There has been a lot of talk this week about the possibility of the New York Mets dealing Zack Wheeler to Chicago for Cubs outfielder Jorge Soler, according to a Nov. 23 post from Bleacher Report.

Is that a move the Mets should seriously consider? Is the media to blame for pushing the Mets to make a move to ship Wheeler out of town? No one really knows for sure what Mets GM Sandy Alderson has in mind for the flame-throwing pitcher.

Following the Mets' successful run to the World Series in 2015, their offseason was supposed to be about retooling, not rebuilding. Moving Wheeler would be considered a bit of an extreme move, considering the team wasn't expected to make any major trades to shake up the roster for the season ahead.

Make no mistake: New York needs a power-hitting outfielder. Soler, 23, certainly fits the bill. He would undoubtedly put some pop in the middle of the Mets' lineup. The hard-hitting Cubs phenom has a knack for putting the ball in play, and he's also the type of bat that can send the ball out of the yard at any moment.

Soler is a home-run threat, a decent arm in the outfield, and an incredible team player. He knows how to win, and he proved this past season that he can hit MLB pitching. That could be exactly what the doctor ordered, especially considering it's unlikely that Yoenis Cespedes is coming back to New York for 2016.

But is the cost worth the return? Is Wheeler truly an expendable commodity? Those are the questions Mets fans are keeping in the back of their minds as the MLB Hot Stove heats up.

Here's the thing: It's easy for Mets fans to forget how good the 25-year-old Wheeler is. He was sidelined for the entire 2015 season, so fans haven't had to think about him in quite some time.

The fact that New York has three of the top young power pitchers in the game -- Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard -- makes it easy for Mets fans to consider life without Wheeler. The thing to remember is that the former San Francisco Giants prospect was shaping up to be an ace, before going down with Tommy John surgery.

His lifetime 3.50 ERA won't raise many eyebrows, but it proves he's a quality arm who could be a serviceable No. 4 guy in the rotation behind the Big Three of Harvey, deGrom and Syndergaard.