With 10 days before the MLB Trade Deadline, it's not a matter of if the Mets will be buyers, it's a matter of who they'll bring in.
At 56-44 entering Monday's series opener against the Los Angeles Angels, New York is firmly in the market to acquire players it thinks can help the team. Speaking to reporters pregame, president of baseball operations David Stearns added a little more clarity as to who those players might be.
Like most contending teams, the Mets are not without their faults.
After starting the season as one of MLB's best teams, they've had ups and downs since then. Recently, injuries to their pitching staff have become their biggest hurdle to climb and its effects have been felt from the starting rotation to the bullpen.
It's been difficult for New York and manager Carlos Mendoza to navigate on a nightly basis, and while the starters are finally beginning to get healthier, a few of them are still on pitch counts or getting close to innings limits which puts a ton of pressure on the relievers to get a bulk of the outs on any given day.
Not only is that hard to execute consistently, but it's taken its toll on some of them with a myriad of Mets relievers either recovering on the injured list or shut down for the season.
"We’ve been hit with injuries to the pitching staff, I think specifically the bullpen, and so we will be active there," Stearns said. "I think providing our group some reinforcements in the bullpen would be great. There generally are relievers traded at the deadline and so I’m sure there will be some this (year) as well. So we’ll be involved in that. Ideally, we find deals that make sense, bring guys in that we think can help us."
While making it clear that New York will target bullpen help at the deadline, Stearns did not completely shut the door on potentially bringing up some of the team's talented pitchers in the farm system to give them a chance to pitch in relief — players like Brandon Sproat and Nolan McLean, who have pitched well in Syracuse.
Of course, Stearns is apprehensive of doing that and it seems like that would only happen if all else failed.
"If (trading for relievers) doesn’t happen for some reason, then we’ll probably have to think about some of the arms in Triple-A and whether those guys at some point can impact us in the bullpen." Stearns said.
Another glaring weakness for the Mets has been the offensive production coming out of center field.
After beginning the season with the plan of platooning Jose Siri and Tyrone Taylor at the position — already sacrificing offense for elite defense — that plan went out the window when Siri fractured his tibia in April, which currently has him on the 60-day IL.
Siri's injury has resulted in Taylor being the everyday center fielder and while his defensive prowess has been impressive, his offensive output, which he's not exactly known for to begin with, has taken a huge hit.
In 88 games, Taylor is slashing .211/.264/.309 with two home runs and 17 RBI in 256 at-bats. His .573 OPS so far this season is more than 100 points lower than his career .706 OPS.
"Positionally, the one position where we haven’t gotten the level of production that we probably anticipated coming into the year is center field, and I don’t think I’m saying anything that’s gonna surprise anyone," Stearns said.
What's helped New York in this area has been the defensive flexibility of Jeff McNeil and his willingness to play center field on a somewhat-consistent basis for the first time in his career during his age-33 season.
McNeil has played 24 games in center this year, the second-most at a position behind his natural second base and for the most part, he's handled it well. He's out there once again on Monday night while batting fifth as his offense has been more than adequate.
The emergence of McNeil as an option in center field (and Taylor's exceptional defense despite his offensive shortcomings) has made Stearns think twice about upgrading at that position.
"I really like the defense that Tyrone Taylor brings and how he contributes to this team, and I also think Jeff is growing more comfortable out there," Stearns said. "So, I think, for me at least, the bar to improve center field has probably risen over the past let’s say two weeks because of maybe Jeff’s comfort level a little bit more out there and also continuing to recognize the secondary skills that Tyrone can provide."
He continued: "I’m certain we’re gonna be engaged, but we got to clear a bar that we actually think makes us better given the price that I think these things are gonna cost."
As for third base, a position that has been a bit of a revolving door this year after Mark Vientos hasn't been able to replicate his 2024 season in which he usurped Brett Baty and other Mets prospects for the starting job, Stearns has been pleased with the production that New York is getting from those same young players that Vientos leapfrogged last year.
For example, Baty, who has gotten the lion's share of reps at the hot corner (50 games), has been better at the plate and has shown great resiliency with his career-high 10 home runs after being sent down earlier in the season.
"I think our younger players have taken a step forward when we’re talking about Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio, both those guys have contributed," Stearns said.
Not only have Baty and Mauricio shown glimpses of what they can provide offensively, but both players can also play multiple positions around the infield.
So, while fans may be craving a big acquisition at the deadline, Stearns will likely do something similar to what he did in his first year with the Mets and what he's generally done during his entire career: make smart deals that perhaps aren't flashy, but that help the team improve.
"I try not to look at it as the size of the splash, I think that can get a little dangerous this time of year," he said. "I think we try to look at how good is the player coming back and how does that particular player fit the team needs. I also don’t know how many big splash players are actually getting traded this deadline. I think that remains to be seen a little bit.
"So, we’ll see. We got 10 days to go, there’s still a number of teams that are trying to figure out where they are and my guess is we’ll have a little bit more clarity on some of this six, seven days from now with then three days leading into the deadline."
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