By Mark Halpern
Being a sports fan in New York is tough. New York fans are spoiled because we only expect the best even though we all come back for more. New York teams can spend money, have the right advertisers, have a huge pavilion that is predicted to open (between 2027-2028) with hotels that can see into the stadium and you could watch from the comfort of your room. However, the current Mets don’t really see themselves as a bad team and they really aren’t. Are they a top tiered team this season? The answer is NO because the rotation has been pieced together with what they were willing to bring in. However, this rotation has fought hard and well and you have to credit the work of Manea, Severino and Quintana holding the rotation together. With brilliant work by David Stearns with the help of the rest of the Mets front office, the Mets are making the case for big time free agents next year to take notice.
Over the last 20 games the Mets are 14-6 and they have done this against some decent competition including the Padres, whom the Mets completed a sweep of on Sunday. The Mets Lineup has kept them in games this year and since moving Francisco Lindor to the leadoff spot the offense has taken off. This team has had a rough go but, are in no way out of the playoffs. Right now, if the season were to end the Mets would be on the outside looking in but, we aren’t even at the end of June. The next month will determine what the Mets could do at the trade deadline. If they decide to buy it could cost them some big prospects such as Baty, Vientos and there’s been speculation on Pete Alonso, but if the Mets are buying they’re not moving him and in my opinion he will be extended by Cohen and Stearns. But there’s the other side of the spectrum and if the Mets falter and decide to sell what becomes of Alonso, Severino, Quintana, Ottavino, etc…
Currently the Mets sit 1.5 games out of the wild card spot so don’t rule them out. The slow start hasn’t helped at all but, things are on the uptick. This Mets team is fun to watch and is all about the team. Lindor has turned his season around and with the power of Alonso hopefully coming around, which will be a nice sight and the return of Francisco Alvarez will help the lineup. But guys like Harrison Bader, Tyrone Taylor and Luis Torrens have made terrific contributions. The health of Starling Marte has also been valuable for this lineup.
We saw what Steve Cohen did last year at the trade deadline where he ate the money on the contracts of Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer for better prospects. If the Mets are in the race at the deadline, with Cohen having the money he does and David Stearns in charge, who knows what the Mets could be if they continue to play like this, but the next month will decide their fate.
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