Zack Wheeler had an interesting career. A highly touted prospect, he went from being #6 in the draft to being considered one of the "Five Met Aces". Unfortunately for Zack and the Mets, the five aces never worked out.
Wheeler had Tommy John surgery which derailed him for two seasons. Despite the setback, his stuff was always there. The second half of 2017 saw Wheeler break out and show what he is capable of.
2019 is a rocky one for Zack. Part of this is because of the number of homeruns he gave up, something that is happening all across baseball.
Regardless of the reason, the last three starts saw Wheeler turn it on. He faced three powerhouse teams in the Cubs, Phillies, and, last night, the Yankees. Over those starts, he posted 1.86 ERA. This brought his ERA down to 4.42 on the season.
Wheeler is hitting his stride right as the trade deadline looms. This is a major consideration since he is one of the few assets the Mets have to trade who falls into the rental category. Besides Wheeler, Todd Frazier is the other one who could bring back a decent prospect.
With pitching in such high demand, the Mets could leverage a half a season of Wheeler into a nice return. The Mets farm system could use some help so getting a kid who could make an impact in a year or two is a worthy move.
There are still a couple weeks until that decision needs to be made. At present, the Mets are buried in the NL East, out by double digits. The games leading up to the All Star break and immediately after it will dictate the Mets hand. Unless there is a major run of wins, it is likely Zack is in another uniform on August 1st.
Thus far, there are no reports of contract extension talks with Wheeler appearing intent on trying the free agent market. He will be one of the better arms out there this Winter so he could be in for a fabulous payday.
From the Mets perspective, this means that trading Wheeler is the best move for them if they continue to fall out of the playoff race.
It soon might be time to start focusing upon 2020.