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Since the New York Mets and David Wright reached an agreement on a lucrative contract extension late last week, there continues to be mixed opinions on whether the organization will extend their NL Cy Young award-winner R.A. Dickey, or move him for a package of high-upside prospects.

Earlier this morning, CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman reported that as many as eight teams are interested in the 38-year-old knuckleballer, including the Kansas City Royals, Baltimore Orioles, Texas Rangers, Los Angeles Dodgers, Arizona Diamondbacks, Boston Red Sox, Toronto Blue Jays and Washington Nationals. However, now that the Nats are likely to sign free-agent Dan Haren (as tweeted by Ken Rosenthal), it’s safe to rule them out of the mix.

Here’s a look at a prospect package from each of the seven aforementioned teams that could potentially be used to land R.A. Dickey.

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The Mets‘ newly crowned NL Cy Young Award winner R.A. Dickey could very well be traded this offseason if the right deal is presented. The Mets recently picked up his $5 million option for 2013, but with his trade value as high as it will ever be, plus the fact that his 2013 salary is not particularly high, the Mets could definitely find other teams that would be interested in Dickey.

There are some factors regarding Dickey getting traded that could potentially benefit the Mets. For one, Dickey is 38 years old. Despite the two solid seasons he had in 2010 and 2011, along with his spectacular 2012 season, no one knows for sure whether he can keep pitching the way he has for a long time.

Knuckleball pitchers tend to pitch more through later years in life than most conventional pitchers, but with the way Dickey’s unique career has gone, anything could possibly happen in the future.

Secondly, the Mets happen to have a lot of good starting pitching, with Dickey, Jon Niese, Matt Harvey, Johan Santana and Dillon Gee all currently projected to be in the Mets’ 2013 Opening Day rotation. There is also top prospect Zack Wheeler, who could be promoted as early as May or June.

If and when Wheeler is promoted though, the Mets would have to make a tough decision as to who Wheeler would replace. Logically, Gee would be the odd man out unless Santana for example gets hurt again and misses significant time. On the other hand, if Dickey gets traded, the Mets could use a temporary fifth starter for the first few months until Wheeler is ready.

Thirdly, the Mets desperately need a solid right-handed hitting outfielder in their lineup for two reasons. One reason is that the Mets lack significant power beyond David Wright and Ike Davis. A right-handed hitting slugger in the fifth spot of the lineup would immediately improve the Mets’ offense. The other reason is that the Mets already have quite a few left-handed hitters in their lineup and could use another right-handed slugger against left-handed pitching in particular. If Scott Hairston does not return, the need for a right-handed hitting slugger would increase significantly.

Despite all this though, it would be very tough to see the Mets trade Dickey away, even if it would improve the team in the long run. The Mets were the team that ultimately gave Dickey an opportunity to play for them in 2010. After signing a minor league contract that year, he was the first player cut before Opening Day. However, in the middle of May that year, the Mets needed a starting pitcher, so they called up Dickey.

Dickey responded with an 11-9 record, a 2.84 ERA, two complete games and one shutout in 26 starts. It was something that no one had expected, being that Dickey was initially just going to be a temporary spot starter. But his unique pitching style, plus his great control helped him become more successful than ever before.

Dickey’s 2011 season may not look as good, with an 8-13 record and a 3.28 ERA. However, he didn’t get particularly good run support that year. Had the Mets’ offense and bullpen been more consistent, his numbers and record in particular would have definitely been better.

Dickey’s first two seasons as a Met were both very nice, but they ended up being nothing compared to his heroics in 2012. This past season, Dickey was arguably the most dominating in all of baseball for the entire year. He won the NL Cy Young Award with a 20-6 record, a 2.73 ERA, a 1.053 WHIP, five complete games, three shutouts and 230 strikeouts in 233.2 innings pitched.

In between all of that, Dickey had two consecutive one-hit shutouts and 44.1 consecutive scoreless innings pitched to set a new Mets record. He also made the All-Star team for the first time in his career and pitched well despite not getting the start.

The 2012 Mets only won 74 games altogether, but the fact Dickey himself recorded 20 of those 74 wins is quite remarkable. It goes to show how valuable he was for the Mets. Not only did he help the Mets win when he pitched, but his great season also led to more ticket sales at Citi Field, more merchandise sales, and altogether, more money for the Mets.

Even though the postseason became a lost cause by August, Mets fans still came out to see Dickey pitch, and it kept them interested in the team down the stretch more than anything by far.

