By Steven Inman
According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports the Royals, in their pursuit of an ace pitcher have checked in with the Mets about the NL Cy Young award winner R.A. Dickey. The two sides have talked but nothing is close. The Mets would probably want catcher Salvador Perez or OF Wil Myers. Perez, 22, has been Kansas City’s starting catcher the last two years and is on one of the best bargain contracts in all of baseball. Myers is one of the best if not the best prospects in the game. He could step in and play right field in the majors on Opening Day.
The Royals aren’t trading Perez. He is about as untouchable as young players get. The Royals, according to Heyman would prefer to give the Mets other prospects not named Wil Myers. He is not untouchable though and has been dangled in trades for starting pitchers. They have also checked in with the Red Sox and Rays about Jon Lester and James Shields respectively. They may not be the best fits however.
Boston is looking to add pitching not subtract from it and the Rays are asking for a bounty and a half for Shields. James Shields is coming off a very strong season and the Rays would ask for more than just Myers for him.
Dickey was last in Kansas City in July to pitch in the all-star game.
Dickey is under control for just one year at $5 million. The Royals are said to only have $6 million to spend this offseason. Dickey could be a fit for KC. If the Mets were willing to let the Royals negotiate a contract extension with Dickey that might be the deciding factor in them giving up Wil Myers. Dickey is looking for a contract near what Jake Peavy got with the White Sox at two years and 29 million. The Royals just gave Jeremy Guthrie that money so if they could justify that, why not give the same contract to the 2012 Cy Young award winner?
The Mets are taking calls for Dickey while also negotiating a contract extension for him. They would love to agree to a two year deal at less than ten million with Dickey but it is uncertain if that will happen. Hopefully we will get a lot more clarity on Dickey’s situation during the Winter Meetings starting on Monday.
