At least according to one scribe's unnamed "industry source," the New York Mets will be "looking to make a 'big splash' at the deadline. Author Pat Ragazzo cites a single unnamed source here, so take it with a grain of salt. Frankly, at this point, I am not 100% clear in my own mind what the most logical course would be for the Mets.
On the one hand, the Mets have done an amazing job keeping their head above water at all through 90 games this season. The number of injuries they've suffered through would have buried any other Mets team in my memory. In fact, it was a hallmark of the Wilpon era for a promising season to be derailed by far fewer injuries than this club has endured.
On the other hand, you have Jacob deGrom — the undisputed "best pitcher on the planet" right now — who can't seem to make it through more than a start or two without something new flaring up in some part of his body. Each of these ailments have been described as unrelated to any other problem, and none of them have caused him to miss an excessive amount of time. Still, every time one of these comes up, I feel a little less confident about the chances for deGrom enjoying a run of uninterrupted good health this season.
Personally, that's a big deal, and if I was running the Mets, that would factor hugely into how I would approach the Trade Deadline. Quite simply, any club that had Jacob deGrom and a couple of other competent starting pitchers would have a real chance of going quite far in the playoffs. All it would require would be a bit of good luck and the team itself going on a run of good play in October. However, if you were to take Jake out of the equation, this Mets team has a markedly lesser chance of making it to October, much less making a big splash there.
Look, there can be little doubt that the Mets will do something at the deadline. They're trying to flip the script and build a consistent winner here. They can't afford to stand pat and do little or nothing. That sends the wrong message to not only the fans but also the players themselves. I'd be shocked if the first trade deadline under Steve Cohen was a complete snoozer.
Still, the facts are that the Mets are sitting a mere 6 games over .500 after 90 games and are quite lucky to be leading their Division by a couple of games. If they were in either of the other NL Divisions, they would be in much worse shape. They'd be 5.5 games behind the Brewers in the weak NL Central, only a game-and-a-half up on the Reds. If they were in the NL West, they'd be in fourth place, 9 games behind the first-place Giants and a full four games behind the third-place Padres.
I hope by doing something it isn't looking solely at other teams' dented and about to spoil goods.
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