As they prepare to sell in advance of the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, the Mets are "drawing serious interest" in Zack Wheeler, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

The Mets have been pushing Wheeler and Steven Matz to interested teams, with them having moved past the idea of trading Jacob deGrom and/or Noah Syndergaard, according to SNY's Andy Martino.

In potential trades, the Mets are willing to eat salary in order to get better packages in return, notes Rosenthal, who says the Mets prefer major league-ready prospects. That jives with what interim GM John Ricco said last week -- that the Mets plan to contend in 2019 and care more about players at the big league level than repleneshing the farm system.

The 28-year-old Wheeler has a 4.42 ERA (3.70 FIP) and 1.34 WHIP with 99 strikeouts in 99.2 innings (17 starts) this season in what has been a renaissance year after missing two full seasons due to Tommy John surgery and dealing with injuries in 2017.

Wheeler is earning $1.9 million this season and is arbitration-eligble again in 2019, after which he is eligible for free agency.

Popular in the Community