It might be time to start sizing up trade value with the Mets roster

The Mets floundered again on Sunday to drop a series to the Diamondbacks, and to ten games under .500 through 40 games

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

• The Mets lost to the Diamondbacks by a score of 5-1 on Sunday (box)

• The Mets failed to generate any sort of offense once again on Sunday, scattering just four hits around a single run, two of which came from Luis Torrens

• The Mets committed three errors, the last of which coming from Andy Ibanez at third - who became the fourth third baseman for the Mets this season - which ultimately cost David Peterson three unearned runs in the sixth inning

• Juan Soto went 0-for-3 on the day, capping a hitless series in ten at-bats against the Diamondbacks this weekend

• Bo Bichette went 0-for-3 as well, and has gone hitless over his last four games

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Roster Moves 📰

• RHP Joey Gerber activated from the injured list, optioned to Triple-A Syracuse

• INF Eric Wagaman outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse

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Injury Updates 🏥

• RHP Kodai Senga (lumbar spine inflammation) was expected to throw a bullpen session on Sunday

• LHP AJ Minter (left hip inflammation, recovery from lat surgery) did not experience any discomfort in a bullpen session on Saturday. He will throw additional bullpens before the club determines next steps

• INF Jorge Polanco (wrist inflammation, achilles bursitis) is not experiencing any discomfort in his wrist, but recently experienced pain in his achilles.

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Play of the Game 👎

In the bottom of the sixth inning, 3B Andy Ibanez committed his second error of the game on an errant throw to first base on a ground ball off the bat of Ildemaro Vargas.

This error led to three unearned runs in the inning thanks to a bases-clearing triple from Ketel Marte later in the frame, giving Arizona a 5-1 lead and sealing another loss for the Mets.

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Down on the Farm 🌾

• 1B Ryan Clifford (no. 3 prospect, AAA): 2-for-3, 3B, HR, RBI, BB, K

• C Ronald Hernandez (High-A): 2-for-4, HR, 2 RBI

• INF Elian Peña (no. 7 prospect, Low-A): 2-for-4, BB, RBI, R

BOX SCORES

Single-A SLU | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG G1 | G2 | Triple-A SYR

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Today’s Game 🗓

The Mets are off on Monday. They open a three-game series with the Tigers on Tuesday night at Citi Field.

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A collision course for a bleak outcome for these Mets ✍️

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We are still two weeks from Memorial Day. And yes, the Mets are without their star shortstop, and will continue to be without him for a while. A long while.

The reason I bring up Memorial Day is because that’s typically the first mile marker for Major League clubs to evaluate who they are. It’s a time when front offices tend to size up their rosters, determine their areas of need, and chart their trajectory towards the trade deadline.

Again, it’s still two weeks away, but it’s pretty clear at this point in time where things are headed for the Mets.

Sure, they’ll have you believe everyone is just waiting for Bo Bichette to stop chasing, stop swinging and missing, and look like the player the Mets signed for $42 million this season. And yes, the Mets are waiting for Juan Soto to look like himself after an injury-plagued start to the season. They can point to this current version of the starting rotation and how David Peterson is being utilized, and fairly conclude the starting rotation is performing generally well on most days. And, the bullpen has been generally good lately too. They went 5-4 on a long road trip out west, and those five wins were half the total number of wins they had for the year before they left for Anaheim last Thursday.

But those are Mets daddy goggles if I’ve ever seen them.

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In the end, the Mets are 15-25 as play begins on Monday. They are a whopping 12.5 games out of first place in the National League East, eight games out of a wild card spot, and the worst team in baseball.

They don’t hit at all. They’ve used four different third basemen, four first basemen (and none of them are actually first basemen, by the way), four different shortstops, eight different left fielders, three different center fielders, and five different right fielders.

Somehow, that has produced 13 defensive runs saved, which is the eighth-best mark in baseball, but -4 outs above average which is the eighth-worst mark in the game.

But it’s not even that. It’s the chaos and dysfunction of this roster which has resulted in an ineffective offense, mental mistakes and lapses at times right from the beginning, and zero margin for error for this pitching staff on a day-in, day-out basis.

On this day, a lot will be made of Andy Ibanez’s two errors at third base, the last of which costing David Peterson - who can only seem to be effective if he comes into a game in the second inning (speaking of dysfunction) - three unearned runs and putting this game out of reach for this no-show offense.

But again, Ibanez is the fourth third baseman the Mets have used this season. The ball was destined to find him and bite him at the worst possible time. That’s just baseball. I actually felt bad for him on Sunday.

There’s no stability and no predictability with this team. They’re all over the place every single day at this point with different people at different positions all too often.

