I'm sorry, but the fans who view their baseball team as a boy band and insist on sulking in their rooms for 3 days when their favorite member leaves to pursue a solo career cannot be more wrong about this one.
Yes, R.A. Dickey is a remarkable human being. Yes, the story that is the arc of his professional baseball career is a fantastic one. Yes, he put up good years with the Mets and won the Cy Young.
Nonetheless, this trade was a good move for the baseball club. Quite frankly, after decades of Vince Coleman, Eddie Murray, Bobby Bonilla, Roberto Alomar, Luis Castillo, Moises Alou, Jason Bay, and countless other trades and signings that still make even the biggest Dickey fans cringe, it's refreshing to see the Mets finally grasp the concept of "Buy low, sell high." Personally, I've dreamed of the day that the Mets would trade someone at the peak of their value as opposed of their historic pattern of paying huge prices, whether it be in money or prospects, for someone on the downhill side of his career.
I've got nothing but good things to day about R.A. Dickey, but the fact remains he's 38-year-old journeyman knuckleballer. More power to him if he can keep riding his streak of success a few more years. More power to the Blue Jays if they get it out of him. The reality, though, is that Dickey's carriage is due to revert back to a pumpkin any moment now. If you're planning on contending for a title in 2013 and one more solid pitcher could be the difference between making the post-season and not, that's a risk-reward ratio you can live with. If you're not, you get while the getting's good.
For Mets fans who for some reason keep believing that the Mets have been just one or two pieces away from contention every season since they last won the division, trading the Cy Young winner makes no sense. I get that, but it's wrong. For someone like me, who realized long ago that the team needed to be blown up and rebuilt from the bottom, this trade is one more step in the right direction.
Best of luck to R.A. Dickey, but even better luck to the youngsters the Mets are getting in return.
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