New York Mets: Revisiting the Robinson Cano, Edwin Diaz trade

The New York Mets wanted to contend in 2019 by bringing in Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz, so let’s look at how that has worked out and preview the future.

Brodie Van Wagenen got hired as the new general manager of the New York Mets and he wanted to gain the respect of the fans. So, what would a young general manager do?

Acquire big-name players. And that is just what he did.

He sent Jay Bruce, Anthony Swarzak, Gerson Bautista, Justin Dunn, and star prospect Jared Kelenic to the Seattle Mariners in return for 2018 saves leader Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano.

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Before we look at the Mets’ side, let’s see how the new Mariners are doing.

Jay Bruce was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, and the rest of the year was viewed as a rebuilding year despite the hot start the Mariners got to out of the gate.

The key piece in the trade for the Mariners was Jared Kelenic, who was seen as one of the top Mets prospects at the time of the trade.

In his first year in the Seattle organization, he nearly hit .300 with 23 homers and will certainly be wearing a Mariners uniform in T-Mobile Park as soon as next season.

Now to the Mets side of things, I think it is clear they would take a redo if we are basing it off of the first season.

Robinson Cano couldn’t stay off of the Injured List. When he was on the field he didn’t really live up to the hype. He hit just .256 with 13 home runs, which is the second-worst home run total of his career.

Edwin Diaz was the best closer in the game in 2018, as he led the game in saves with the Mariners. He was the exact opposite in 2019.

He recorded less than half of the saves he did in 2018 with 26 of them, in addition to composing an ERA almost 4 points higher than two years ago.

He recorded 7 blown saves in a year that could’ve led to a Wild Card appearance if he hadn’t struggled so much.

I think this was not Van Wagenen’s best decision he has made as the GM of the New York Mets, and all he can do now is hope that Cano and Diaz can turn things around in 2020.