Until this year, the Mets had not had a player win such a major award since Dwight Gooden won the NL Cy Young Award in 1985. The fact that Dickey became just the third Met to ever win the award is special in itself, but when mentioning his name alongside Gooden and Hall of Fame pitcher Tom Seaver, it shows the kind of elite company Dickey is now a part of.

As far as the Mets’ future is concerned, Dickey would definitely be a big part of it. He is currently the Mets’ ace and has the veteran presence necessary to offset the Mets’ younger talent, which includes Niese, Harvey and Wheeler. With another solid season in 2013, Dickey could help lead the Mets back to the postseason for the first time since 2006. Even 15 or 16 wins and an ERA below 3.50 would be great from Dickey in future seasons, which means he does not necessarily have to pitch like a 20-game winner all the time.

The Mets have not been rumored to be looking to trade Dickey due to anything bad. It’s clear that Dickey would certainly help the Mets for at least the next two or three seasons if he remains a Met. The fact of the matter though is that the Mets already have a big strength in their starting pitching. However, they also have three glaring weaknesses in their outfield, at catcher and throughout the bullpen. In order to upgrade a weakness, the Mets will have to sacrifice one of their strengths.

While starting pitching is one of the Mets’ bigger strengths, Dickey does not necessarily have to be the one that ultimately gets traded. Other teams could be just as interested in Niese, who is younger and left-handed. Niese also has a relatively cheap contract that other teams might like. Lesser trade options among pitchers could include Dillon Gee, Jeruys Familia, Jenrry Mejia and Collin McHugh.

The Mets also have other assets they could part ways with beyond pitchers. Offensively, the Mets have quite a few infield prospects that could be dealt, especially when considering the likelihood of David Wright and Ike Davis staying at third base and first base for the Mets for many more years. Some of the Mets’ top infield prospects include Wilmer Flores, Gavin Cecchini, Reese Havens and Jefry Marte. Outfield prospects Cesar Puello, Juan Lagares and Matt den Dekker could all be trade bait as well.

Very few, if any of these prospects would likely interest other teams more than an established veteran like Dickey, but they are still worth considering for the greater good of the Mets.

The fact of the matter is that Dickey has done so much for the Mets this past season, and with his story and everything that has happened, the Mets just can’t trade him right now. His value to the Mets completely outweighs his value on the open market, and the Mets could always find other players to trade at the right price.

Whether Dickey will be a Met in 2013 or playing elsewhere is nowhere close to being decided any time soon, but hopefully, the upcoming Winter Meetings in December will provide some clarity on what the Mets decide to do so with both Dickey and David Wright. Hopefully, the right decisions will be made because both deserve to be signed long-term by the Mets. Replacing either or both right now would be almost unimaginable and hopefully, the Mets will realize that very soon.

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Only the Mets can find a way to not keep a pitcher who wins, or contends for a Cy Young award. The New York Mets have a lot of roster spots to fill, and no money to fill them. Is the best strategy to spend all of their money on re-signing David Wright and R.A. Dickey, leaving all their holes unfilled?

I don’t think that is a wise choice. The Mets have a lot of players leaving via Free Agency, but some players who are under contract for 2013 may not be here as well. 

Mets General Manager Sandy Alderson is tasked with changing the makeup of this team, and it starts with the departure of the Knuckballer, who had one of the best seasons in franchise history.

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If the New York Mets want to hold on to Cy Young hopeful R.A. Dickey, they should sign him to a lucrative short-term deal rather than wave him around as trade bait.

FOX Sports’ Ken Rosenthal reports that many around the league believe the team is trying to get some sort of leverage by dangling Dickey on the market. As Rosenthal explains, though, that strategy doesn’t make much sense considering the stage the nine-year veteran is at in his career:

A number of executives believe that Dickey needs to be in a pitcher-friendly ballpark, limiting the number of teams that could have interest. The fact that Dickey is 38 also could lessen the Mets’ return.

The $5 million salary that Dickey is due to earn in 2013 makes him such a bargain in a trade, to the point where it would almost be pointless to move him. Potential returns for such a short-term, relatively inexpensive commitment from another team would be very minimal considering how good Dickey is.

In the last year of his current deal, Dickey will have the freedom to walk away after the upcoming season anyway.

Trading him now would likely just give the team one less season with Dickey, and what they would receive would not be just compensation for what he brings to the table.

Dickey’s knuckleball was nearly untouchable this past season, and his career year was a revelation for New York in an otherwise dismal 2012, as he posted a 2.73 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and won 20 games. That tied for second in all of baseball behind the Washington Nationals‘ Gio Gonzalez, who went 21-8.

Wallace Matthews of ESPN New York reports that GM Sandy Alderson hasn’t ruled out a trade, and that perhaps the team could get a solid outfielder in return.