That’s just what the Mets are, and that’s why they’re the worst team in baseball.

Is there really any reason to believe things are going to change between now and Memorial Day? Or now and June 1? Or now and the All-Star Break? Or now and the trade deadline?

I’m not saying the Mets will be the worst team in baseball ten weeks from now. But since nothing ever really changes with this offense or their approach, there’s no real evidence to suggest they won’t be a bottom feeder for the duration here, which means the clock could already be ticking for the 2026 Mets and the players on short-term contracts on this roster.

The Mets have a couple of players who will garner attention during trade season, if they haven’t already.

The obvious one is Freddy Peralta, who is making $8 million this year, is pitching well and would undoubtedly be one of the best available starting pitchers in an always high-demand market during the season. If the Mets continue to be irrelevant, I could even see the Mets shopping him during the month of June.

Then there’s Clay Holmes, who has a 1.86 ERA in eight starts this year and looks like the real deal as a starting pitcher at this point. He is making $13 million this season but can opt out after the 2026 season, or take a $12 million player option for 2027. All signs point to Holmes opting out should he continue to pitch well and stay healthy, so the Mets could definitely look to unload him and get something back for him. Of course, they could make him a qualifying offer if he opts out.

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They could look to deal Luke Weaver as well, who is under contract through next season, and both Peterson and Brooks Raley, who can both be free agents at the end of this season.

This is the merit to signing players to short-term deals, as they learned with Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, and others during their meltdown 2023 season.

Of course, there’s this Bichette situation.

The Mets paid him a $40 million signing bonus on March 15, per Cot’s Contracts. He is being paid $2 million through the end of 2026 to account for his $42 million in total pay for the year. So, that’s the cheap and easy part. But, he has two player options for the same amount for 2027 and 2028. And, if he opts out, the Mets owe him a $5 million buyout.

Given the way things have gone for him so far, none of that makes him an attractive trade candidate. And, if he were performing to expectations, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation to begin with if I had to bet. I do believe he will figure this out, but it’s hard to believe he will live up to the billing here, whether he opts out or not at the end of the season. Especially since his role has changed twice since the end of the 2025 season and will change again whenever Lindor returns, which could partially explain why his performance has lagged this season.

The funny thing is, I should feel surprised to be talking about this at all, let alone on May 11. But I’m not. I hate to say that, but it’s true.

I wrote earlier this year that there was no happy medium with this roster, given they were asking so many people to play new positions, perform well, and stay healthy. This was all either going to work, and the Mets were going to roll, or this was going to be akin to the 1992, 1993, 2002, 2003, 2021, and 2023 teams in which the Mets slapped together a bunch of free agents and spent big money, hoped it would all work, and it didn’t. I also believed that if this was going to work, it was going to take time for this team to come together.

Given what history told us, none of us should be surprised this has failed so far. Disappointed and angry for sure, but if you’re really asking “how is this possible,” just look back on this club’s history for the answer.

And the reason this is all failing, like it did in all of those other years, is because they’re not able to develop a core of young players on their own and bring them to the big leagues as high-impact players. We can talk all we want about how great their farm system is, what outside observers are ranking them, but in the end, it’s about who they are graduating to the big leagues and their ability to evolve into everyday, major league starting players who can generally start on any team in the game.

(their minor league teams have been generally bad as well so far in 2026, for what its worth).

And, while the jury is still out on Carson Benge, suffice it to say the Mets haven’t developed very many position players in that regard aside from Pete Alonso over the last ten years or so. They’ve tried, they’ve touted the Amed Rosario’s, Brett Baty’s and Francisco Alvarez’s of the world, among others, but still waiting…

In addition, the roster turnover over the last four years is just mind-boggling, as is the front office turnover. They’ve flipped the entire roster short of a couple of players since 2023, flipped the entire front office, and once again flipped the entire dugout staff minus the manager this past fall. And, there’s no reason to believe Carlos Mendoza can survive this, whether they do something about him in season or not.

Again, there’s zero stability here. That’s just the reality.

It’s all of that combined that tells the story of their 15-25 record in 2026.

When they realize their mistakes and shortcomings, that will truly be the dawn of a new era for the Mets. Again, still waiting…

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Around the League 🚩

• Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs to help the Phillies continue their rebound with a 6-0 shutout of the Rockies

• Keegan Akin served as the opener for the Orioles ahead of Chris Bassitt, who gave Baltimore six shutout innings in their 2-1 win over the A’s

• The Brewers completed a three-game sweep of the Yankees with a 4-3 comeback win in Milwaukee

• The Braves won a series against the Dodgers in Los Angeles with a 7-2 win on Sunday - Bryce Elder fired 5.2 innings of one-hit ball