Mets righty Zack Wheeler said last week that he didn't want the Mets to trade him, and his reaction after the trade deadline passed struck a similar chord.

"It's nice to have all four of us stay together," Wheeler said about him remaining with the Mets along with Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Steven Matz.

Wheeler added that it wasn't exactly a sense of relief to stay put, but that he was looking forward to what the four could accomplish together heading in to 2018 and beyond.

On a conference call shortly after the deadline, Mets assistant GM John Ricco said the Mets would have had to been blown away deGrom or Syndergaard.

"In order to make a deal at this juncture, it was gonna take a team to step up and pay a premium," Ricco explained.

Regarding Wheeler, Ricco said the team "decided what the level of return would need to be" to deal him, and that it was not met.

"We're starting from a pretty good place when you have the four starters and Jason Vargas as a veteran fifth starter," Ricco said about the Mets moving forward. ..."This organization has always been about pitching."

Wheeler is under team control through the 2019 season, deGrom through 2020, and Matz and Syndergaard through 2021.

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