If anything holds true in baseball, though, it’s that starting pitching is what ultimately wins championships, and it’s something the Mets definitely have working in their favor.

For any other pitcher, there might be some concern of him being a one-year wonder who has the potential to soon flame out. But considering that the pitch Dickey most heavily relies on doesn’t strain his arm all that much and can still be effective at lower velocities, he should have a few good years left.

That’s why it would be wise for Alderson to simply extend Dickey on a lucrative short-term deal of two or even three years.

By doing this, the contract wouldn’t eat up an extra couple of unnecessary seasons should Dickey begin to decline, and the Mets won’t have to deliberate the pitcher’s future for the third consecutive offseason next winter.

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The offseason priority for the New York Mets and general manager Sandy Alderson is signing third baseman David Wright and pitcher R.A. Dickey to long-term contract extensions beyond their options for 2013.

For Wright, it’s about keeping the face of the franchise in a Mets uniform for the rest of his career. Every team needs a cornerstone player. Fans can attach their hopes and rooting interests to such a figure. Front offices can build a roster around that kind of talent.

Does Dickey fit that profile for the Mets? The 38-year-old knuckleballer is undoubtedly a popular player after posting a 20-6 record and 2.73 record in 2012. Those numbers are even more impressive considering that the Mets won only 74 games this season and finished fourth in the NL East.

But to paraphrase Branch Rickey’s famous quote to Ralph Kiner, the Mets finished in fourth place with Dickey, and they can finish in fourth without him. (This might not quite hold up since Dickey may have been the one thing that kept the Mets out of last place.)

So would Alderson actually be better off trading a pitcher that would be in high demand throughout MLB? Dickey’s option for 2013 is worth $5 million. Plenty of teams would be eager to make a deal for a 20-game winner who will cost that much next season.

According to the New York Daily News‘ Andy Martino, as many as 12 clubs would show interest in Dickey if the Mets put him on the trade block.

Teams might not be willing to give up as much for a player who can be a free agent after the season, however. Getting full value in a trade might depend on whether or not Dickey signs a contract with his new employer. Additionally, Martino spoke to one MLB executive who expressed concern about having a catcher who could probably handle Dickey’s knuckleball.

The Mets would presumably get a prospect or two in return to stock their minor league system, perhaps a young arm that could join Jonathon Niese, Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler in the rotation of the future.

Meanwhile, Dickey’s 2013 salary—and the value of his future contract—could be put toward upgrading the team’s outfield, bullpen and/or catcher.

How much of a raise could Dickey get over $5 million per season in a multi-year extension? FanGraphs’ Eno Sarris looked at starting pitchers Dickey compares to in terms of age and statistics and determined that he is worth $10 million per year on the open market.

Is that a salary the Mets are prepared to pay over the next two or three years? How much of a commitment will the team want to make to a 38-year-old pitcher, even if throwing a knuckleball puts less wear and tear on his arm?

A lowball offer risks alienating Dickey and would turn off fans skeptical of the Mets’ interest in putting together a playoff contender. If Alderson has doubts about Dickey’s ability to maintain his performance over a two- to three-year span, he should definitely deal him while his value will never be higher.

However, there’s nothing to suggest that Dickey is a one-year fluke. The 20-6 record is certainly a career-best, but he pitched in 60 games during his previous two seasons with the Mets. In 2010, his ERA was 2.84. Last season, it was 3.28.

The one question mark might be Dickey’s strikeout numbers. He led the National League with 230 strikeouts this season, averaging 8.9 K’s per nine innings. That’s a huge jump from 2011, when Dickey racked up 134 strikeouts in 208.2 innings (a rate of 5.8 K’s per nine). Can he continue to strike out batters with that frequency?

It’s certainly possible that 2012 was the year it just all came together for Dickey. After years of working with the knuckleball, he finally mastered it.

Not only was he able to control the pitch in terms of keeping it in the strike zone, but he was also able to change speeds. According to the New York Times, the pitch varied from 54 mph to 83 mph. A “hard” knuckleball—or an “angry knuckleball,” as Dickey calls it—is something opposing batters have rarely seen. That translated into Dickey’s breakout success.

But these are all baseball reasons to keep Dickey. With the Mets, it’s about more than what happens on the field.

Despite the team’s performance this year, fans bought in when the Mets were in the NL East race during the first half of the season. After falling out of contention, Dickey was the only reason many bothered to watch the Mets.

People became captivated by Dickey’s life story, the journey of a late bloomer who had every reason to give up but finally persevered after years of following his dream. It’s the kind of story we all love to hear—if for no other reason than we hope a similar payoff awaits us in our lives.

