David Robertson reacts to Mets trading him to Marlins: ‘I wanted to be here’
David Robertson had a feeling it was coming, but he was still surprised by it.
Following the Mets’ 2-1 victory over the Washington Nationals on Thursday night, the team traded its best reliever to the Miami Marlins for two minor league infielders.
“I figured I would be moved. I didn't know where,” Robertson said after the game. “It was kind of a shock, but It’s part of this game.”
Robertson was actually warming in the bullpen when the Mets tied the game in the bottom of the eighth before a rain delay stopped play. When he was in the dugout with his teammates, manager Buck Showalter told him a trade might be happening but the veteran right-hander said that the team wasn’t going to let him go out there in the ninth when play resumed anyway.
The Mets sit at 48-54 and seven games back of a Wild Card spot. Leading up to the Aug. 1 trade deadline, Robertson’s name popped up in trade speculation constantly and the 38-year-old said that this stretch of games was not easy for him knowing he could be traded at any moment. Despite that, he remained committed to helping his team win.
“It’s a lot to deal with and still compete between the lines knowing you might not be on this team very long,” he said. “ I just tried to deal with it ,and stay calm and collected, and make pitches and do what I’m supposed to do with the team that’s paying me to play for them.
“Now I’m being moved and I’m going to enjoy my time in Miami and enjoy another group of guys who are trying to win ball games.”
The Mets signed Robertson to a one-year, $10 million deal in the offseason to beef up a bullpen behind All-Star closer Edwin Diaz. With the one-two punch, and coming off a 101-win season, the Mets were expected to do great things in 2023 but it just didn’t happen.
Robertson did his part, pitching to a 2.05 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 48 strikeouts in 40 appearances including 14 saves.
Despite the struggles this season, Robertson still believes this Mets team has a ton of talent and can turn things around.
“It was disappointing this season,” he said. “The season’s not over. Things can turn around. There’s a ton of talent in this clubhouse. We just weren’t able to put it together. When you can’t put it together in time, GMs and owners have to make decisions and I was one of those decisions and I got moved.”
This is the second consecutive season Robertson was traded at the deadline. Last year, he went to the Philadelphia Phillies, who got hot at the end of the season, won a Wild Card spot and made it to the World Series.
But it was in New York with the Mets that he thought he’d have a chance at doing something special.
“I signed here expecting to play for a team that was going to compete for the division. … We still had the guys to get it done, we just couldn’t put it together. I don’t know what it was for some reason, but there’s still a lot of season left. They can still turn it around. Until you’re mathematically eliminated, you’re still in this thing
“For me personally, I wanted to be here. This was the place to play. I thought this was the spot to be and have a good chance of winning it all. I’m going to move on and join my new team and focus on that goal now.”
