Gomez not traded/Flores cries/Alderson angry/Haudricourt confused/Melvin nonplussed/Gomez=Not Injured/Scott Boras MAD/Mets are lying liars

[MNBrew]

Haudricourt just posted this blog on the JSOnline (free access) which puts a lot more details into seemingly proper context. I appreciate the last sentence gives proper credit to Doug Melvin for how he handled this whole thing. I also appreciate TH's distinct efforts at accurate reporting.

 

Both Brewers general manager Doug Melvin and agent Scott Boras disputed the notion Thursday morning that centerfielder Carlos Gomez has a hip issue serious enough to flunk a medical review.

 

The Brewers thought they had a deal with the Mets on Wednesday evening to send Gomez to New York in exchange for injured pitcher Zack Wheeler and infielder Wilmer Flores. That deal was called off by the Mets over what they said was a hip issue with Gomez that concerned them.

 

Boras, who represents Gomez, said Gomez never had a hip issue to begin with and certainly doesn't have one now. Boras said the health problem Gomez had in early June was something else that since had been medically cleared.

 

"Carlos never had any issue with his hip," Boras said in a telephone interview Thursday morning. "He had an abductor and groin issue a few weeks ago and just to make sure he was OK, we requested the team do an MRI that showed his abductor had healed with medication. The doctor just happened to throw in, 'By the way, his hip structurally and tissue-wise is clean.'

 

"So, we have evidence that a doctor on record said his hip in fact was clean. So, why did this become an issue."

 

Melvin, who would only say Wednesday night that a medical issue arose that nixed the trade, reiterated Thursday morning that the Brewers felt Gomez's hip was fine.

 

“Carlos Gomez, in my mind, is healthy," Melvin told FOX Sports' Ken Rosenthal. "There’s no issue. We don’t feel there’s anything wrong with his hip.”

 

So, what really happened that led to the Mets calling off the deal? A source familiar with the talks on both sides said a series of events that were actually financial, not medical, were the key factors.

 

That source said in initial talks, the Mets wanted the Brewers to take centerfielder Juan Lagares in the trade. The Brewers said no, in part because Lagares has an elbow issue but also because he has a four-year, $23 million contract extension that kicks in next year and they didn't want to pick up the money.

 

So, after further talks, it was decided that the Brewers would take Flores in addition to Wheeler, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery and won't be able to pitch before next June. The source said the Mets then asked the Brewers to throw in the 2016 Competitive Balance Round B pick they were recently awarded and the Brewers said no.

 

The source said the Brewers then were asked to put some money in the trade to cover part of what's remaining on Gomez's contract, including a $9 million salary next year. Considering the talent level of Gomez and his reasonable contract, the Brewers understandably declined to put any cash into the deal.

 

It was only then, according to the source, that the Mets came back and said they were calling off the deal because of concerns over Gomez's medical records.

 

So, this became a financial issue in the end, which many people would say is not surprising considering the financial constraints the Mets have been operating under in recent years.

 

And I'm guessing the Brewers are none too thrilled about how this transpired, though the diplomatic Melvin would never say so.

[And That]

Wow - glad Melvin balked at giving up any combination of the things mentioned. The Mets really have egg on their face after this.

[clancyphile]

Wow - glad Melvin balked at giving up any combination of the things mentioned. The Mets really have egg on their face after this.

 

Agreed.

 

I mean, I'd have had no trouble covering some of Gomez's salary, but the Mets would have had to give up a prospect for that consideration.

[Boomer5]

The NY Mets were asking the Milwaukee Brewers for salary relief. Let that sink in.

[logan82]

I am glad this didn't happen. Especially with all the extra crap the Mets wanted. Even Flores and Wheeler straight up for Gomez sounds like a bad deal. Flores is marginally better than Segura and a little younger. If I had to pick I would take Flores but I wouldn't give up anything to get him.