Mets fans followed Dickey’s triumphant rise over the past three seasons. Ending the story by trading him to another team would be quite a slap in the face to those who supported the Mets throughout their financial difficulties and steady slide down the NL East standings.

But if Alderson thinks he can make the Mets better by trading Dickey, he’ll surely take the public relations hit and accept handshakes later when his team develops into a contender again.

Yet keeping Dickey around could buy some time with fans as they try to assemble a competitive team. I realize that’s a somewhat cynical view. Hopefully, Alderson and owner Fred Wilpon have greater ambitions in mind.

This might be one instance where the better move for the Mets might be to go with popular opinion. Teams have to give fans something to root for, a reason to support the team and come to the ballpark.

Well, at least they should.

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There’s a famous proverb that goes a little something like this:

“Every cloud has a silver lining.” 

I argue that the strongest testament to this quote is the New York Mets of the 2012 season. Well, it could just as easily be applied to any Mets team since 2007, but I prefer to not dwell on the dark days of the past of my team and focus more on the dark days of the present!

Nobody in their right mind picked the Metropolitans to have a decent season—even a .500 seemed like an impossibility. This was a team full of no-names, save the guy at third base and the pitcher by the name of Johan. The stars of yesteryear, Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran, skipped town. The rotation and bullpen were in shambles. Only the bats of David Wright and Ike Davis seemed to be legitimate threats. Jason Bay is…Jason Bay. It was a team that seemed to be ripped straight out of the screenplay of Hollywood’s newest sports comedy. 

But of course the Mets wouldn’t leave well enough alone. They did the impeccable. They were winning. The Amazins from Queens were playing great ball. They enjoyed a stay in first. They picked up the first no-hitter in franchise history. It was too good to be true. There had to be a catch. 

And a catch there was. The Mets fell, or more accurately, crashed back to Earth. The losses began piling up once the All-Star break was over. Before the break, New York was 46-40. Now they sit at 68-83. 

So, about that silver line I alluded to a while back. Yes, believe it or not, Mets fans can take solace in one player’s performance this season: the knuckleball specialist R.A. Dickey.

Dickey picked up the W on Saturday, working eight innings plus and holding the Miami Marlins to two runs, striking out four. The Marlins mustered six hits off the right-hander, while the Mets offense and bullpen did an effective enough job to lock up the win—a rare sight in the second half of the season.

It wasn’t just an ordinary win on Saturday, though. Dickey’s record improved to 19-6, putting him in position to become the club’s first 20-game winner since Frank Viola in 1990. 

The 2012 campaign has been Dickey’s best of his career, and it couldn’t have come at a better time in the 37-year-old’s life. The knuckler’s autobiography, “Wherever I Wind Up,” was released earlier this year, detailing the struggles he faced in his childhood, including being a victim of sexual assault at a young age. 

Yet the public knowledge of his dark past seemed to drive Dickey rather than distract him. He leads the National League with a 2.66 ERA and is one win behind the NL leader in Ws, Gio Gonzalez. He’s having the season of a lifetime, one that has even thrown him into the Cy Young discussion. Whether or not the league would be willing to give the award highlighting the best pitchers in the league to a knuckleballer is a question still up in the air, but a 20-win season would certainly strengthen the argument.

But can he do it? Dickey has two starts left slated on the schedule, against Pittsburgh on Thursday and a start in the final series of the year at Miami. Dickey’s only faced the Pirates once this year, picking up a victory in seven innings of work with 11 strikeouts. The sample size is small, and the Mets have been playing atrociously at home as of late, but Dickey has a good chance of treating the home crowd to win number 20, at least giving them something to smile about at the end of the year. Should Dickey lose or get a no-decision Thursday, his odds are favorable on his final start of the year. R.A. has dominated the Fish this season, improving to 5-0 with a 1.38 ERA in five starts. At the very least, Dickey should finish the year with 20 wins, possibly even 21.

The fate of his season doesn’t rely on his hand but on the rest of the Mets. Whether or not their offense can muster enough power to support Dickey is a huge question mark—they’ve only scored more than three runs eight times this month. The other question mark is if the bullpen can protect a lead given to them. Frankly, I’m sure all Mets fans would like to see Dickey work a solid nine innings for victory number 20. He was on the verge of doing so today until he gave up two runs in the ninth, prompting Jon Rauch to come in to shut the door, which he did successfully, after giving up a run of his own. If Dickey is robbed of his 20th win because of inept offense or terrible relief pitching, Mets fans will be even more miserable.

