Reese Kaplan -- That Sound You Hear is the Ticking of the Clock

As the calendar flips today to the month of August the sound of the ticking clock echos loudly as each passing minute drives the club closer to the thus far minor moves made to improve the roster prior to the trade deadline ending post-season ballplayer additions.  

Yes, it's still possible to consummate trades after the August 2nd period comes and goes, but unless the Mets are planning to revisit the shenanigans of the infamous Rob Andrews/Manny Trillo incident of a fake injury causing a roster manipulation, anyone they pick up after August 2nd won't be eligible for October baseball.  

Actually, it took over 20 years after Whitey Herzog challenged then-commissioner Peter Ueberroth about roster manipulation in October due to injury.  Like most commissioners, he promised to fix the issue but it took over 20 years until the next CBA happened in 2007 for the changes to take place.  

The first one seemed almost to go in the opposite direction in which teams were no longer required to replace like players with like players.  That change would seem to open up more fraud to replace a pitcher with a player or a player with a pitcher.  

The corresponding section of the new rules meant that injuries had to be non-chronic and verifiable by the MLB Commissioner's office to be eligible to make changes at all.  This change was indeed a step in the right direction, but does hold the stipulation that the incoming player must have been on the 40-man roster by August 31st and not some hot rookie simply added to bolster a team's chances.  

Right now the hefty Daniel Vogelbach is winning the hearts and minds of fans as he's looked decent in a role as a lefty DH and frankly many fans are just enamored with someone who does not fit the mold of what a professional athlete playing baseball does with his bat.  

Being a DH the fans are spared the other side of his game with his glove.  Still, just as Big Bart as Colon had come to be known was a fan favorite, you're starting to see a parallel in the very short time Vogelbach has been wearing a Mets uniform.  

Some of the folks who are eternally optimistic are preparing for the Plan C storyline that the returning players who have been out with injury include folks like Jacob deGrom, Tylor Megill, Trevor May and others which make the addition of pitching not quite the high priority it once seemed. 

However, the flip side of that -- improving the offense -- doesn't have a corresponding returning army of now-healthy players to supplant JD Davis from his role as the right handed half of the DH spot in the lineup.  The acquisition of Tyler Naquin shoved popular journeyman Travis Jankowski off the MLB roster yet Naquin is not the type of defensive player who could help the team in late innings the way that Jankowski could.  

Consequently, the other shoe has not yet dropped.  Lately the emphasis has been on right handed hitters like the Boston's JD Martinez and Baltimore's Trey Mancini along with the unlikely probability of a Willson Contreras/David Robertson deal taking place unless the Mets grossly overpay.  

CJ Cron has occasionally been mentioned as a possibility as well, but after his best ever season in 2021 laying the groundwork for what appears to be an even better 2022, the price to obtain him may be prohibitive since he's under contract for 2023 as well at a very modest $7.25 million salary.  

Of course, the Mets front office has been less leak prone under the current administration than it had been under other GMs and owners.  It's entirely possible that Eppler, Alderson and Cohen have discussed someone not yet filling the blogs and print media with pointless speculation.  

It's also possible that Eppler has been told that the upper echelon minor leaguers are off limits for a two-month rental and thusly his hands might be tied as the packages he can assemble are not going to match what his competitors might offer up in trade.  

As the hours pass and people start watching the minutes, everyone is wondering who is going to be the new Yoenis Cespedes who can push the club over the top as the car loving outfielder did when he came to the Mets from Detroit back in that World Series year.  

Some live by the "go for it all" philosophy that no one should be untouchable in the quest for a trophy.  Others are at the polar opposite extreme who vehemently refuse to allow potential future major leaguers go for short term gains.  

Eppler, Alderson and Cohen need to find the balance between these two somewhat valid but inflexible positions to make the early groundwork trades look even better once the rest of the action (if any) actually does take place.