The New York Mets have to either trade or release Matt Harvey this week after he refused a minor league assignment, and there has been some talk that a team like the Boston Red Sox could be in a position to take a chance on the right-hander.
While Boston is currently the best team in baseball and has solid starting pitching depth, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wrote over the weekend that the Mets would probably like to trade Harvey to the Red Sox for catching prospect Blake Swihart. Harvey will make $5.6 million this season before hitting free agency, but New York could be willing to eat some of that money in the right deal.
Swihart, a former first-round pick and once promising prospect, has not managed to establish himself in Boston. He has dealt with some injuries and struggled with basic fundamentals at times, but acquiring him would certainly be better than getting nothing if you’re the Mets.
However, the Red Sox may not be interested. Harvey is 0-2 this season with a 7.00 ERA, and he has made headlines for the wrong reasons numerous times in his career. There is plenty of doubt over whether the 29-year-old will ever return to form, but Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic notes that the Red Sox have some experience with thoracic outlet syndrome, as reliever Tyler Thornburg is currently recovering from surgery to address the condition.
The biggest issue with Harvey is probably that he has the potential to become a headache, as we saw how big of a stink he put up when the Mets sent him to the bullpen after he got racked as a starter. For a team that’s rolling like Boston, the cons may outweigh the pros.
