One of the biggest stories in the league in recent years has been the New York Mets. With one goal in mind since billionaire owner Steve Cohen took over, the Mets have been in the hunt for a World Series title, and they’ve made a number of moves over the past two years.
Several players have been acquired, and the team’s core has been rebuilt with extensions, but the Mets have so far failed to live up to expectations. As of the 23rd, the Mets are 34-40 (.459) and in fourth place in the National League East. While there’s still plenty of season left, it’s certainly a far cry from the scenario we saw a season ago바카라사이트.
The Mets, who were initially tipped to battle Atlanta for the division title, are a whopping 14 games behind division leader Atlanta (.649). Given Atlanta’s underlying strength, the district title is a tough race. Add to that the fact that Miami (.566) has been playing better than expected and is in second place, and Philadelphia (.514), which faded early in the season, has been playing at a good team pace of late.
Winning the division is not easy for the Mets, and they are seven games back in the National League wild-card race. With so many teams fighting for these spots, there’s no guarantee the Mets will get there.
Typically, teams that find themselves out of contention for the postseason look to sell some of their key players to add prospects before the non-waiver trade deadline at the end of July. Jim Borden, former general manager of Cincinnati and Washington and now a columnist for The Athletic, thinks it’s possible the Mets could make such a move.
On the 22nd, Borden released a list of 125 players who are “likely” to be on the trade market. Included on the list were the Mets’ two “prospective Hall of Famers” Justin Verlander (40) and Max Scherzer (39). There is an arithmetical possibility that the Mets could put both players on the trade market.
Borden said of Scherzer: “Scherzer doesn’t look like a Cy Young winner, and the Mets don’t look like a contender. If that’s still the case on August 1, the Mets could pay the remainder of Scherzer’s salary, which is $43.3 million this year with a $43.3 million player option for next year, and perhaps get a strong young player package in return.”
As for Verlander, “If the Mets can’t turn things around, they could pay off part of Verlander’s contract, trade him to a contender, and reboot the team in 2024.”
The two players make about $43.3 million each and are both under contract through next year, including player options. The salary burden is so great that no team would be willing to take them on. Borden is raising the possibility that the Mets could take on both players’ salaries in exchange for prospects and reshape their 2024 roster. With their big-league experience, they could be attractive to teams in the postseason that need a strong starting rotation.
Of course, there’s a strong argument to be made that the Mets are a contender this year and next, so they’re not likely to put either player on the trade market. However, with both players clearly on the decline, it may be time for the Mets to rethink their options. This is because they were expected to carry the team with a powerful one-two punch, but when the lid is lifted, they are underperforming.
In 12 games this year, Scherzer is 6-2 with a 4.04 ERA. While his walks and home runs are both up, his strikeouts per nine innings are at 9.5, his lowest since 2011. It’s clear that his stuff has weakened. After a slow start to the season due to injury, Verlander is 2-4 with a 4.50 ERA in nine games. His strikeouts per nine innings have dropped significantly from 9.5 last year to 7.6, and his FIP of 4.33 isn’t a positive either.
It’s still unlikely that Scherzer and Verlander will hit the trade market, but if they do, it could be seen as a game-changer for the Mets. It’s easy to imagine a scenario where the team clears payroll and then hits the free agent market. In any case, it all depends on how the Mets perform at the end of July. With a month still to go, it will be interesting to see if the Mets can put themselves in a position to threaten the division lead.