Bigblue25 Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 R.A. Dickey, who rose from the first cut in New York Mets spring training camp in 2010 to NL Cy Young winner two years later, will by all indications continue his epic tale in Canada. The Mets were working Saturday morning toward completing a trade that would send the 38-year-old knuckleballer to the Toronto Blue Jays, a major league executive aware of the talks told ESPNNewYork.com. Mets blog Looking for more information on the Mets? ESPNNewYork.com has you covered. Blog A major league source said 23-year-old catching prospect Travis d'Arnaud must be part of the deal for it to be finalized. "The catcher will have to be in the deal if it is to get done," the source said. Two baseball sources told ESPNNewYork.com on Saturday morning that Dickey has not yet engaged Toronto in extension talks, nor has he been asked to undergo a physical. An executive aware of the talks added that the Mets unexpectedly had been approached by another team Friday night, and that the full framework of a deal with Toronto had not yet been reached. Upon completion of the trade, Dickey would become only the fourth reigning Cy Young Award winner in major league history to start the following season with a new team via trade, joining David Cone (1995), Pedro Martinez (1998) and Roger Clemens (1999). Three other reigning Cy Young winners -- Catfish Hunter (1975), Mark Davis (1990), Greg Maddux (1993) -- switched teams for the following season as free agents. Dickey is under contract for next season at $5 million. The Mets attempted to negotiate an extension with Dickey, but the sides were approximately $6 million apart. Sources have told ESPN.com that Dickey sought two additional years at a combined $26 million to $28 million from the Mets on top of the existing money he owed in 2013. The Mets had countered at two years and $20 million, a source added. Dickey expressed his frustration with the pace of negotiations while appearing earlier this week at a holiday party at Citi Field for schoolchildren affected by Hurricane Sandy. "In the context of the market, you want what you think is fair," Dickey said. "I feel like we're asking for less than what's fair because that's how it's been for me. There is a surprise sometimes when things don't get done quickly and you already think you're extending the olive branch. At the same time, they have a budget they have to adhere to. I don't know those numbers. And I try not to take it personally." http://espn.go.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/8749427/new-york-mets-working-ra-dickey-trade-toronto-blue-jays-source-says Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steitzenhaus Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 It's unfortunate but it's a move I think you had to make with the Wilpons not having or just refusing to spend money to improve the team. D'Arnaud is highly regarded so at least they're getting a potential difference maker. Good for the Blue Jays Dickey will have a lot of success pitching half his starts at Rodgers Centre. I'll be tuning in to that team more now with Reyes and Dickey there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allstarjim Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 I'm happy for R.A. I'm just glad, no, honored, to be able to see him pitch in person against the Rays this season. It really was one of the most dazzling pitching performances for a Met pitcher ever. And that's something to say given the history of this franchise. That night in the Trop, R.A. really had the knuckler going. And he baffled them. And I got to witness it. R.A. is one of my all-time faves. I really believe he's going to have a tremendous season in Toronto. Looking at that division, the Red Sox are in turmoil. The Yanks... well, A-Rod is out for much of the season. Jeter will be playing most of the season at 39 years old. Clearly, the Jays feel like this is the time to strike. The Yanks are vulnerable, the Red Sox are in trouble. And we may be looking at a season where, believe it or not, but the Rays, Jays, and Orioles finish better than the Yanks and Sox. The Rays traded Shields, but they still have a great staff, and they got Wil Myers out of the deal. And that's a player that can really rake behind Longoria, giving the Rays some fear factor in the middle of their lineup. They also added James Loney, who I think is an underrated player. I think the Rays got a superstar in this deal, that can change the course of their team history. The Jays are going all in right now. Josh Johnson and Mark Buerhle, with Dickey? And adding Jose Reyes? The pitching is going to rival anything the American League can put up against them. And they are going to score runs. Dickey was nothing short of phenomenal last season. And when you thought teams would figure him out, he continued to dazzle and frustrate them. Dickey's season was as dominant as I've seen from a pitcher since Pedro Martinez in a Red Sox uniform. Admittedly, I have't paid that much attention to recent masterful performances like Tim Lincecum in 2008 and Roy Halladay, for say, the last 4 seasons prior to this one. But Dickey was special. And the O's... they've cut their teeth, and they are going to be bringing it on a daily basis. But back to the Mets. This is a good deal for them. I really am going to miss R.A. So it's bittersweet. He gave me a reason to be excited to watch a Mets' game again. He's an easy guy to root for. He's as good a person as he is a pitcher. But this move tells me that Sandy Alderson has the balls