The Mets want to compete.
New York was expected to be sellers at the deadline but instead acquired Marcus Stroman and held onto Zack Wheeler, who is set to be a free agent after the season.
Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen discussed the team’s moves when he met with reporters Wednesday.
“Our focus at the trade deadline … is to win now and win in the future,” Van Wagenen said, via The Athletic. “We evaluated a lot of different opportunities, but we wanted to make sure we only considered moves that improved our club and kept us on mission.”
Van Wagenen: “We evaluated a lot of different opportunities, but we wanted to make sure we only considered moves that improved our club and kept us on mission.”
— Tim Britton (@TimBritton) July 31, 2019
The Mets added Stroman from the Blue Jays last weekend in exchange for two pitching prospects. The 28-year-old right-hander has a 6-11 record this season with a 2.96 ERA and was named to his first All-Star team in early July.
Stroman is under team control through the 2020 season.
“We recognize we still have a lot more work to do,” Van Wagenen said. “By making this deal for Marcus, it gives us the chance to be better right now.”
Van Wagenen said he even looked into making further moves to bolster the team this season.
“We did evaluate a lot of the bullpen options,” Van Wagenen said. “For us, we felt like getting (a starting pitcher) in this marketplace was going to be more valuable.
“There were more conversations than there was action. … For us, we weren’t ultimately interested in rental pieces.”
Wheeler, meanwhile, has a 4.71 ERA in 20 starts so far in 2019 and has spent his entire six-year career with the Mets.
“In particular to the players that have expiring contracts, we wanted to make good baseball moves,” Van Wagenen said. “…Zack Wheeler matters to us.”
The Mets enter play Wednesday five games out of the second National League wild-card spot with a 51-55 record.
“We’re the underdogs," Van Wagenen said. "We’re chasing the rest of the pack.”
New York sent starter Jason Vargas to the Phillies earlier in the week, as well.