If you thought the Mets were going to be selling off key pieces at this year’s deadline, I would suggest you buy lotto tickets immediately.
The highest payroll baseball has ever seen can only buy you a double digit deficit in the division and sub-.500 baseball. Mets general manager Billy Eppler – who is partially credited with the 2009 Yankees Championship Roster construction and the Mets sudden turnaround – and hedge fund manager turned Mets Owner Steve Cohen have learned the hard way that money can’t buy you a World Series.
The Mets have some intriguing pieces to sell off if they want to go that route and they have a farm system full of talented position players, but lack any pitching in their minor league system.
The orange and blue brigade could have picked up the “American Shohei Ohtani” in James Madison University’s Bryce Eldrige or more likely have taken Hurtson Waldstrep out of the University of Florida in the Draft to help out their lack of pitching depth in their system but the Mets pick was moved down ten slots due to surpassing the Luxury Tax threshold by $40 million or more. Eldrige went 16th overall to the San Francisco Giants and Waldstrep went to the division rival Atlanta Braves.
The Mets would ultimately take Collin Houck, a shortstop from a Georgia High School. This confused many as they currently have Francisco Lindor locked up until 2032 when Houck would be 29 years old. Two of the Mets best prospects are also shortstops/middle infielders as Rony Marucio and last year’s first rounder Jett Williams appear to be able to stick on the infield. Ironically, Long Island Native and stud pitching prospect Josh Knoth went one pick after Houck and he greatly would’ve helped the Mets out in the long term.
If the Mets were still competing and looking to add pieces, Williams and Marucio would become expendable. However, that isn’t the case right now for the Mets. The biggest issue for the Mets is the rotation.
The Mets rotation was hyped up as one of the best entering 2023 but many scouts and baseball writers overlooked the fact that Steve Cohen is paying way too much money for old “has-beens” Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer. If they had a year similar to the back of their baseball cards, then there would be no issue. However, both men have struggled mightily in 2023 and it appears the money invested into them was all for nothing.
The Mets also have money tied into a washed up Carlos Carrasco and an injured Jose Quintana, who is surprisingly the youngest of the four pitchers named so far in this article. The youngest piece the Mets Rotation currently has is Kodai Senga. Senga was in Japan until this season and he is a 30 year old rookie.
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Teams like the Baltimore Orioles, Cincinnati Reds, and Los Angeles Dodgers are all in need of starting pitching depth and have excess goods in top 100 prospects. Verlander and Scherzer should probably be able to get the Mets a top prospect in these teams prospect pools if they decide to re-tool for future postseason chases.
The Mets also have some offensive pieces that have intrigued a lot of playoff contenders as of right now. Tommy Pham – who was originally brought on to be a bench piece – is having a career resurgence in Queens.
The 35 year old has posted his best Batting Average and On Base Percentage since his 2019 season as a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. Pham is on a one year deal and the Mets should try to recoup some prospects before they lose him for nothing this offseason.
The Mets also have Starling Marte under contract. Despite his streaky play in 2023, plenty of teams around the league would be desperate to have an outfielder with a contact bat, a rocket arm, and base stealing ability. Marte is someone who is still under team control till 2025 so the Mets can definitely get a big time prospect or a reasonable haul from a team looking to win now, like the cross town rival Yankees or another American League contender that has an excess of pitching prospects. Unfortunately for the Mets, his trade value may have taken a big hit as he just got placed on the injured list prior to thursday's game due to migraines.
The biggest piece the Mets have to offer is slugging first baseman Pete Alonso. Alonso is the modern day Frank Thomas as he is one of the best RBI guys in all of baseball. He provides a team with instant pop in their lineup and there are plenty of playoff teams who would pay a king's ransom for him as he is still under contract until 2025.
The only issue with a Pete Alonso trade is that GM Billy Eppler and Steve Cohen are most likely going to keep Alonso out of all future trade talks as he has become a team leader that the Mets have lacked since David Wright retired.
There are still plenty of questions about the Mets true intentions at the deadline. The playoffs seem like a fantasy at this point for them as the distance away from the last Wild Card Spot has only gotten bigger since the All-Star Break.