R.A. Dickey Rumors: Sandy Alderson’s Patience Pays Off

After weeks of speculation and debate, it appears Sandy Alderson has decided to trade reigning NL Cy Young winner R.A. Dickey to the Toronto Blue Jays, making him two-for-two in receiving great deals for star players. The first deal was, of course, receiving Zack Wheeler for the aging Carlos Beltran at the trade deadline in 2011. If the financial situation of the New York Mets was different, perhaps the team could build around the dominance of Dickey and purchase an outfield bat on the free agent market, but given their circumstances Dickey offered the best option of bringing in an impact player. The deal will be centered around Travis d’Arnaud, who will soon have the distinction of being traded for two Cy Young winners–previously Roy Halladay in 2010–prior to reaching the big leagues. He is, according to multiple expert sources–among the best position-prospects and the game and certainly the best catching prospect. In 2012, despite suffering a knee injury, he still posted a .333 AVG with 16 home runs while displaying terrific defense. For the Mets, it could not have gone much better, as they were able to wait until the market developed for starting pitching. Once the Los Angeles Dodgers paid Zack Greinke $23 million annually from 2014 to 2018, it showed the type of value that a dominant starting pitcher has. In the case of Dickey, it is certainly unusual as he is a 38-year-old knuckle baller who did not fare well against the American League earlier in his career, but appears to a completely different pitcher now. In addition, he has the team-friendly one-year, $5 million for 2013. Dickey expressed his displeasure regarding the contract negotiations earlier this week during a Christmas event, and rightfully so. The Mets were unwilling to meet his extremely generous asking price of two years, $26 million. Whether it was a ploy to make him more appealing, Sandy Alderson was able to create interest among the league and he ultimately has the last laugh as he trades from a strength to fill a spot that was previously laughable. Josh Thole–he of the 63 OPS+ variety–will be sent in the deal to Toronto, which is interesting as it appeared the Mets were comfortable keeping him behind the plate despite his abysmal showing in 2012. It is unclear who else will be involved in the deal, although it has been speculated that it could be one of the Blue Jays top pitching prospects, Noah Syndergaard and Aaron Sanchez (via Metsblog). If this trade goes through, it is hard for Mets’ fans to be disappointed with the return. While it is never easy to give away a fan favorite that happened to win the Cy Young with a 20-6 record, the Mets have much more promising pitching prospects than position prospects, and catchers are extremely valuable. Alderson flexed his General Manager muscles on this deal. He held out for the best prospect he could receive, and it appears he has.