Reese Kaplan -- As Queen Would Sing It, "Another One Bites the Dust"

There are good days, there are bad days and then there are days you didn't honestly see coming.  For the New York Mets this end of the trading season came as a bit of a surprise though it was clear to everyone watching the team that they were not destined for the postseason and beginning anew made more sense than it would be to watch stars walk away without any compensation whatsoever at year's end.

It all started with Eduardo Escobar and the return for him was more about losing a player whose role had been worn out in New York than it did about the actual talent coming back to the Mets.  With the team agreeing to pay down his salary, it was more about buying a higher level prospect from the minors than it was about an equitable return.  The money spent on Escobar was mostly a lost cause anyway, so getting anything instead of nothing made sense.

Then came the David Robertson move.  The reaction to the deal was more of, "Woe is me!" than any understanding about the rationale for the transaction taking place at all.  If you look long and hard about what has gone right for the Mets this year, David Robertson would be at the top of the list.  He was shoved into closer duty when Edwin Diaz took a health-related pass on the 2023 season and was only signed to a single year deal.  

At age 38 this season he was pitching well better than expected but you don't build a five year plan around baseball senior citizens who likely would be gone at year's end with nothing in return.  You surely weren't going to make him a qualified offer to jump his pay nearly double what he's making now so it was a matter of getting the best you could while you had the option.  The two hitters the Mets picked up from the lower level Marlins minor leagues both were hitting well and seemed a fairly equitable exchange of assets.

So while the Escobar and Roberston deals made sense (at least to me), the surprising one was yet to come.  

It was well reported that Max Scherzer was demanding to speak to the front office about the Robertson deal as he is a fiercely competitive ballplayer and getting rid of the closer everyone coveted certainly seemed like the club was simply throwing in the towel.  It had also been rumored that Scherzer would waive his no-trade clause for the right deal, yet with the inconsistent (for Scherzer, anyway) level at which he'd been pitching in 2023 everyone assumed it would be the older and much more productive Justin Verlander who would be the next big chip to fall.

Apparently we were wrong.  It turned out to be Max Scherzer along with $22 million bucks ensuring his 2024 option was exercised.  The Mets will now be without the services of the multi-award winning Scherzer and can only hope that the highly regarded albeit diminutive baby-brother Acuna turns into the next second baseman for the Mets as Jeff McNeil's future is more likely in the outfield with Tommy Pham and Mark Canha likely next heading to the airport.  Starling Marte might have been in the same situation if his health allowed, though the return for him would be greatly undervalued comparing the 2022 version with the 2023 diminished output.  

So that leads great speculation about what is the next shoe to drop?  Will it be Verlander?  Will it be Pham?  Will it be Canha?  Is there a taker (other than BIlly Eppler) for Vogelbach?  What about Carrasco?  What about Jose Quintana?  Right now the already questionable pitching staff is readying for more of David Peterson or Tylor Megill or Jose Butto or Joey Lucchesi.  

None of them are as good as Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander but perhaps could hold a candle to the 2023 rendition of Carlos Carrasco.  Jose Quintana to me is a modestly priced player off to a late start with the club.  Given the likely vacancies in the 2024 rotation it would not be as smart to peddle him away when competent southpaws are not exactly a dime a dozen.

The big selloff I'd advocated to happen has indeed started...they are about halfway there.  How much more is yet to come is anyone's guess but better to take full measures rather than half efforts towards the desired reinforcement of the minor league ranks.  If a few outfielders leave and Jeff McNeil realizes he's out there to stay might just mean a glimpse in August and September of Ronny Mauricio.  Mark Vientos is still here and playing a bit more regularly than the last misspent lineup construction.  Yes, things are new and might be a bit uglier before they get prettier, but ugly and new beats tired and old every day of the week.