Yankees fans will love latest trade talks between Mets and Blue Jays

These Blue Jays-Mets trade talks are music to Yankees fans’ ears.

Once upon a time, New York Yankees fans were worried about the Toronto Blue Jays poaching some top free agents or making big splashes on the trade market. While that could still happen, it’s certainly not trending in the right direction as of this writing.

They whiffed on Kevin Gausman, who reportedly rejected the Blue Jays’ three-year offer to remain with the Giants on the qualifying offer. They’ve expressed interest in just about every major free agent (JT Realmuto, George Springer, Marcell Ozuna, Brad Hand, Kolten Wong, DJ LeMahieu, Justin Turner), but have yet to make a move. They’ve even been linked to Francisco Lindor in trade talks. All they’ve done is sign Robbie Ray.

And apparently they whiffed again. The latest rumors suggest they talked to the New York Mets about acquiring Steven Matz, but somehow the talks got nowhere.

Here’s the latest from Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic:

"Before signing Steven Matz to a one-year, $5.2 million contract, the Mets contacted the Blue Jays to gauge their interest in the left-hander, according to major-league sources. The talks failed to result in a trade, but provided a glimpse into the Mets’ current thinking.For the Jays, Matz represented a third potential left-handed starter to go with Hyun-Jin Ryu and Robbie Ray. The team also projects right-handers Ross Stripling, Nate Pearson and Tanner Roark to be members of its 2021 rotation."

There are two reasons Yankees fans should be happy about this. First off, if the Jays were looking for Matz to help out their rotation, then they’re really desperate, because the left-hander is only getting worse as his career progresses. New York would be happy to face him multiple times per year.

Hell, he barely edged over the non-tender line in Flushing.

Secondly, if the Jays can’t talk the Mets into sending them a pitcher who has a career 4.35 ERA and has never tossed more than 160.1 innings in a single season, well, then they’re clearly not doing a good job of negotiating. The Mets, even under new ownership, aren’t exactly impossible to bargain with.

Yes, Matz provides the Mets with depth on their pitching staff, but they’re expected to add another top arm in free agency. Cutting bait with the lefty wouldn’t exactly be characterized as a huge loss.

Nonetheless, if that’s the caliber of pitchers Toronto is targeting right now, Yankees fans have to be feeling good about the likelihood of their rivals north of the border striking out this offseason.

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