It seems that the Met fans here that want to trade Dickey seem more like Yankee fans then Met fans. We should be happy that Dickey has emerged into this amazing talent, and try to make a run in 2013... I'm tired of hearing about trades. With Harvey coming into his own, we have Dickey, Harvey, and Niese at the top of the rotation which is a great starting three.

If his name was Tom Seaver, would everyone be still asking for a trade? Did he not just win the most coveted baseball award on a really sub-par team??? What's with you guys??!!

LETS GO METS!!!

We love Dickey. The thing is, the Mets have such a pathetic position player situation throughout the system that the team has to consider trading from its only area of strength - it's pitching - if it has any hopes of legitimately competing in this strong division. The players withe the most value in a trade are Dickey, Neise, Wheeler.
Neise is young and is the only lefty starter in the system. That said, he is still being actively shopped.
Wheeler is one of the top prospects in all of baseball and even he is being mentioned in possible trades.
Remember, this is a cash strapped team and these two guys are potential long-term solutions at very team friendly prices.
Dickey is such a wierd case. You can't ask for a more perfect time to trade him. His value couldn't be higher - he just won a Cy Young, has had several years of success, has another year under team control, and has the potential to pitch effectively for years. The Mets have three options: trade him, extend his contract, or let him play his final year and risk him going on the open market. I will say that the decision sort of has to be made by the market. If the Mets are overwhelmed by an offer for him - they should trade him. The Mets have a LOT of holes to fill and an overwhelming offer means that several of these holes would be filled for the long term. If the Mets are not overwhelmed by an offer, they should try to re-sign him for several more years and see which of their other players will net an overwhelming return. Worst case scenario, they let him play out the final year of his contract, offer him arbitration which he will decline, and they get a compensatory pick. This is much less than they would get by trading him, but it gives them a year of his leadership to help develop some of the young arms and they have as good a chance as anyone at signing him as a free agent.
It's a very complex scenario. The only reason people are excited to trade him is that it would mean that the Mets had received an offer well above what he is actually worth - which is obviously good for the team. People feel this is a possibility because teams are always desperate to get top of the rotation starters.
To sum up, the only reason people want to trade him is that the Mets are so bad that we don't feel that keeping him would really improve the team's chances of winning anything by a significant margin, and there is a good chance that the return on a trade would.

Thank you for your thoughtful reply, even if your name does end in 666!!!

I guess I'm a 44 year old kid at heart. When you have a pitcher that can dominate every 5th day, while going against the other team's ace, then I say you look for moderate priced free agents that can fill the gaps while allowing your farm hands to develop instead of trading him and hoping that you'll be something later down the road.

We are fans of a team that has poor management. This was proven last year when we allowed Jason Bay to eat up at bats, while guys like Kirk Nieuwenhuis and Lucas Duda should have been developing at the major league level all year. That nonsense last year that Kirk Nieuwenhuis couldn't hit lefties was not an excuse to not allow him to practice hitting them! He had very few at bats to even judge him properly.

I believe in magic in a bottle, and Mr. Dickey would add mega good things to this young team. You couldn's ask for a better player/dude. We are NOT WORTHY to have a guy like that, but you never never know!!!

LETS GO METS!!!

I was going to reply, but this says it all... Well said.

It has nothing to do with not being a fan- I'm a huge fan of the team. I just want to see them actually win something in the next decade. Keeping Dickey isn't going to help accomplish that goal in the slightest.

Having potentially the best pitcher in baseball on your team which would also bring intangibles (namely leadership) doesn't help your club in the 'slightest'? You're losing me quickly...

LETS GO METS!!!

When having said player led to a 4th place finish, 24 games out of the division lead, and 14 games out of the Wild Card- Yeah it's not very hard to make that argument.

And that's assuming he can repeat a Cy Young season.

When having the same management that ran to hide when the young Metsies were only a few games out of first place around the break, then who's to say trading your best player is the answer??

LETS GO METS!!!

If we were REALLY going to act like Yankee fans, we would say to re-sign Dickey AND fill all of the other holes through free agency. That would actually be the best solution.

