When the dust settled from last week’s trade deadline frenzy, the , , and could all consider themselves winners for having filled substantial starting rotation needs going forward, while it will take some time before the primary “sellers,” the , and , know how they fared.
The pundits who love conducting this exercise every year have already declared the , who failed to land a desperately needed frontline starter to bolster their chances of winning the National League Central and seemingly had the prospects to get one, as the big losers at the deadline. There are others who will say the , even though they had a whole of holes to fill but not a whole lot to offer in return.
But though it remained unspoken as and offered only muted hope about 2024, there was one notable loser to emerge in all of this and that would be .
A year ago at this time, the overachieving Mets, without almost all season, were comfortably 3-4 games in first place and Showalter was being hailed for having in the clubhouse. This year, despite Steve Cohen having added some $80 million to the record payroll, it’s been just the opposite, with almost the entire lineup mysteriously underperforming — which led to the trade deadline sell-off of Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, David Robertson, Mark Canha and Tommy Pham.
It was a gutsy decision by Cohen, especially since it meant eating some $89 million of Scherzer’s and Verlander’s contracts, but it was clear the Mets weren’t going anywhere this year and the farm system was badly in need of replenishing. Despite being left with a depleted starting rotation, Showalter could certainly understand the sell-off — until that is that he did not expect to be spending more money in this winter’s quality-deep starting pitching free agent market that will include among others Aaron Nola, Lucas Giolito, Eduardo Rodriguez, Blake Snell, Jordan Montgomery, Michael Lorenzen, Jack Flaherty and Julio Urias.
Showalter will be entering the final year of his contract in 2024, a year Cohen is now fully admitting is going to be a transition season as far as the Mets are concerned. At the same time, Cohen is planning on bringing in a new president of baseball operations after the season which by many accounts appears likely to be , who’s in the final year of his contract in Milwaukee. If so, it is worth noting that Craig Counsell is also in the final year of his contract as Brewers manager and has reportedly put off talks with the team about an extension.
In his press conference last week explaining the reasons for the Mets sell-off Cohen pointedly said he didn’t blame Showalter for the Mets regression this year. But he also pointedly said Showalter has a year and half left on his contract but, beyond that, “anything can happen.” It stands to reason, any new baseball operations boss is going to want a free hand — and that would include naming his own manager.
It remains to be seen how many of the bushel full of prospects Eppler got back in all his deals will turn out to be quality major league players. Of them, , the shortstop/second baseman they got from the Rangers in the Scherzer deal, appears to be the closest. There were also highly favorable reports on , the 18-year-old shortstop they got from the Marlins in the Robertson trade, and center fielder Drew Gilbert, the Rangers’ former No. 1 prospect, in the Verlander deal. But it is understandable if Showalter was watching all these deals going down, his guys, Robertson, Canha, Pham, et al., being shipped out, and listening to all the varying scouting reports on the prospects coming back and wondering if he’ll ever manage any of them.
Assuming he is allowed to finish out his contract, Showalter’s challenge will be to keep the Mets competitive with an almost entirely new rotation, presumably from within among Blade Tidwell, Christian Scott and Mike Vasil who all have shown promise in the Met system this year, and possibly Justin Jarvis, the lone starting pitching prospect Eppler got back in all his deals (from the Brewers for Canha) who’s gotten very mixed reviews.
Meanwhile, about the last place this weekend Showalter could have wanted to be playing with this torn down junker of a Mets team was Baltimore, the city of his greatest accomplishments and 699 wins as a manager. The Orioles didn’t forget and neither did their fans, who accorded him a standing ovation after a pre-game video tribute. And then the , 10-3.
IT’S A MADD, MADD WORLD
The snakebit Rays had barely a day to celebrate their , one of the most sought-after starters on the market, from the Guardians when their ace Shane McClanahan went down with a forearm injury that they say is requiring further tests. Forearm injuries, however, are never good and almost inevitably result in Tommy John surgery. If that turns out to be the case with McClanahan that would make the FIFTH Rays starter in the last two years to undergo Tommy John surgery — Tyler Glasnow in 2021, Shane Baz last year and Jeffrey Springs and Drew Rasmussen earlier this year. … Time will tell if the Orioles will rue the decision of refusing to trade any of their top prospects at Triple-A — outfielder Heston Kjerstad, infielder Joey Ortiz and third baseman Coby Mayo — for a much-needed top of the rotation starter (they talked to the White Sox about Dylan Cease and the Mets about Verlander). But they were at least able to acquire Jack Flaherty, a rental, from the Cardinals for a trio of low level marginal prospects and he sure pitched like an ace in his Oriole debut, striking out eight and limiting the Blue Jays to one run over six innings Thursday. …Most scouts agree that of all the sellers at the deadline, the White Sox came off with potentially the biggest haul, getting top rated minor league catcher Edgar Quero and near-ready lefty Ky Bush from the Angels for Lucas Giolito, hard throwing lefty Jake Eder from the Marlins for Jake Burger and Double-A righty Nick Nastrini, in the Lance Lynn deal with the Dodgers who scouts project to be a decent middle of the rotation starter or a high leverage reliever because of his above average fastball and slider.
()
