The Blue Jays acquired David Price from the Tigers on Thursday afternoon, but apparently they’re not finished trying to augment their starting rotation.
Chris Cotillo of SB Nation is reporting Toronto has “mild” interest in acquiring Jon Niese from the Mets, along with Andrew Cashner from the Padres.
Sandy Alderson has said publicly the speculation the Mets would be interested in trading anyone from their starting rotation isn’t true. However, he told reporters at Citi Field last week the club will not trade any of the four young starting pitchers in the rotation this summer.
Presumably, that group of young pitchers includes only Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Steven Matz, and not Niese or Bartolo Colon.
Right now, the Mets would be in a tough spot if they dealt Niese with Matz out and no timetable for a return. If they moved Niese they’d have to turn to someone like Logan Verrett or Dillon Gee to fill the void.
But if the Mets can get the bat they want back in a deal for Niese, whether it’s to Toronto or anywhere else, then they can’t not consider it, at least.
They’ll have some clarity on Matz in the next few days, but that will be beyond the deadline in all probability.
Just Mets 