Oooooh! Provocative title!

Despite being needlessly attention grabbing, I firmly believe that if the Mets were to make a trade for Troy Tulowitzki, it could end up being the worst mistake in franchise history.

Boom goes the dynamite.

First, the prospects needed. Rumor has it the Mets are willing to offer 21 yr old right handed flame throwing Noah Syndergaard. It won't stop there. It would probably take catcher Kevin Plawecki, Wilmer Flores, a major league pitcher (Gee or Niese) and a couple more high level prospects. I could see Dilson Herrera being thrown in, maybe Matt Reynolds and even possibly Brandon Nimmo.  Let's be clear: this trade is not a salary dump. It's a "Move the player before he embarasses us" move. This will take top level prospects, and a lot of them.

Second, his injury history. Since coming into the league, Tulo has played more than 150 games in 3 of his 9 seasons and never since 2009. Surgery on his groin, a fractured rib, a fractured wrist, etc has limited his playing time severely. He's about to turn 30. Yeah, that sounds awesome.

Third, his salary. He costs $20 MILLION a year through 2021. Let's just say the Mets increase their salary to an even $100 million. That's almost $20 million more a year than right now. At the start of next season, the Mets would then have 40% of their entire salary eaten up by TWO players....both 30 years old or older. Unless he starts eating stem cells with a shovel, I wouldn't expect his injury and playing time issues to get better.

Every roster move is fraught with peril in the MLB. Any move can blow up in your face, so it's not like I expect everything to work out perfectly for the Mets with every trade. But if you move a Syndergaard for a Starlin Castro or Javier Baez (shortstop's on the Cubs) and something goes horribly wrong, the recovery from that move is much shorter. You've spent less, so it's easier to walk away from the player.

Giving up 4-6 serious players/prospects for a player who has been on the DL with a myriad or leg injuries (leg injuries as a shortstop? Wonder who THAT sounds likes...) and who has a HUUUUUUUGE long term contract could sink this team. And quickly.

Aside from all that, imagine the Mets are hamstrung by Tulo's and Wright's contracts in a few years. How the hell are you going to pay Harvey, Wheeler, deGrom, Meija, Matz, Prevost, Conforto, Herrera etc if half of those players turn out to be productive with salary restrictions? How about we add in Grandy? He's 33 right now, and after his season has 3 more at $15 million per. That would be 3 players, all over 30 with a total of $55 million in salary commitments?

Anyone else starting to sweat a little at that?

Hello Jason Bay!

(By the way, Tulo at the Yankees game. Imagine if Matt Harvey had done that. Yikes.)

 

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