New York Yankees Editorial: Matt Harvey to the Yankees?

There’s a famous saying in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy that reads;

"“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”"

Unfortunately for New York Mets fans, it appears as if their hero Matt Harvey has turned to the dark side, especially after siding with his agent Scott Boras in regards to his 180-inning limit. Instead of chasing a World Series Ring along with his teammates, something Mets fans haven’t seen since 1986, Harvey is electing to sit out of playoffs to follow strict orders from his doctors and his agent to not go over the innings limit.

But who are we kidding? This isn’t about the Mets, this isn’t about their fan base and this isn’t about a World Series at Citi Field.

This is about one thing, and though Scott Boras or Matt Harvey might night not admit it, it’s all about the Benjamin’s.

Despite undergoing tommy john surgery back in 2013, Harvey still remains one of the games best pitchers, and at just 26-years old, he’s certainly in line for a lucrative long-term deal, which is a significant raise from his current annual average earnings of $614,000.

You can’t blame Matt Harvey here at all. This game is a business, and a players professional window doesn’t stay open forever.

But the problem here is that Matt Harvey has embraced the ‘Dark Night’ comparisons from the Mets fan base and established himself as a blue-collared work horse who never once turned down a challenge. This was once a guy who wanted to ignore team doctors last season and come back and pitch meaningless ball games in September just to get back in front of the fans and speed up his return from tommy john surgery. This was once a guy who only cared about winning.

And of course now that the Mets are running away with the NL East and have their eyes on the post-season for the first time in seven long years, Matt Harvey is suddenly concerned with an 180-inning limit imposed on him at the start of the season?

Come on.

No wonder why the Mets front office is fed up with him.

No wonder why Mets fans are calling for him to be traded.

No wonder why this is the perfect opportunity for the Yankees to step in and work some magic.

Let’s look past the obvious fact that Harvey is a long-time Yankee fans and was spotted in Yankee Stadium wearing a New York Knicks hat during one of Derek Jeter‘s final home games. Let’s look past the fact that Sandy Alderson would have to negotiate with Brian Cashman and the cross-town rival New York Yankees to actually strike a deal.

These are simply non-factors.

If both teams can help one another and the Yankees can come up with a fair offer, a trade is certainly possible.

The question now becomes whether or not the Yankees have the assets to strike a deal.

It’s become obvious the Luis Severino is untouchable, but other prospects like Aaron Judge, Gregory Bird and Jorge Mateo who were deemed untouchable as well at the trade deadline might see their status’ change when it comes to being dealt for Matt Harvey.

The two gaping holes the Mets have is at shortstop and outfield, so a deal centering around prospects Aaron Judge and Jorge Mateo might be appeasing. Throw in prospect like Jacob Lindgren and Ian Clarkin who can help with the future of the Mets bullpen and maybe even Ivan Nova and Sandy Alderson might even raise an eye brow.

Of course Alderson has to factor in that if the Mets don’t trade Harvey before 2018, they’ll likely lose him for nothing. As a Scott Boras client, there’s a zero percent chance that Harvey signs a contract extension without testing the free-agent market. The Yankees, Dodgers and a ton of other teams with more money than the Mets are likely to get into a bidding war in the 2018 Winter Meetings for Harvey anyway, so why not deal him when you can?

Why not deal him at a time when he put himself over the entire organization? Why not deal him now?

New York Yankees Editorial: Matt Harvey to the Yankees?

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