to make the tough choices to get this team back to contention. Seeing what Buster Posey has done for San Francisco... that gives me some real hope that D'Arnaud can be something special for this team. The Mets need a big bat and a guy that scares guys in the lineup behind David Wright. Hopefully, D'Arnaud is that guy. The numbers are very, VERY impressive. And Syndergaard is no throw-in, either. He's not close to the majors, but he's been pretty dominant in Class A ball. Now the Mets need to start to pay some dividends. Jason Bay is gone, and that's a huge relief. And at least John Buck can deliver some power from the right side when he's in there. I like this trade... but losing R.A. is like losing the heart of the Mets. I hope he wins another Cy in Toronto... and I'll be rooting them on when they aren't playing the Rays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TaylorBanksCarsonVanPelt Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 It's unfortunate but it's a move I think you had to make with the Wilpons not having or just refusing to spend money to improve the team. D'Arnaud is highly regarded so at least they're getting a potential difference maker. Good for the Blue Jays Dickey will have a lot of success pitching half his starts at Rodgers Centre. I'll be tuning in to that team more now with Reyes and Dickey there. I wish to GOD that the Mets were taken from the Madoff Lovers...its now three-four years in of mediocrity...now look at another two. If the team were not mismanaged I would give them a pass for the R.A. Dickey trade as it is good business. But the Wilpons really fucked this team up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakeMeSomeFoodHo Posted December 18, 2012 Share Posted December 18, 2012 whoa, lets not get crazy jim..yes, dickey had a great..historic even..season. but to compare that season to pedro is ridiculous and just not fair to how great pedro was. Pedro was a man amongst boys for a few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandolphScott Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 whoa, lets not get crazy jim..yes, dickey had a great..historic even..season. but to compare that season to pedro is ridiculous and just not fair to how great pedro was. Pedro was a man amongst boys for a few years. Dickey's May through June was fucking insane, but Pedro was money that whole year. 1999. Only reason the Sox made it to the ALCS (in which they were severely over matched and only won 1 game that series. The one Pedro started) Pedro Martinez is one of the best pitchers I have ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandolphScott Posted December 19, 2012 Share Posted December 19, 2012 I mean, one critique that I have of Alderson is...why didn't get he rid of Reyes 2 years ago? He could have gotten a HAUL for him because Jose was playing out of his ass. Imagine the 2-3 prospects with Harvey, Wheeler and now these 2 guys? You might have even had a chance to compete this year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allstarjim Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 I'm just saying Dickey was as dominant as I've seen SINCE Pedro. Not as dominant as Pedro. And of course, my perspective is limited, because I mostly just watch Mets baseball. Dickey had six starts this season where he went at least 7 innings and allowed just 3 hits or less. And a 7th start of 6 innings with 3 hits allowed. 22 starts of 2 earned runs or less. TWENTY TWO. R.A. went 6 out of 7 starts where he didn't even allow an earned run. Just ridiculous. In all of June... 6 starts, 5 earned runs, all of those runs came in one game, against the Yankees. And in that stretch, I got to see him pitch a 1-hitter against the Rays, an all-time sports highlight for me personally... and that hit was a generous call by the official scorer, which I really believe should've been an error charged to Wright... an infield hit for BJ Upton that Wright tried to barehand when he probably didn't even need to, to throw out Upton. He didn't come up with the ball. Dickey was so great this year. I expected him to struggle, that teams would start to figure him out. But he was in such command of that knuckler all year, and changing speeds with it. At times, it was comical to watch the swings even really good hitters would take against him. This season, for Dickey, was a better performance than Pedro ever had in a Mets uniform. Not sure if there has been a Mets pitcher as dominant since Doc Gooden. Not joking here. Maybe Frank Viola when he won 20 games as a Met. But I can't say even Pedro was this good with us for a season like R.A. was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakeMeSomeFoodHo Posted December 20, 2012 Share Posted December 20, 2012 pedro was a beast from 97 to 2003. In 97, 99 and 2000 he put up video game numbers. It was unfair how good he was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RandolphScott Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 pedro was a beast from 97 to 2003. In 97, 99 and 2000 he put up video game numbers. It was unfair how good he was. And he could still win games even when he lost the MPH on his fastball. His command was great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MakeMeSomeFoodHo Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 And he could still win games even when he lost the MPH on his fastball. His command was great. yeah, his change up was still great..he threw wiffle balls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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