I don’t know if it’s possible for us Metsies to feel even worse about our team this season, but I’m sure we could find a way. Here’s hoping we won’t need to find out.

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Let’s start off with why I think R.A. Dickey should win the Cy Young. A lot of the reasons here will play a part in why he should be able to beat out the opposition.

His numbers this season are fantastic, and definitely worthy of claiming the award.

He leads the National league with 18 wins and has only four losses. An amazing feat considering the team he plays for. The New York Mets have had a dismal second half and find their record at 65-73. Dickey has a chance of earning 20 wins this season. Say the Mets have 72 wins by the point he reaches that plateau. Dickey would have won more than 25 percent of his team’s games.

He is second in ERA, WHIP, strikeouts, innings pitched and third in opponents’ batting average. The stats, respectively, are 2.64, 1.03, 195, 198 and .221. All very outstanding numbers. The fact that Dickey is no lower than third in all the major pitching stats is outstanding.

There are some other very good pitchers in the National League, but here is why Dickey should be able to trump them and win the Cy Young.

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An all-star manager’s role can be described in two different ways:

1) It is the easiest job in the world—it’s impossible to make a mistake with such a surplus of talent. You can literally throw any player anywhere and things will work out.

OR

2) It is the hardest job in the world—it’s impossible to squeeze so much talent into nine different spots in nine innings. While managers may want to implement a certain strategy with their starters (almost always the best players, except at third base for the NL this year), they also have to ensure that every all-star receives an ample amount of playing time.

NL manager Tony La Russa was picked apart by MLB analysts before we were even able to witness John Kruk stuffing his face with Kansas City BBQ. 

Were Johnny Cueto and Brandon Phillips intentionally snubbed? Was R.A. Dickey the deserving starter over Matt Cain? Should a retired manager even be allowed to participate in this event?

Tony La Russa has been scrutinized in every way possible, and although I agree he shouldn’t be managing this game (if home-field advantage in the World Series is involved, then active managers should be the ones fighting for the win), future all-star managers have a ton to learn from La Russa’s strategy.

La Russa has ignored the traditional “all-star approach.” He isn’t going to sit back and let players’ statistics mandate when/where they will play. No. Instead he is putting his very own spin on the game, managing in the same manner that won him three World Series titles and the third most games in MLB history.

Just because R.A. Dickey has the most wins in the MLB doesn’t mean he is the best option to start the game. 

[If you really want to argue stats, Cain has the same number of shutouts, is .22 higher in ERA, .03 higher in WHIP, thrown five fewer strikeouts, .1 less innings, and the three less wins? Dickey ranks 14th in run support (6.83 runs/game) while Cain ranks 45th (5.46)]

Did you ever care to think about how the move might play out? If Dickey throws first, the AL will see fastball pitchers for seven straight innings. But with the knuckleballer sandwiched in between two normal pitchers, it’s that much more of an adjustment AL hitters will have to make midway through the game.

Look at the Cueto/Phillips “snubbing” as well. Believe it or not, there is reasoning other than “he’s holding a grudge.”

La Russa loves his lefty/lefty, righty/righty pitching match-ups, and he let that influence his nine final picks. Every starting pitcher he chose was a lefty. Before his final decision, the NL’s bullpen had five lefties in comparison to eight righties. It’s not a coincidence that he chose to balance that out.

With Phillips, it was simply a matter of versatility in the field. Ian Desmond is quicker than Phillips and can play all over the infield. Desmond allows more flexibility late in games. Plus, with each player coming off the bench, Desmond is more of a threat to pinch-run and steal bases.

As a fan, you have every right to question a manager’s moves, especially when it’s a manager of another team. But how can you not love La Russa’s motives? He is transcending the game to a whole new level. It’s what Commissioner Selig has always wanted. It’s how we bring back the passion of Pete Rose plowing over a catcher in the Midsummer Classic.

Why shouldn’t a manager pick players he favors with his final nine picks? Isn’t that why he has that right in the first place? If I’m in that situation and winning is my primary concern, I’m selecting the guys who are going to bust their butts. I’m picking guys like Bryce Harper who run the bases on every pop out. And at the same time, I’m noting the difference between pitchers with great mound presence and those who show a poor demeanor. It’s my choice, and I’m going to weigh those options on my scale, not anyone else’s.

La Russa understands he is managing a baseball game with a lot on the line. Without an NL victory in 2011, his team may have never won the World Series last season. He’s not going to treat this like the celebrity softball event, and sometimes that means angering a fan or two.

He’s going out there to win, and if that means acting differently than the managers before him, so be it. 

He’s going out there to win, whether you like it or not.

