With the trade deadline just six weeks away, the Mets find themselves with a record of 29-42– five and a half games ahead of the last place Miami Marlins, and 11.5 games behind the first-place Braves. A chance that the Mets make a playoff run this year is unlikely, so the question is whether they become buyers in hopes of a strong finish, or sellers in hopes of acquiring more prospects to build for the future.
It would make sense for the Mets to sell right now because they aren’t in contention for any playoff spots, and they have certain pieces that could prove valuable to some teams. On Thursday, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs noted that there isn’t much starting pitching available around the trade deadline, and some teams could be willing to pay more for a decent arm than usual. Therefore, Shaun Marcum might be a nice piece for the Mets to move come July. He would be a solid arm for a contending team in a pitcher friendly park, and his K/BB ratio of 3.53 would be hard for a lot of teams to turn down.
The only problem with the Mets moving Marcum is that with Jonathon Niese out with a rotator cuff injury, it would seem strange to be moving a pitcher like Marcum, who has an above- average FIP, when the rotation is battling injuries. At the same time, it’s unlikely that the Mets will retain Marcum for the 2014 season, and there’s no point in keeping him for this season since the team appears to be out of contention.
On the other hand, the Mets could also look to buy. This past week, the Chicago Cubs indicated that they would be sellers when the deadline comes around, and they seem to have some players that would be good for the Mets to consider. They have good outfield options with Nate Schierholtz, Alfonso Soriano, and David Dejesus all available. Schierholtz is extremely underrated, and he’s under team control until the end of next year. The Mets could use a solid, controllable outfielder. Dejesus offers probably just as much as Schierholtz does, except he’s less controllable because he becomes a free agent at the end of this year.
Buying a couple of pieces by the trade deadline could prove useful. It could help the Mets have a strong second half that could set them up to be competitive in 2014. We’ve seen teams like the 2011 Orioles have a strong second half and make a comeback the following year to secure a playoff spot. The best thing for the Mets would be to embrace being both a buyer and a seller: Sell the less controllable pieces like Marcum and Marlon Byrd, yet try to acquire some solid controllable outfielders in hopes of contending in the 2014 season.
In short, yup. Trade Byrd, Marcum If you can get anything for him, Duda if he gets better in order to clear a spot for Ike, and Murphy if we’re serious about Flores playing 2B. We also have guys in the bullpen we could theoretically move and have talent on the farm if we need to package someone. From what I understand, we are gong to have a roster crunch on the 40-man so we need to be very aggressive over the next few weeks.
I wouldn’t touch Soriano with a 10 foot pole. Lets see. He’s 37 and making 20 million. He plays in a sandbox and doesn’t have the legs to cover and left field in Citifield.
To Za. What if Ike doesn’t come around? I’ve been his biggest supporter. Sometimes players just need a change in scenery. Ike is not an established All-Star that we must “hold” first base until he feels like coming back to New York.
About the only trade of interest to me would be with Detroit and maybe Austin Jackson for Tejada and Parnell.
I agree with you on Soriano, but Dejesus and Schierholtz are worth it. I doubt Detroit would give up Austin Jackson for only Parnell and Tejada
It would be difficult to trade Marcum with Niese hurt but if I could get an OF prospect better than Puello or Vaughn I would.
I am even more reluctant to move Byrd because of the anemic offense. It is important to win non essential games for the psyche of the young pitching staff (not to mention the vanishing fan base).
Other trade decisions that are difficult but need to be made: Duda or Davis at 1B ; Murphy or Flores at 2B and which minor league pitchers to sweeten any deal. Tough choices ahead but necessary in order to move forward.
It is time to bring in some major league talent because the young starting pitchers are now on the clock. The talent needs to be young and controllable. Time for Sandy to earn his paycheck. I don’t envy him.
This might be shocking, but I wouldn’t be looking to make trades right now. You are dealing with from weakness; Duda, Tejada, Niese are all injured. You are going to the poker table with what? Oddly enough, a deep enough bullpen and Murphy, and that’s what you have to trade.
Injuries just worked against us this year.
I have a hard time seeing other teams giving up anything that’s going to help this team long term for what we have, unless it’s a A/AA quality prospect. At this point I’m happy if Sandy can get the likes of Aardsma to stick around.
If Detroit loses Peralta to the Biogenesis scandal then the Tigers are going to need someone capable to handle shortstop not only for the remainder of the season but next year as well. They obviously are going to need a closer now that Valverde is gone. I don’t think Leyland has the confidence in Coke or Benoit to close games in September or October with the season on the line. Make the deal now and Detroit has insurance if and when MLB hands down the coming suspensions. If need be add an outfielder to the deal(Byrd or Duda)
LOL. The Mets are not going to making any deal for a CF while Lagares is giving you great defense on top of a .308/.308/.500 808 offense … basically for free.
On top of that, the day Lagares stops delivering they’ll move Young over. You know, the guy hitting something like .357/.416/.500 916, also, basically for free.
My point only being,”make the deal now” is a pipedream. You have two brand new guys, and basically their appearance coincided with the Mets taking back to back series on the road against your rivals. It’s the new reality, until it isn’t.
MLB Rumors has a projected list of Mets trade candidates. It includes: Murphy, Byrd, Buck, Marcum, Torres, Hawkins, Aardsma, and Lyon. I’m of the opinion that they need to keep a good chunk of thir bullpen in place so they can win the games Wheeler and Harvey pitch. That generates excitement which generates revenue. I suppose you could include Gee in that group too. I think Parnell stays in NYC too. Schierholtz is ok but I don’t think he’s got a ton of upside. His best season was 2008 , right? He’s also 29. So he’s really just another fourth outfielder. That doesn’t mean there isn’t somebody out there though and after the EY deal, you have to think Sandy will be looking to make it two good deals in a row.