WASHINGTON — Zack Wheeler planned to spend Monday’s off day at a dinosaur museum, as Mets officials searched for the kind of potential trade that is becoming extinct.
Five years ago it might have been easy to find teams willing to part with a top prospect at the trade deadline for the middle-of-the-rotation help Wheeler can provide, but in 2018 it’s a stiff challenge.
So the Mets will head to Tuesday’s 4 p.m. non-waiver trade deadline expecting to keep the 28-year-old right-hander, but hopeful Tyrannosaurus Rex might still appear, in the form of a fruitful trade.
The Mets are unlikely to deal Wheeler without receiving a team’s top-five prospect and at least another mid-level minor league player in return, according to industry sources.