Pete Alonso’s name was out on the market, but sources say the price was extremely high, as their heart probably wasn’t in it. The Mets understood it wasn’t happening by midday.
No-trade clauses played a big role in trades by limiting potential landing spots. But Max Scherzer wanted to win and Justin Verlander liked the idea of Houston, especially after hearing of the Mets longer-range plan.
Rival execs generally applauded the Mets’ quick reversal and thought they did well to get SS/CF Luisangel Acuna, OF Drew Gilbert and OF Ryan Clifford. There was admiration, too.
“It isn’t easy to admit a mistake,” one rival said. One oddity is they presumably will have a new baseball president in a few months. Did that person like their moves?
That person may well be David Stearns. He can’t say anything as he’s still a Brewers employee. Friends do predict he is likely to go to the Mets. One said he’d bet “a ton” Stearns takes the job.
The Dodgers, who did acquire veteran starter Lance Lynn (who did waive his no-trade), were in on not only Verlander and Eduardo Rodriguez but Scherzer, too. They made an offer of multiple prospects thought to be about the value of Acuna (but the Mets obviously preferred the one big-time prospect; can’t blame ’em).
The Dodgers also tried for new Astro Verlander, who was a late-arriving Astros pitcher in 2017, so the trashy title over LA wasn’t a Dodgers concern. The issue is they seemed to be Verlander’s second choice. One teammate suggested the Astros and Dodgers were the two possibilities for Verlander but that it might have taken extra convincing to accept LA since he loves Houston (and loved New York).
The Dodgers agreed to the Rodriguez deal with Detroit on Monday and spent the final hours Tuesday unsuccessfully trying to convince him to come, even offering financial inducements and having former Red Sox teammates reach out, including Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez. Rodriguez for family reasons preferred them all staying in Detroit in-season.
Several teams shied away from Rodriguez due to his opt-out after the year that precedes three more years (and $49M). Smaller-market teams generally didn’t love that risk.
The Reds tried for a starter and have great young players, but were handicapped by 1) not having a real chance at the biggest guys, and 2) the division-rival Cardinals and Pirates presumably being reluctant to deal with them. Michael Lorenzen, originally a Red, would have made sense. But it’s tough to compete in the trade market with a Dave Dombrowski team.