Mets trade for Carlos Gomez, give up Zack Wheeler and Wilmer Flores

Update: There is no trade.

The Mets have acquired center fielder Carlos Gomez from the Brewers for right-handed pitcher Zack Wheeler and infielder Wilmer Flores, pending physicals. Gomez has been one of the best center fielders in baseball over the past few seasons, and Wheeler is currently recovering from Tommy John surgery he had earlier this year.

Of course, Gomez was signed as an amateur by the Mets back in 2002. He worked his way up through the team’s minor league ranks and made his major league debut in 2007. But his Mets tenure didn’t last long, as he was one of four players the team traded to the Twins in exchange for Johan Santana.

Gomez didn’t break out immediately—if anything, he was far from that. He generally struggled as a hitter in two seasons with Minnesota before they flipped him to the Brewers for J.J. Hardy. And in his first two seasons with the Brewers, he hit roughly the same. But in 2012, his third year in Milwaukee, Gomez was an above-league-average hitter for the first time, and ever since then, he’s been one of the very best hitters at his position.

Wheeler was a pretty good pitcher for the Mets in a season-and-a-half in the big leagues before undergoing Tommy John surgery earlier this year. Flores, an experiment at shortstop earlier this year, has struggled in his major league career as a hitter.