Mets owner Steve Cohen took to Twitter on Monday night in reaction to the San Diego Padres on the verge of completing their second big trade in two days.
“Hey, Give the Padres credit. They had a top 5 farm system that gave them flexibility to trade for Snell. Newsflash, the Mets farm system needs to be replenished,” Cohen said.
On Sunday, the Padres traded for former Cy Young Award winning pitcher Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays. And as of late Monday night, it looks like the Padres deal with the Chicago Cubs for starter Yu Darvish is nearly official.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Cubs will get Zach Davies and four young prospects: OF Owen Caissie (18), SS Reggie Preciado (17), OF Ismael Mena (18), Yeison Santana (20).
While in the deal with Tampa Bay, the Padres gave up top pitching prospect Luis Patiño, catchers Francisco Mejia and Blake Hunt, and right-handed pitching prospect Cole Wilcox, per Passan.
Cohen clearly understands that to get a big name player via trade, let alone two, you need to have a deep farm system that can afford to trade away young players.
The Mets have been in the hunt for a star player this offseason, including the possible trade option of Indians SS Francisco Lindor. However, the team’s farm system was ranked No. 20 by MLB.com with SS Ronny Mauricio (No. 57 on Top 100) C Francisco Alvarez (No. 58), and 3B Brett Baty (No. 88) as the only prospects in the Top 100.
