From the Flushing Flash News Letter.
The New York Mets today announced that they acquired catchers Travis d’Arnaud and John Buck, righthanded pitcher Noah Syndergaard and outfielder Wuilmer Becerra from the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for righthanded pitcher R.A. Dickey and catchers Josh Thole and Mike Nickeas.
TRAVIS D’ARNAUD (pronounced “DAR-no”)
The 23-year-old d’Arnaud was ranked by MLB.com as the 11th-best prospect in all of baseball and the best catching prospect this past September. The righthanded hitter batted .333 (93-279) with 45 runs scored, 21 doubles, two triples, 16 home runs and 52 RBI with a .380 on-base percentage in 67 games with Toronto’s Triple-A affiliate, Las Vegas (AAA) of the Pacific Coast League, last season. The Long Beach, Calif. native missed the final two months of the season after suffering a tear to the posterior cruciate ligament of his left knee which did not require surgery.
He was named the Eastern League’s Most Valuable Player in 2011 after hitting .311 (132-424) with 72 runs scored, 33 doubles, 21 home runs and 78 RBI with a .371 on-base percentage with New Hampshire (AA). D’Arnaud also led the EL with a .542 slugging percentage and was named the league’s best defensive catcher by EL managers.
A former first-round compensation selection by Philadelphia in 2007, d’Arnaud was acquired by the Blue Jays in the trade that sent Roy Halladay to the Phillies in December, 2009. The 6-2, 195-pounder has hit .286 (523-1,828) with 133 doubles, 66 home runs, 289 RBI with a .343 on-base percentage and a .474 slugging percentage in six minor league seasons. D’Arnaud has been named to four minor league All-Star teams during that span and twice played in MLB’s Futures Game. His older brother Chase is an infielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
JOHN BUCK
Buck, 32, has 48 home runs over the last three years (2010-2012), the third-most in the majors as a catcher behind Brian McCann (63) and Matt Wieters (53). The 6-2, 230-pounder also has 160 RBI while playing behind the plate, ranking sixth in the majors during that span. Buck was an All-Star in 2010 when he hit 20 home runs and drove in 66 runs for the Blue Jays.
The Kemmerer, Wyo. native batted .192 (66-343) with 15 doubles, 12 home runs and 41 RBI in 106 games for the Miami Marlins last year. Buck has hit .235 (737-3,131) with 159 doubles, 118 home runs and 423 RBI during his nine-year career with the Royals, Blue Jays and Marlins.
NOAH SYNDERGAARD (pronounced “Sin-Der-Guard”)
Syndergaard, 20, went 8-5 with a 2.60 ERA (30 earned runs/103.2 innings) and finished third in the Midwest League with 122 strikeouts in 27 games, 19 starts, for Lansing (A) in 2012. The 6-5, 200-pounder issued 31 walks and allowed three home runs while holding opponents to a .212 batting average.
The Mansfield, Tex. native ended 2012 as the third-best prospect in the Blue Jays organization according to MLB.com. Syndergaard was Toronto’s first round selection (38th overall) in the 2010 First-Year Player Draft.
Syndergaard is 13-8 with a 2.35 ERA (46 earned runs/176.0 innings) and 196 strikeouts in 45 games, 35 starts in three minor league seasons.
WUILMER BECERRA (pronounced “Wilmer Ba-Ser-ah”)
Becerra, 18, hit .250 (8-32) with four doubles and four RBI in 11 games with the rookie-level Gulf Coast Blue Jays last year. The 6-4, 190-pounder is the son of former St. Louis Cardinals scout and Venezuelan star Wilmer Becerra.
17 comments
Mr North Jersey
12/17/2012-8:00pm at 8:00 pm (UTC -4)
Here is a nice article from earlier this year where new Mets prospect Noah Syndergaard talks about his pitches.
http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120217&content_id=26733298&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb
TX
12/17/2012-9:03pm at 9:03 pm (UTC -4)
Darrrrrr Noooo
Darrrrrr Noooo
Darrrrrr Noooo
srt
12/17/2012-9:35pm at 9:35 pm (UTC -4)
I still can’t believe that AA requested Nickeas in this trade.
Talk about respect for RA Dickey’s fluttering knuckleball.
He actually wanted backup to Thole, who sounds like he’ll be Dickey’s personal catcher.
Stick
12/17/2012-9:37pm at 9:37 pm (UTC -4)
Thole is probably hoping Dickey keeps pitching until he is at least 45. Might be the only thing to that keeps him in the league that long.
Bryan
12/17/2012-9:51pm at 9:51 pm (UTC -4)
I’m actually a little sad to see Nickeas go; he’s the perfect guy to be the third catcher in the organization and before I heard he was the third player in the deal I thought he could be helpful to d’Arnaud mentoring him in Vegas for a few weeks.
Bryan
12/17/2012-9:55pm at 9:55 pm (UTC -4)
It’s really interesting that Becerra is the “throw-in”. The kid signed for 1.3 million and spent last summer in the GCL as a 17-year old. By all accounts he has a lot of athleticism and could end up having a good power/speed combo in a corner outfield spot.
Mr North Jersey
12/17/2012-10:09pm at 10:09 pm (UTC -4)
I would of preferred the Mets to have signed Dickey to an extension but always said that if they traded him they should ask for a lot in return. Now that the details of the trade have been released a couple of things looking at this trade.
Trade has risk for both sides.
For the Blue Jays Dickey is not your typical Knuckleballer and at 38 age has to be a factor.