[SRB]

Can teams file grievances against each other? Not enough evidence for an actual lawsuit, but leaking that Gomez has a hip issue if that isn't actually true is pretty awful and deserves sanctions.

[Boomer5]

Can teams file grievances against each other? Not enough evidence for an actual lawsuit, but leaking that Gomez has a hip issue if that isn't actually true is pretty awful and deserves sanctions.

 

They live in Queens and they are owned by the Wilpons. They have suffered enough.

[igor67]

They wanted a competitive balance pick from us too? What a thread.

 

Just a reminder that we don't need to deal Gomez by the deadline. Parra is the guy who really needs to be dealt, Cotts to a lesser extent, but given finite time resources and potential return I would spend a ton of effort at this point until Parra is dealt.

[adambr2]

Can teams file grievances against each other? Not enough evidence for an actual lawsuit, but leaking that Gomez has a hip issue if that isn't actually true is pretty awful and deserves sanctions.

 

It's not too late for Melvin to get in front of a mike and say, 'We believe Wheeler will never pitch again. And we are concerned with Flores' state of mind following his mental breakdown last night. '

[Thurston Fluff]

Well we still have Parra / Lind / Gomez / K Rod / Cotts / etc on this team and a day and a half to make me happy and trade em all... Its gonna be depressing when we only trade one of em

 

The only two that I care about are Parra and Cotts. The others are under team control for another year or more. No need to trade them now for less than we could get if we traded them after the season.

 

As far as Flores goes I think judging his value on his low OBP now is somewhat short sighted. Gomez was exactly the same guy when we got him. As a secondary piece in the trade I thought he had value. At worst he sucks and never pans out while the team is struggling anyway. At best he blossoms like Gomez did at about the time the team gets competitive. If we are still not there by then he gets flipped for a bigger return than he cost us. Potential is nothing to sneeze at even if it has yet to be realized.

[bill hAll Star]

The NY Mets were asking the Milwaukee Brewers for salary relief. Let that sink in.

 

The crazy thing is that the Mets' payroll current status and outlook looks almost exactly like the Brewers'.

 

Wright/Braun are basically the only guys on the books beyond 2016/2017 (and Lagares for the Mets, I guess).

[bill hAll Star]

Well we still have Parra / Lind / Gomez / K Rod / Cotts / etc on this team and a day and a half to make me happy and trade em all... Its gonna be depressing when we only trade one of em

 

The only two that I care about are Parra and Cotts. The others are under team control for another year or more. No need to trade them now for less than we could get if we traded them after the season.

 

You're right that this is a reason that I won't completely jump off the ship.

 

That said, it is very, very likely that the stock will only go down for Lind, Gomez, maybe Fiers, and K-Rod. Lucroy and Braun are hard to put a direction on. Lucroy's numbers should improve but if somebody believes he's just got bad numbers due to the early season injury but is ready to go, telling teams "he has 2 more affordable years left" is better than telling teams "he has 1 more affordable year left."

 

Lind - Could easily get hurt. He's hitting about as well as he can. You can try to get more value by telling teams they'll have him for an extra year.

 

Gomez - Numbers aren't great and injury situation is cloudy, but you can market the extra contract year.

 

Fiers - Pitching very well and has been erratic over his career. You don't want to just give him away, but every year the "X years of control left!" is X-1.

 

K-Rod - He's pitching well. Contract is so-so. I'll bet the brewers would pay for the deferred part, but his stock is pretty high, and you can still say that they won't have to deal with re-signing him.

 

Braun - Hard to say. His contract still looks bad but he's hitting pretty well. It's possible that in a year or two he falls off a cliff in production and still has a few expensive years left. Maybe you can eat a year or two (easier said than done) to get some value back for him.

 

Lucroy - See my comments in the paragraph earlier about him. His numbers aren't great, but saying "2 very affordable years!" is better than "1 affordable year left!" He could obviously get injured, too.

 

Of course, with all of these guys, you don't want to give them away. However, other than Braun/Luc as "not sure" - these guys' stock will never be higher in a Brewer uniform.

