Detroit Tigers Trade Rumors: New York Mets Weren’t Close To Conforto-For-Martinez Swap
By Matt Snyder
The Detroit Tigers had discussions with the New York Mets surrounding a potential J.D. Martinez trade, but the Mets never seriously considered including Michael Conforto in a deal.
The Detroit Tigers spent much of the early offseason discussing potential trades of veteran players, but ultimately opted to stand pat with their roster. J.D. Martinez was reportedly among the players who drew the most interest from other teams.
Two teams in particular seemed hot to trot on Martinez: the San Francisco Giants and the New York Mets. The Mets ultimately re-signed Yoenis Cespedes to fill their corner outfield needs, but Martinez was on their radar as another potential option.
Mets beat writer Anthony DiComo confirmed yesterday that the Mets had talks with the Tigers surrounding Martinez but stated that they never considered giving up young outfielder Michael Conforto in a potential deal.
Regarding recent reports that the Mets nearly traded Conforto for FA-to-be J.D. Martinez, I'm told emphatically that wasn't the case at all.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) March 1, 2017
Yes, the Mets discussed J.D. Martinez this winter before signing Cespedes. But they balked completely when Conforto's name came up.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) March 1, 2017
The ‘recent report’ he cites is likely this one from February 23 from Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports. Heyman states that the Mets initially considered the one-for-one trade before ultimately turning it down.
"The Mets seriously discussed a straight-up swap of Michael Conforto for J.D. Martinez before re-signing Cespedes but ultimately decided that one year of Martinez for Conforto wasn’t enough. For a while, though, it was a real consideration"
We’ll probably never know how close the Tigers came to dealing away Martinez or how close the Mets were to including the 24-year-old Conforto, but the Heyman report feels more believable at this point. We’re well after the fact now and the Mets are moving forward with Conforto in their plans for the future (whether he has a starting spot for 2017 remains to be seen).
DiComo, being a Mets beat writer, likely has his contacts in the Mets organization. They would have no incentive right now to cloud their developing player’s mind with talks of trades that never happened. They would, however, have incentive to boost his confidence with talk about how they’ve always seen him as valuable — even more valuable than J.D. Martinez!
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It’s hard to believe either side with reports like this because front offices don’t ever need to talk about this kind of thing unless they get a benefit from it. Whether trade discussions are ongoing or well in the past, it’s never easy to take reports at 100% face value.