The New York Mets are the league\u2019s biggest disappointment. They entered the season with an 86.6 percent chance, per FanGraphs, of making the playoffs. At the All-Star break, those odds are down to 0.8 percent.<\/p>\n
With just under three weeks left before the Aug. 3 trade deadline, the Mets profile as a classic seller in a market lacking them. Below, beat writers Tim Britton and Will Sammon answer questions about Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns\u2019 history as a seller and what to expect at the deadline.<\/p>\n
How big a deal is it really that David Stearns does not have a GM working under him? \u2014 George G.<\/p>\n
Britton: Not much. The position of president of baseball operations is a classic example of title inflation. It exists so certain teams can hire away another team\u2019s general manager without its being viewed as a lateral promotion. The remit of a present-day president of baseball operations is the same as it was for a general manager 15 years ago before the title started proliferating. In that vein, a GM under Stearns would be doing the same stuff as an assistant GM in the past. Eduardo Brizuela is Stearns\u2019 top assistant right now, serving in that capacity.<\/p>\n
It would make sense for Stearns and the Mets to hire a GM if:<\/p>\n
They wanted to bring over a talented executive from another organization.
\nAnother organization was trying to hire Brizuela away as its own GM.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s Stearns\u2019 track record like trading major-league talent for prospects? \u2014 Emilie F.<\/p>\n
Britton: Let\u2019s limit this to what he\u2019s done at the deadline.<\/p>\n
Stearns has operated as a seller only once, in his first season with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2016. That year, his big deal was trading catcher Jonathan Lucroy and reliever Jeremy Jeffress to the Texas Rangers for a pair of top-100 prospects, Lewis Brinson and Luis Ortiz (as well as Ryan Cordell, briefly a Met). Though neither Brinson nor Ortiz blossomed into a good big leaguer, that wasn\u2019t Milwaukee\u2019s problem: Stearns dealt both of them by 2018. Brinson was a key part of the deal for Christian Yelich, and Ortiz was one of two players dealt for Jonathan Schoop.<\/p>\n
Of course, Stearns\u2019 other major selling move at the deadline came when he traded Josh Hader to the San Diego Padres in 2022 while his team was in first place. The return then was closer Taylor Rogers, soon-to-be top-100 prospect Robert Gasser, rookie Esteury Ruiz and starter Dinelson Lamet, who was waived shortly afterward. Rogers did not pitch well in Hader\u2019s place, and the move helped tank Milwaukee\u2019s season that year. However, Gasser is now in the Brewers\u2019 rotation, and the club somehow turned Ruiz into William Contreras (and three other players) the next winter.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve already reported the Mets\u2019 aim in trading away major-league talent at the deadline is to amass prospects who could subsequently be moved this winter for major-league talent that helps in 2027. Stearns\u2019 track record there shows how that might work.<\/p>\n
Do you think any team trades for Kodai Senga? \u2014 Matthew F.<\/p>\n
Sammon: I never say never, so maybe. I wouldn\u2019t expect much in return for him, though. He is owed $14 million for next year. He holds a limited no-trade clause. And he hasn\u2019t been any good. The Mets are doing the prudent thing now in seeing how he performs as a reliever.<\/p>\n
Why not include Luis Robert Jr. or Jorge Polanco in your analysis of hitters the Mets could trade? If both can prove healthy before the deadline, wouldn\u2019t the Mets explore trades for each? \u2014 Andrew P.<\/p>\n
Britton: The Mets might explore trading them, but I don\u2019t know who\u2019s picking up the phone on the other end. Robert didn\u2019t have much trade value before the season when the Mets made the deal for him, and it\u2019s only lower now. The Mets would have to eat a significant portion of the money owed Polanco next season to move him, and they don\u2019t have the appetite to do that right now.<\/p>\n
Is this the right time to part with Francisco Lindor? \u2014 John B.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sammon: I thought it\u2019d be too difficult for the Mets to trade Brandon Nimmo, and they pulled it off (I did not like the trade they made). Trading Lindor, however, is harder. Teams might not exactly line up for a shortstop showing some decline, let alone one still among the highest-paid players. Beyond this season, Lindor, 32, is owed $160 million through 2031. He also holds veto power for trades and declined to get into<\/a> whether he would waive that right. In a vacuum, sure, I would see the logic in moving on from Lindor.<\/p>\n Finding a deal that makes any sense, though, is quite difficult. Take on another bad contract in a swap? (It is not working out so well with Marcus Semien, acquired for Nimmo.) Eat money on a player who likely still has good years left when you aim to compete next season? Attach a prospect or someone else to him in something more creative? Owner Steve Cohen told the New York Post he didn\u2019t see Lindor going anywhere. Generally speaking, the deadline is a tough time to move so much money. That is especially true ahead of a potential lockout.<\/p>\n Can you quantify the return on a Freddy Peralta trade as a two-month rental versus the qualifying offer process? \u2014 Adam S.<\/p>\n Britton: If the Mets hold on to Peralta, extend him a qualifying offer, and see him sign elsewhere this winter, they will receive a compensatory draft pick after the fourth round of next July\u2019s draft. That\u2019s not nothing, but it should be relatively easy for them to beat in a trade at the deadline.<\/p>\n Though Peralta has had a disappointing season, it hasn\u2019t been as discouraging as, say, Zac Gallen\u2019s 2025, when Gallen ended up signing for something similar to the qualifying offer with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Barring something unforeseen between now and the end of the season (and the ever-present possibility of a serious injury for a pitcher only further backs the case of trading him now), Peralta would decline the QO.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s the most likely to not get traded despite public perception assuming they will? \u2014 Michael S.<\/p>\n