Reese Kaplan - Trader Sandy Rolls the Dice

Well, much to the flummoxed reaction of Mets fans everywhere, it turns out that Sandy Alderson does know how this thing called a “trade” works after all!  Despite allowing the whole 1B logjam to linger much longer than necessary, the team finally resolved the situation with Friday’s surprising announcement of transaction of the Mets peddling the erstwhile slugger Ike Davis to the Pirates (one of two teams allegedly with interest in Davis during the off-season) for relief pitcher Zack Thornton (plus a player to be named later). 

On the surface it seems like fair value, though it is a little puzzling that someone with numbers as relatively gaudy as those posted by Thornton never resulted in his promotion to the majors.  He’s struck out better than a strikeout-per-inning (285 in 252 minor league frames), kept runners off based as evidenced by his impressive 1.12 WHIP, and features a career minor league ERA of just 3.03 while compiling a 20-3 record.  Even stranger, the Pirates had left him off their 40-man roster and he was available in the Rule V draft but not taken by the Mets or anyone else.  Granted, his last season in AAA he pitched to a 3.91 ERA but still struck out 31 while walking only 4 batters. 

Going forward this move has several ripple effects.  First, it solidifies the rejuvenated Lucas Duda’s hold on the first base position.  Hopefully this vote of confidence resonates well with him and he continues to produce.  It’s possible, too, that with Eric Campbell, Zach Lutz and Allan Dykstra tearing things up in AAA, the Mets felt they had alternatives should Duda’s health or talent betray him.

In the bullpen the Mets do have some problems, including the heretofore very wild Jeurys Familia and the suddenly nerve-wracking Jose Valverde.  The AAA squad has some interesting relief pitchers, including a now healthy Vic Black getting people out (but still walking too many), non-roster players Miguel Socolovich (1.35 ERA) and Joel Carreño (2.84).   As of this writing it’s not clear whether or not Thornton will get his first shot in the majors or not, but trading Ike Davis does open up a slot on the 40-man roster and thus creates some interesting possibilities. 

Earlier in the week I had advocated demoting Ike Davis to deal with the return of Chris Young from the DL, but this permanent solution really caught me off guard.  Should Ike Davis rediscover his swing, then the second guessers will be out in droves, but for now I tip my chapeau to Sandy Alderson for showing both heretofore unseen common sense and a gambler’s icy blood to roll the dice, ending the 1B circus and addressing the still-problematic bullpen.   It was the right call.  His bosses have to love the fact he’s saving over $3 million in the process.  Without knowing who the player to be named later is, we don’t know the full magnitude of this transaction’s impact.   Considering it’s likely a minor leaguer, the full evaluation may not be made for a few more years. 

I’ve criticized the team for constantly going back to the well time and again for what has not worked, hoping that it will produce different results.  This move shows the team may have finally gotten it into their heads that a new direction needs to be tried.  In the scheme of things, trading someone who had become a bench player for a guy turning 26 next month and never having pitched in  the majors normally wouldn’t raise very many eyebrows, but it’s front page news for a team with roster composition issues and raises the possibility they are looking to solve them.  Maybe Alderson was serious about that 90 win projection after all.