Reese Kaplan -- Take A Deep Breath and Prepare For Changes

As the Mets finishing stumbling and limping their collective way into the MLB All Star Break it creates a necessary break from the lack of offense, extended IL stints by way too many people and the inconsistent pitching they’ve been receiving.  As of Sunday the Mets owned a record of 40-57, a .412 winning percentage, and sole possession of last place in the NL East.  

It has gotten so bad that they are working on a dubious distinction of the worst record in all of baseball with their 17 games beneath .500, thus far a razor’s edge about the even more woeful Colorado Rockies in the National League as well as the Kansas City Royals and the Los Angeles Angels in the junior circuit.  Yeah, it’s pretty grim indeed.

Changes are indeed coming as people continue to heal.  Luis Robert, Jr. is in rehab and recently even had an uncharacteristically good game with his bat.  When he’ll come back and where he’ll play are still major questions since newcomer A.J. Ewing has done more to contribute to the precious and few wins the Mets have obtained than Robert ever did. 

Also under the spotlight is rehabbing pitcher Clay Holmes who is throwing again but not yet in a formal rehab assignment.  Obviously he needs to be able to push successfully off his injured leg and needs to rebuild arm strength necessary to handle starting pitching assignments.  Rumors are floating around that he is interested in talking about a contract extension which comes as something of a surprise given how poorly the Mets played in 2025 and even worse in 2026.

Second baseman Marcus Semien is running a full speed and will also soon hit the rehab circuit to demonstrate he is healthy enough to play regularly even if the performance level has not mirrored what he did regularly earlier in his career.  The team has played some interesting mixes of infielders lately with AAAA Zack Short, mediocre hitter Brett Baty and expensive but fully returned Francisco Lindor taking turn on the field.  Semien is a greater offensive player than Short, but with the club having also just lost Vientos they may need to explore other options from outside the current Mets personnel throughout their system.  

Some advocate making A.J. Ewing the second baseman with Robert returning to center field which would turn Semien into the world’s most expensive benchwarmer. 

Hopefully David Stearns is lining up conversations with 29 other front office representatives over the course of this mandated three day break.  Obviously the Mets do have some players other teams would covet even if they’re not performing the way the POBO anticipated when they got a NY Mets contract.  

We all know the list of the obvious free agents to be and the players who have minimal financial risk as they are on expiring contracts.  What’s far less well known is if the team would consider moving less obvious pieces like Francisco Alvarez or even Francisco Lindor in order to maximize the passel of prospects obtained in return.

Consider the All Star Break the front office equivalent of Spring Training for the real trading deadline on August 3rd.  Obviously changes are needed now and for the future.  What those changes will be is still a great mystery.  A change is gonna come.