For the Mets it’s always a risk when trading for a prospect even ones as highly touted as d’Arnaud.
Looks like maybe Alderson understood the market after all considering that in the end he got his 2 top prospects.
Toronto in the end despite reports that they would not trade d’Arnaud did and according to AA even after he had d’Arnaud on the table for 10 days he still was not enough until he gave the Mets that 2nd top prospect.
I think both sides did well in what they got.
Mr North Jersey
12/17/2012-10:21pm at 10:21 pm (UTC -4)
Another thing on this trade. Based on what was reported if they are accurate the difference between what the Mets were offering and what Dickey wanted was about $5M or $6M over 2 years. If true I don’t think the Mets traded Dickey cause they could not afford that extra $2.5M to $3M a year and I definitely do not subscribe to the idea that Dickey was traded because of what happened at the holiday party.
greggofboken
12/17/2012-11:13pm at 11:13 pm (UTC -4)
I agree, the holiday party had little to do with it. If I’ve got it right, the timeline of events is:
11/26 (est) – Blue Jays express interest in Dickey
11/29 – Mets/Royals discuss Dickey
12/3 Winter meetings start. Jays/Mets discuss Dickey. Jays make d’Arnaud available.
12/4 – Mets meet w/8 teams re: Dickey. Royals decline to include Myers
12/6 – Winter meetngs end. Jays believe deal for Dickey is dead
12/9 – Royals trade Myers
12/10 – Mets increase previous offer of 2/$16M to Dickey to 2/$20M. Offer is not accepted. Mets send out press release re: Dickey’s presence at holiday party
12/10 – Greinke signs
12/11 – Party/Dickey remarks
12/13 – Mets intensify talks w/Jays/Rangers (others?), allude to one acceptable offer in hand.
12/13 – Jays include Syndergaard.
12/14 – Rangers out on Dickey
12/16 – Agreement in principle.
This was all driven by the Greinke signing. Sandy, w/d’Arnaud in his back pocket, went to Dickey w/a lowball offer that would have been a preferable option in his eyes to an even-up trade for d’Arnaud. Dickey’s non-acceptance of it, and Greinke’s signing that day changed the dynamic.
Stick
12/17/2012-11:30pm at 11:30 pm (UTC -4)
the holiday party stuff was background noise blown out of proportion by the media. It was a non issue.
I also think like you allude that the 2/20 offer was never serious, in that they expected him to ever accept it. IMO, it served as a message to the other teams that A) the mets and dickey were close, so he might not be on the market much longer, and B) make sure they knew Dickey would extend for a below market price.
gategem
12/18/2012-1:13am at 1:13 am (UTC -4)
I find all the background noise, the cat and mouse games, the intrigue to be quite boring. It all resulted in a satisfying trade for both sides. All the rest is horse manure. I mean this is just baseball.
Mr North Jersey
12/18/2012-12:18am at 12:18 am (UTC -4)
I was listening to the Alex Anthopoulos interview about the trade and this is how he broke down the timeline.
Anthopoulos said he 1st had a chance to speak to Alderson at the GM meetings (Nov 7 -9) during a 20 minute shuttle ride back to hotel about Dickey. Alderson said his goal at that time was to still sign Dickey and didn’t want to engage in trade talks at all.
Anthopoulos said Alderson told him he needed until Thanksging (Nov 22) before this gets resolved.
Anthopoulos said about 3 or 4 days before the Winter meetings (Dec 7-11)he made one big push to try and get something done before the meetings but it didnt get done. Anthopoulos talked again a couple of times at the meetings but not real seriously.
Anthopoulos said when they got back from the meetings they engaged again pretty seriously.
Anthopoulos said the deal was completed Thursday (Dec 13).
Anthopoulos said d’Arnaud was key for Mets from beginning. Anthopoulos tried to do it without including d’Arnaud in the deal. Anthopoulos tried a lot of different versions of the deal but Mets were pretty adament that
d’Arnaud was the guy the Mets needed to have.
Anthopoulos said when they finally put d’Arnaud on the table he was on the table for about 10 days but that wasn’t moving the deal at all.
Anthopoulos finally asked Alderson what would get the deal done and Alderson said Syndergaard. Anthopoulos talked with his people internally said it was a steep price but he felt Dickey was a piece that could put the team over the top.
http://pmd.fan590.com/podcasts/pts/PTS-2012-12-17-6-pm.mp3
TX
12/18/2012-12:26am at 12:26 am (UTC -4)
So patience can actually be a weapon to get what you need? no way…
gategem
12/18/2012-1:28am at 1:28 am (UTC -4)
Patience is a virtue and what is virtue?
http://www.yourepeat.com/watch/?v=xw-jG6Nz3Oc&feature=youtube_gdata
Mr North Jersey
12/18/2012-12:27am at 12:27 am (UTC -4)
If you count back 10 days from that Dec 13 agreement date Anthropolous must of put d’Arnaud on the table just before the Winter meeting in that 3 to 4 days before the meetings that Anthropolous was talking about regarding the big push.
Mets waited him out and like Gregg said maybe the Greinke signing may have helped push Anthropolos to finally include Syndergaard.
greggofboken
12/18/2012-12:47am at 12:47 am (UTC -4)
Thanks for the clarifications, Mr. NJ. I was piecing things together from the Rubin notes, MLBTR entries, and news stories.
gategem
12/18/2012-1:15am at 1:15 am (UTC -4)
Yawn.