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Will Michael Fulmer Haunt Mets Fans for Years to Come?

By Former Writers

April 1, 2016 15 Comments

(R. Frank Photography)

(R. Frank Photography)

On July 31st of last year, minutes before the 4 p.m ET trade deadline, Sandy Alderson made the splash Mets fans have been waiting for. The Mets had acquired All-Star Outfielder Yoenis Cespedes from the Detroit Tigers in exchange for two Mets prospects, right-handers Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa.

The Cespedes deal, a huge improvement from the rumored one involving Carlos Gomez earlier in the week, seemed almost too good to be true. And it was, sort of. Cespedes was going to be a free agent at the end of the season and the Mets had no plans of re-signing him. He was considered a rental, a guy to come into the line up and provide a short-term boost to the leagues worst offense at the time.

In 57 games as a Met, Cespedes hit .287, with 17 HR’s and 44 RBI’s. He catapulted the leagues worst ranked offense to one of the leagues best. They went on to not only make the playoffs, but stage an impressive run to the fall classic, where they fell to the Royals in 5 games.

The name Michael Fulmer was relatively unknown to Mets fans before the trade. Fulmer was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma and attended Deer Creek High School in Edmond. As a senior he went 10-2 with a 0.72 ERA and 127 strikeouts. He also hit .436 with 6 homers. Fulmer forwent college and was drafted by the Mets in the first round of the 2011 MLB amateur draft.

ESPN baseball writer Keith Law had this to say about young righty back in 2011, “Fulmer’s a late riser in this draft, a beneficiary of all the national scouts who’ve headed into Oklahoma this year to see Dylan Bundy and Archie Bradley and have stuck around for a day or two to make the trip worthwhile. Fulmer has one of the best breaking balls in the draft to go with a 91-94 mph fastball. The curveball runs from 76 into the low 80s and has tight rotation with a sharp downward break. There’s clear effort in his delivery, as he gets his front leg down early but doesn’t get his weight on it and generates arm speed from his upper half. However, the present fastball and breaking ball are both above-average and he could probably move through the lower levels of a system fairly quickly.”

In 2012, Fulmer started 21 games for single-A Savannah. He went 7-6 with a 2.74 ERA and 101 strikeouts through 108 innings. A torn meniscus and bicep tendinitis ended his 2013 season early and halted his progression. This resulted in a poor 2014 season where he went a combined 6-11 with a 4.39 ERA. Fulmer started this past year at double-A Binghamton where he was vaulted into top prospect level. He boasted a 6-2 record with a 1.88 ERA in 15 starts at Binghamton.

Sandy Alderson had a decision to make, keep budding prospect Michael Fulmer for the future or trade him for a piece that will help the team immediately. He ultimately decided to stray from ‘rebuild mode’ and move into ‘win now’ mode in acquiring Cespedes. The fact of the matter was, the Mets had no place for the young righty. Guys like Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard, Steven Matz, and Zach Wheeler were stars already and left no room in the talented rotation for another young pitcher. Alderson simply used his depth at one position to enhance a position of need.

Fulmer went on to finish his 2015 season on the Tigers double-A affiliate, the Erie SeaWolves. He started where he left off and went 4-1 with a 2.84 ERA in 6 starts and he finished 2015 with a combined 10-3 record and a 2.24 ERA in 22 starts.

As the 2016 season was approaching, the Mets defied all odds and re-signed Yoenis Cespedes to a 3 year $75 million contract. Not only will that assist the Mets in another post season run or two, but will also save Mets fans the misery if Michael Fulmer does in fact blossom into a superstar for the Detroit Tigers.

The Mets have a sad history of trading away prospects who become All-Stars, people will bring up Scott Kazmir, or Heath Bell. Ten years down the road if people are saying “remember the Michael Fulmer trade?” It wont be in the similar dissatisfied tone, but in a grateful one. Yoenis Cespedes is smack in the middle of his prime and is a bona fide superstar. Getting to the World Series last year would not have happened without him and winning one won’t either.

Using a talented prospect like Fulmer, to acquire an unquestioned star meant for the New York spotlight would seem like common practice, but recently for the Mets it’s been anything but. Not only trading for Cespedes, but then shelling out $75 million to him makes you second guess if we are actually talking about the New York Mets.

It’s time to forget the name of Michael Fulmer and remember the one of Yoenis Cespedes as the Mets start the 2016 season in Kansas City for a World Series rematch April 3rd on ESPN.

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