Just Mets

Late Saturday night, the Braves announced they acquired RHP Bronson Arroyo and RHP Touki Toussant for INF Phil Gosselin.

Toussant was the 16th overall pick in the 2014 first-year player draft. Arroyo is recovering from 2014 Tommy John Surgery, and could return in the second half.

Toussant, 19, is clearly a building block towards Atlanta’s plan for 2017, the year Suntrust Park opens north of Atlanta.

The deal certainly seems one sided and motivated around the Diamondbacks cutting payroll, but the inclusion of Toussant essentially for a utility infielder and salary relief seems odd.

Anyway, this deal could be problematic for the Mets, assuming the Mets enter the trade market this summer.

If they are intent on making a deal for the versatile player they might be seeking, a steep precedent has been set by this deal. Presumably, the Mets would consider aiming higher than a player of Gosselin’s caliber, but if the return for a player like him is a top prospect, the price might only be higher in trade for a better player, which might be too big of a pill for this front office to swallow.

It stands to reason, because it’s hard to imagine the Diamondbacks got dollar-for-dollar value in this deal in terms of talent.

It’s possible the Mets might need to clear some salary before taking on additional payroll, meaning they might need to find a new home for one or both of Dillon Gee’s and Jon Niese’s contracts before making a deal. In fact, Buster Olney of ESPN says the perception among people in the industry is the Mets are unwilling to add to their payroll this summer, further supporting that notion. 

The Mets have been linked to players such as Aramis Ramirez, Ben Zobrist, Jean Segura. However, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York downplayed the possibility of the Mets acquiring Ramirez, saying it was unlikely. In addition, while the Mets have expressed some interest in Zobrist, reports Ken Rosenthal FOX Sports, but Jon Heyman of CBS Sports says for whatever reason, their interest is isn’t high in the versatile former All-Star right now.

This certainly explains why the Mets having been trying hard to trade their veteran pitchers now, according to Andy Martino of the Daily News. The Mets could also dangle Rafael Montero, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post, but his value remains limited as he continues to struggle to return from a rotator cuff injury.

Even so, Sandy Alderson has described the current trade market as, “tight,” despite the latest trade involving Arizona and Atlanta, among others taking place in the marketplace.

Regarding Gee, Sandy Alderson said following the decision to designate the veteran right-hander for assignment he hoped he could move Gee before being forced to try to pass him through waivers. He had seven days following the assignment to trade Gee before having to waive him (the waiver period is 72 hours), as he had ten days to trade, waive, release or outright Gee to the minor leagues.

Given Gee has three years of big league service time, he has the option to refuse an outright assignment to the minor leagues. But since he doesn’t have five years of service time, he would forfeit the remainder of the $5.3 million owed to him in 2015 if he chose to become a free agent.

As such, it would be a surprise if Gee were to refuse an outright assignment, since he would likely sign a minor league deal with a new club and only earn the prorated sum of the major league minimum if he were to get promoted again.