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R.A. Dickey is having the most dominant season in baseball, and is the rightful starter in the upcoming All-Star game.

In fact, if Matt Cain were to be elected the starting pitcher for the National League team, it would be the biggest injustice in baseball since Pablo Sandoval was elected to start at third base over MVP candidate and New York Mets star David Wright. Wright, who’s hitting .353 with 11 home runs and a career best OPS of 1.012, is beating The Panda in every major categorical outlet (.314/7 HRs/0.867).

Wright has 4.9 wins above the replacement player—the most out of anyone in baseball not named Joey Votto, while Sandoval has earned only 1.4—comparable with New York Mets rookie outfielder Kirk Nieuwnheis (1.3 WAR, did not make All-Star ballot).

Wright’s 59 RBI dwarf the 28 runs that Sandoval has driven in, and Wright even led Sandoval by 460,000 votes the Tuesday before the ballots closed.

Yet, Sandoval finished with 1.6 million more votes than Wright when the polls closed, ensuring that he would start at the hot corner when the National League takes on the American League in Kansas City.

The fans got that one wrong, and one San Francisco player will be starting in the spot of a New York player. Thankfully, there’s room for redemption. Not so quietly, New York Mets staff ace R.A. Dickey has been dazzling fans all season long and has yet to hear whether or not he will get the starting nod by manager Tony La Russa in the upcoming All-Star game.

His primary competition is San Francisco Giants wiz and workhorse Matt Cain, who highlighted his season with a perfect game on June 13th. While he has had an undeniably awesome season by anyone’s definition of the word ‘awesome’, La Russa has an opportunity that the general public does not: settling the score.

While position players are (often obsoletely) decided by a fan vote, pitching decisions rest in the hands of an all-knowing skipper.

When put under the responsibility of La Russa, the decision is given the thankful elimination of fan bias and is replaced with baseball facts.

Some facts off the bat: Dickey is baseball’s best 12-1 on the season, sports a flashy 2.40 ERA, has an impressive K/9 rate of 9.23, has a WHIP of 0.93 and virtually never allows a batter on base as evidenced by his two consecutive one-hitters.

Cain is 9-3, has a 2.63 ERA, has a K/9 of 8.83, a WHIP of 0.96, and most importantly, he has no cute nickname for Sandy Alderson to make fun of. He’s also no more impressive than Dickey in any major indicating statistic. As inspiring and dominant as his perfect game was, that was a single day in his history. Dickey, on the other hand, continues to make history with every pitch—namely, his knuckleball.

His knuckleball is revolutionizing the game of baseball day in and day out, with every outing of his on the mound. With three different versions of the pitch, including the fastest and most accurate knuckleball in history, it’s a new beast from anything ever seen in baseball.

Tim Wakefield, for instance, was the most recent knuckleball pitcher in baseball. Like Dickey, who has thrown the pitch 86.2 percent of the time on the mound this year, Wakefield heavily relied on the pitch and threw it 84.3 percent of the time he threw a pitch.

Unlike Dickey, however, his pitch was inaccurate and he walked 3.36 batters per game, compared to the 1.95 Dickey has recorded this season. Wakefield was also not a strikeout pitcher, and recorded only 6.01 K/9 in his career. This season, Dickey has recorded 9.23 K/9 and fans 26.6 percent of the batters that he faces. In his career, Wakefield struck out only 15.5 percent.

The most perplexing statistic in Dickey’s favor as a knuckleball pitcher is the speed of his pitch. Dickey has somehow managed to throw his knuckleball at an average speed of 77.0 MPH this season, whereas Wakefield’s career average was only 65.8 MPH for the pitch.

“Boy, I’ll tell you, he’s on fire,” said Hall of Famer knuckleball pitcher Phil Niekro on SiriusXM’s Mad Dog Radio. “He is the talk of baseball right now. The talk of sports. I’ve never seen a knuckleballer that has pitched as well as he has. I certainly haven’t done that and I don’t know of any other knuckleball pitcher that I’ve seen has done that. Everybody in baseball is talking about this guy.” 

To make matters even more impressive, Dickey is the only remaining knuckleballer active in baseball,  and he’s doing all of this at 37 years old, coming out of an offseason in which he climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in an effort to raise money for child sex trafficking and in which he published an extraordinarily well-written New York Times Best Seller that he co-wrote with Wayne Coffey, entitled Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity, and the Perfect Knuckleball—a memoir about his life and troubled childhood in which he was molested in separate incidents as a child.

Dickey, as we’ve all realized, has also done all of this phenomenal work without an ultra collateral ligament, the primary elbow stabilizer and critical for the profession of, say, a professional pitcher in Major League Baseball.

