Major League Baseball’s trade deadline is Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET and the New York Mets appear to be buyers.
A torrid stretch between June and July has them in a National League Wild Card spot and nipping at the heels of the Atlanta Braves, a team that sits ahead of New York for both second place in the NL East and the top Wild Card spot.
While president of baseball operations David Stearns had to maintain a wait-and-see approach through the All-Star break, he has tipped his hand that he is in the market for upgrades. To address a weakened and meager bullpen, he already acquired Phil Maton from the Tampa Bay Rays and Ryne Stanek from the Seattle Mariners.
If Stearns had his way, the Mets would not be done addressing the bullpen, either. The team designated Jake Diekman for assignment after a miserable four months in Queens on Monday and are without Sean Reid-Foley, Reed Garrett, and Dedniel Nunez due to injuries — though Garrett is expected to return sooner rather than later. Edwin Diaz has been inconsistent, so has Adam Ottavino, and Drew Smith was lost for the season earlier this month.
New York’s 4.09 bullpen ERA ranks 19th in the majors this season and has been amongst its most inconsistent units.
The starting rotation is also believed to be a focus of Stearns in the final hours before the trade deadline, which is something of a later development.
Slated to move to a six-man rotation just a week ago, they lost Christian Scott due to a sprained UCL and on Friday, saw Kodai Senga go down with a high-grade cal strain just 5.1 innings into his 2024 season debut.
With Jose Butto succeeding as a long reliever — a job that is solely his after the team DFA’d Adrian Houser — that leaves Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza’s current options bare. Tylor Megill struggled against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday and David Peterson did not fare much better on Sunday after a solid string of outings.
Foraying into the starting-pitching market this time of year will be tricky, though. Stearns and the Mets want to keep their farm system mostly intact, meaning an understandable stubbornness to part with young talent for rentals.
Of course, exceptions to such a rule apply. The Detroit Tigers are rumored to be making their ace, Tarik Skubal available. Not only is the 27-year-old right-hander a front-runner for the AL Cy Young Award this season, but he does not become an unrestricted free agent until 2027. Perhaps that would coax the Mets to part with a bit more from the farm.
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