[MrTPlush]

Can teams file grievances against each other? Not enough evidence for an actual lawsuit, but leaking that Gomez has a hip issue if that isn't actually true is pretty awful and deserves sanctions.

 

The problem is medicals can be largely opinionated. Teams can have varying opinions. Never go to prove it as everyone is imperfect medically speaking. He plays baseball every day I doubt he is perfect.

[brwrsfan]

Technically, the Mets were within their rights I guess, they can site virtually anything in a medical report and say it scares them.

 

That said, this is a pretty bush league move IMO.

[tmwiese55]

Wow, reading that Haudricourt summary I wonder how anyone deals with these guys. Yes, they have a completely loaded young pitching staff set up for years of winning, so frustrating.

 

Yea Flores could still click but far more likely not, but no way we were getting enough back from Gomez, maybe for Parra but that probably wouldn't be enough for the Mets. I just tried to point out that when the guy is in someone else's system he has potential (flores), when in ours he's replacement level and has no value(segura) when really they're very similar. Just lots of grass is greener people I guess.

[Point Beer Is Best]

Technically, the Mets were within their rights I guess, they can site virtually anything in a medical report and say it scares them.

 

That said, this is a pretty bush league move IMO.

 

The thought that crossed my mind was when the Mets got cold feet (or the Wilpons told Alderson to back out of it), is that when they couldn't find anything in the medical reports for Gomez, they resorted to Googling "Carlos Gomez Injury" and found the article where Gomez mentions he's been icing and wrapping his hip and thought "OOOHH, there's our out!" It's not even that far-fetched based on the craziness of the events over the past 18 hours.

[brwrsfan]

Technically, the Mets were within their rights I guess, they can site virtually anything in a medical report and say it scares them.

 

That said, this is a pretty bush league move IMO.

 

The thought that crossed my mind was when the Mets got cold feet (or the Wilpons told Alderson to back out of it), is that when they couldn't find anything in the medical reports for Gomez, they resorted to Googling "Carlos Gomez Injury" and found the article where Gomez mentions he's been icing and wrapping his hip and thought "OOOHH, there's our out!" It's not even that far-fetched based on the craziness of the events over the past 18 hours.

 

Sadly, no, it's really not that far fetched. It sure seems like that's actually pretty close to what happened. I stand by my bush league comment...

[Boomer5]

Im sure a half dozen GM's are texting Melvin to laugh about their experiences with the Mets and are kindly offering to take Gomez off our hands as we type.

[splitterpfj]

The Mets gave up a draft pick to pay Michael Cuddyer more than Carlos Gomez is making, then they made up a hip injury to get out of trading for him.

 

Watch Carlos play for two minutes - his hip is just fine.

 

They, are a complete joke.

 

Trade him to Washington.

[pacopete4]

Im sure a half dozen GM's are texting Melvin to laugh about their experiences with the Mets and are kindly offering to take Gomez off our hands as we type.

 

It'll take Doug a day to get back to them then.

[Beast Light]

Oh well. This could end up being a blessing in disguise. Wheeler worried me and Carlos is having a bit of a down year.

 

Maybe next year the Brewers can get even more for Gomez.

[NievesNoNO]

Not really a good look for the Mets the way things are coming out. I don't really understand the Indians interest at this point and Baltimore seems to me (of the supposedly interested teams) to be the team that can supply the most similar return if that's what the Brewers are interested in.

[I Heart Brewers]

I think everyone is missing the biggest part of the aftermath of what went down. How long is Flores going to take crap from his teammates for crying during the game.

 

For the record I feel bad for the kid but it was kind of funny. You know a major league clubhouse isn't letting this kid off lightly.

[igor67]

Given that the Parra trade sounded like it died rMelvin should move on for a little while.

[splitterpfj]

In the interest of fair play, sportsmanship, and not wanting to hold a silly little grudge ... by god, I want Carlos traded to the Nationals by sundown.