“I just try to be in the moment with every pitch,” says Dickey in an L.A. Times article, who’s hoping to hear if he will be selected to start in the All-Star game.

“Dickey could certainly start the game,” La Russa explained in a Yahoo Sports article. “He’s got the credentials. But I look at the starter types of the five guys that were selected and each of those guys can make a claim, so as a manager, you have to keep your heart pure and do the best you can for the team over one individual.”

Other names still in the running for the starting spot include Matt Cain, Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, Clayton Kershaw, and arguably, even Philadelphia Phillies starter Cole Hamels.

But which catcher would be able to handle the knuckle ball?

“With Dickey, I’ve given that a lot of thought,” La Russa added in a Wall Street Journal article by Brian Costa. “There is an issue about catching him and what spot to use him. His season has gotten everybody’s attention, including our staff’s, and we’re talking about the best way to just win the game with the personnel—and how we use Dickey will be a part of that.”

According to CSN writer Andrew Baggarly, he’s not the only one concerned. “Buster Posey got the number for Mets catcher Josh Thole from Andres Torres. Hasn’t called yet to get advice about catching knuckler.”

“I would have no problem starting him,” added former pitching star John Smoltz. “Dickey has dominated a stretch of baseball we haven’t seen in a long time.”

And now that Dickey’s story has become one of the most talked about in recent baseball memory, fans have begun to hamper on a new question: should Dickey’s life be turned into a movie? If so, the baseball star would also become a Hollywood star; for a man who understands culture as deeply as anyone in the game, acting as a cultural icon of his own.

If he were neglected for the start, it would violate the very fundamentals of what the All-Star game is about: showcasing the top talent and most compelling players in the game. That’s exactly what R.A. Dickey has become.

Of course, Dickey has had help from his self-titled “Jedi Council of Knuckle Ballers”, including Phil Niekro (318 career wins) and Charlie Hough.

After not making his first All-Star appearance until 37, after spending 14 years in the minors and after not getting his first full season in the MLB until he was 36 years old, we have some context to proven that Dickey is here to stay. Niekro retired at 48. Charlie Hough retired at 46.

The All-Star game is not a popularity contest when it comes to pitching. It’s a matter of who’s the best pitcher in the game at the time. That is, without a doubt, R.A. Dickey. So if we’re going to pretend that the All-Star game means something, then let’s actually do it and get the right pitcher on the mound.

If Mets fans had any say in it, they’ll be sure to try to keep it that way for years to come. With the book published this year, with the offseason feats of climbing a mountain and with all of his accomplishments on the field, this is the time for R.A. Dickey to shine in his new role—an All-Star.

If he doesn’t get the start, it would and should be a criminal offense.

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Somewhere out there, you just know that a handful of no-name minor league hurlers are busy trying to learn how to throw a knuckleball right now.

Here’s a few words of wisdom to those guys: Fellas, it’s not as easy as R.A. Dickey is making it look.

Dickey, as you’ve no doubt noticed by now, is on a roll. The New York Mets‘ resident knuckleballer pitched his second consecutive one-hitter on Monday night against the Baltimore Orioles, striking out 13 in the process.

It’s now been several weeks since Dickey last allowed an earned run. His scoreless streak stands at 42.2 consecutive innings, and it seems to be a near certainty that he will break Dwight Gooden’s club record of 49 straight innings without an earned run that he set in 1985.

Heck, Dickey could break that in his next start, which is slated to come against the New York Yankees at Citi Field on Sunday night. Conveniently, ESPN will have the prime-time coverage.

The really sexy question is whether or not Dickey has it in him to break the all-time record for consecutive innings without an earned run allowed. That would be 59, of course, set by former Los Angeles Dodgers great Orel Hershiser in 1988.

Coincidentally, that’s a record that Dickey could conceivably break in Los Angeles against the Dodgers if he stays on his regular rest. Wouldn’t that be something?

It would indeed, but let’s not jump to any conclusions here. This is the kind of discussion that requires some serious analysis.

Now Wait Just a Minute…

Dickey has thrown back-to-back one-hitters, striking out 25 and walking two in the process. Is he really that good, or is this a fluke?

I’d say it’s a mix of both.

One thing that will always be true about the knuckleball is that it’s a gimmick pitch. If every pitcher threw one, hitters would have no problem hitting it. Since only a select few pitchers have ever thrown a knuckleball and succeeded with it, it’s simply not a pitch that hitters see very often.

Especially if said knuckleballer is in the other league.

