Reese Kaplan -- How Active Will Trader Billy Actually Be?

Normally at this time of the season the prospect of the subway series between both of New York's finest would be the predominating headline screaming out of every news article and on every broadcast.  

In 2023, however, neither team is operating as planned, post season plans are not being made for October games and the question of buyer or seller for both the Mets and the Yankees seems to be taking center stage.  While the Yankees are still north of the .500 mark, it's possible that their dreams of playoffs and beyond are not quite as desperate as those of the Mets.  Still, the fans, management teams and media covering Queens and the Bronx are all in a stick a fork in 'em kind of mood when it comes to the games on the NL and AL diamonds being played.

For the Mets, the question seems to have shifted from will they be buyers or sellers to what level of sellers do they expect to be?  Yes, the Mets are within a single digit trailing number when it comes to playoff baseball, but the fact is that they are performing far too erratically to bank on consistency for the final two months of the season.  Consequently everyone is now expecting a selloff to take place, but no one is quite sure to what extent.  

It is not that long ago in Mets history that a midseason trading gambit led to the quick dismissal of much of their roster during the 2017 season.  First came the deal sending away former homegrown antihero Lucas Duda.  Then came the out-of-town-ticket needed for reliever Addison Reed.  They were soon joined by outfielder Jay Bruce, infielder Neil Walker, and in a post-deadline trade in August so too was Curtis Granderson sent to the west coast.  That was five primary names gone from a team dismantling and hoping to grow in the future by loading up on minor league prospects, none of whom amounted to much of anything except (until this year) Drew Smith.

Fast forward a half dozen years and now it's entirely possible to see a similar exodus from the active roster that could include David Robertson, Tommy Pham, Mark Canha, Daniel Vogelbach, Carlos Carrasco and one of Max Scherzer or Justin Verlander.  Given the history of the money-saving going-out-of-business-sale the Wilpons conducted, nothing much was gained other than a partial season reduction in payroll.  This time around already the Mets have already dispatched Eduardo Escobar but in doing so paid down his salary which suggests that minor benefit won't happen with the 2023 Mets.  (And as long as we're reminiscing, a year after that major trade away of established players the Mets did the same with Asdrubal Cabrera, too.)

So the question remains, who is going?  How much will it cost to up the returns given in these trades?  Will it have an impact on the future Mets teams?  Will new-found vacancies on the roster open up playing time for current or recently residing-in-Syracuse Mets like Ronny Mauricio and Mark Vientos.  No one is coming to the ballpark for the next Mark Canha or Daniel Vogelbach at-bat.  Pitcher Carlos Carrasco has been far more bad than good.  None of those three will generate much in return unless their salaries are paid in full.  Robertson, Pham and the former Cy Young twins would all generate a ton of interest from contending teams, but neither Steve Cohen nor Billy Eppler are indicating that such movement is in the cards.

August 1st is on Tuesday next week.  Who here can project which players will remain with the team and which have been shown the departure door?  A lot of fear exists that a huge market for players is indicative of giving up for 2023, while others think it is time to think ahead to 2024 and beyond.  Right now the do-nothing agenda of the front office is doing the club no favors either way.