But with a low max set on payroll, we're just trying to be creative in filling those other holes. A trade seems to be the best way to do that.

Ah, I see the confusion.
His quote was something about "won't help the club reach that goal in the slightest". That's different from what you said, "doesn't help your club in the slightest". Dickey would certainly help the club win more games. What we're saying is that the rest of the team stinks so bad that they're not legitimate WS contenders even if they keep him if they don't make significant upgrades in other areas - significant upgrades.

I agree with you on several counts - Kirk should have been given a legitimate chance last year and Bay should have been taken behind the shed. I would also love to fill the remaining gaps with available free agents. The problem is that the available free agents stink and are overpriced. They're free agents because they are old, have significant holes in their game, or will demand stud prices for mediocre returns (or even worse - Jason Bay returns). Additionally, there are very few farm hands that are even remotely likely to contribute at the major league level in the near or distant future. Nimmo has plus potential, but every other hitter in the system either strikes out way too much, under produces, can't stay healthy, or can't field. And Nimmo is still years away. It is a remarkably barren system which is the only reason why the Mets are pretty desperate to fill some of these holes with long-term solutions. These are almost never available through free agency.

I think that amazing things can happen when you have the right people/chemistry. We truly had something special happening in the first half last year, that was extinguished due to poor leadership in management. The only true area that I feel that we're lacking is at the catching position. I believe in the underdog and have been a Mets fan since I was a kid in the early 70's. If any team can make a miracle happen, it would be the Mets! Harvey looked amazing last year, and Niese I feel could continue to improve, so the top 3 in the rotation of Dickey, Harvey, and Niese could really provide a huge 1,2,3 punch. Is Wheeler close to making the team? How incredible would that be if he came up and was as strong as Harvey showed us?

The bullpen isn't as bad as everyone says, and I'm sure it's more of a coaching problem, then a player problem. I've watched many players that were good come to the Mets, only to stub their toes and then pick their careers back up only after they've departed.

I personally don't think we need too many additional pieces to make this puzzle complete!

So, in summary, I hope we keep Mr. Dickey, and maybe bring in a couple new faces.

LETS GO METS!!!

I understand what you're saying, but didn't we learn anything from trading Tom Seaver? We still talk about that... Dickey is an amazing dude...

LETS GO METS!!!

put it this way. dickey won the cy young and the mets were 11th in starting pitching ERA and we were STILL 14 games under 500. the holes on this team are too huge and they need to upgrade the roster immediately. trading dickey would help do that

It's a crazy way to do business which is considered normal, so I understand where you're coming from. I'm old school. Dude did something amazing, so you should want to reward said dude, and help other dudes on team be more like said dude. Maybe bring in one additional cool dude to compliment rest of said dudes.

Sorry for the dude rant...

LETS GO METS!!!

i love dickey. hes by far my favorite player but trading him is the only logical way to make this team better for the future.

I hear you, and the rest of the people on here saying the same thing...but you guys are saying that like it's a business, and I'm saying what I'm saying because I'm a kid at heart....I really hate what money has done to this game. Know what I mean?

LETS GO METS!!!

While the Seaver trade was terrible, I wonder if we would have done anything significant with him from '77-'82. It's possible that his loss set the stage for drafting Gooden and Strawberry. Of course, if we got someone good for him, things may have been different, but not necessarily better in the long run.

I admire your optimism.

Also, I want to add that the first half of last year was a statistical anomaly in terms of hitting with RISP and 2 outs- When the team failed to to that the second half last season the record plummeted.

I like Dickey too, a lot actually... One of my favorite players. But he isn't the long term solution, and that's what the team needs right now.

Whatever happened to a bird in the hand is better than two in the bush? Dickey is a great bird...!!!

LETS GO METS!!!

I appreciate the conversation...but I'm going to stick with my original statement which is I hope we do NOT trade Mr. Dickey, and that some of the kids on the farm play out of their minds, and we make a miraculous run in 2013...

LETS GO METS!!!
Dreaming in 2013!