American League hitters are in uncharted territory against Dickey, so it’s easy to sympathize with Dickey’s last two victims: the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles. These are two teams that used to face Tim Wakefield a lot, but his knuckler and Dickey’s knuckler are two completely different pitches. Dickey’s is a lot harder, and he can put it where he wants a lot easier than Wakefield ever could.

So it’s no surprise that the Rays and Orioles looked totally overmatched against Dickey’s knuckleball. The Rays tried swinging at it, but that didn’t work, as Dickey piled up a season-high 22 swinging strikes against them, according to Baseball-Reference.com. The Orioles were more patient, and that didn’t work either. Against them, Dickey racked up 32 looking strikes, also a season high.

Both teams were completely overmatched, but that doesn’t mean Dickey is completely unhittable. Having seen him before and knowing what to expect really helps.

Just ask the Atlanta Braves and Miami Marlins, the only two teams that have faced Dickey twice this season. The Braves couldn’t do much against Dickey back on April 7th, but they came back and got him for eight hits and eight earned runs just over a week later on April 18th. The Marlins were similarly flabbergasted by Dickey’s knuckler on April 25th, but they came back and got him for nine hits in six innings on May 12th.

Dickey hasn’t had to face the same opponent a second time since then. It’s therefore not such a huge shock that he’s allowed just 26 hits and four earned runs over his last 54.2 innings. He’s showing teams something they can’t possibly prepare for without prior experience.

This is not to suggest that Dickey is an overrated bum who’s bound to plummet back down to earth, mind you. Teams have known about his knuckleball for a couple seasons at this point, and he’s been using it effectively for the Mets ever since 2010. We knew before this season even started that he could be successful with his knuckleball.

The difference this year is that Dickey is controlling his knuckler even better than he was before. And as ESPN Stats and Information pointed out on Monday, Dickey is throwing 80-plus mile per hour knucklers at a much more frequent rate.

But as the Braves and Marlins were kind enough to show, Dickey’s knuckler is still a gimmick pitch. Once you’ve seen it, you know how to hit it.

Why Dickey Still Has a Legit Shot at the Record Anyway

You know what the good news is?

The Yankees haven’t seen Dickey before. Ditto the Dodgers. If he stays on his regular rest, Dickey won’t face an opponent he’s already faced until the Mets take on the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field in early July.

By then, he could already have broken Hershiser’s record.

Getting past the Yankees will be the hard part. They’re one of the best offensive clubs in baseball, and only the (surprise!) Oakland A’s and Cincinnati Reds have scored more runs in the month of June than the Yankees have, according to FanGraphs. To boot, they’ve hit 25 home runs this month, tied for the most in baseball.

The thing that should frighten Dickey about the Yankees is how patient they are. People focus on the home runs and everything, but one thing the Yankees have always been good at is staying patient and waiting for good pitches to hit. 

It’s not just that they take bad pitches. It’s that they spoil good ones. The Yankees foul off more good pitches than just about every team in baseball (the Rangers and Red Sox are really good at it too).

Dickey made it look easy against the Rays and O’s, but make no mistake about it, he’s not going to make it look easy against the Yankees.

However, there’s hope for his scoreless streak simply because the Yankees are yet another team that will be seeing Dickey for the first time this season. That’s proven to be a recipe for success as far as he’s concerned.

After the Yankees come the Dodgers. They’re a scrappy offensive team that has a tendency to find clever ways to put runs on the board, but they’re nowhere near as scary as the Yankees.

If Dickey gets past the Yankees with his scoreless streak intact, I’d say he’ll have the consecutive scoreless innings record pretty well in hand.

And Now for the Big Prediction

So will Dickey get past the Yankees and Dodgers (and possibly the Phillies too) to set a new record for most consecutive innings pitched without allowing an earned run?

I’m not counting on it.

The Yankees roadblock is the kicker for me. Their offense is not as foolproof as it’s been in the past, but it’s clicking right now and their ability to spoil pitches is something that’s going to come very much in handy against Dickey. Unlike the Rays and Orioles, the Yankees are well-stocked with veteran hitters who will know what to do against knuckleballer.

And remember, all it would take to snap Dickey’s scoreless streak is one really hard-hit ball. The Yankees have quite a few guys who can answer that call.

If you want an exact number, I’ll go with 45. Dickey’s scoreless streak will be snapped with one out in the top of the third on Sunday night.

I’ll say this, though: I would like nothing more than to be wrong. I love knuckleballers as much as the next guy, and Dickey is the only one out there right now. I’ll be rooting for him.

Shoot, how can you not root for the guy?

If you want to talk baseball, hit me up on Twitter.

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