change of scenery/coaching might just make sense...now, who we would get in return? That is the "$3,385.85 Question!"