Should the Mets take a home run swing for their rotation?
Also, the Mets bats went cold and David Peterson struggled as the Mets had to settle for a split of their four-game series with the Braves
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets were blown out by the Braves 9-2 at Citi Field on Sunday (box)
LHP David Peterson started for the Mets and struggled, going five innings and allowing four runs on four hits. A colossal three-run homer from Matt Olson did him in
Making his Mets debut, RHP Ryne Stanek did not make a good first impression, allowing three runs on two homers in an ill-fated 7th inning
Pete Alonso crushed a two-run home run in the bottom of the 8th to prevent the Mets from getting shut out for the second straight day
Tyrone Taylor had a nice day at the plate, reaching base three times with a pair of doubles and a walk
Rumor Mill 💨
The prospect price for starting pitching is very high - the Mets could have to settle for a depth starter and one more reliever (SNY)
The Mets have checked in with the Cubs on RHP Jameson Taillon (New York Post)
Playoff Race 🏁
The Mets lost to the Braves but got help with both the Padres and Diamondbacks losing. The Mets maintain the third and final wild card spot in the National League, a half game ahead of Arizona.
There are 57 games remaining.
Per FanGraphs, the Mets have a 45.9% chance of making the postseason.
New York has the 10th easiest schedule in MLB the rest of the way.
Tiebreakers:
vs. ATL: 5-5
vs. ARI: 2-2
vs. STL: 3-2
vs. SD: 3-0
vs. CIN: 2-1
vs. SF: 2-4 (finished)
vs. PIT: 5-2 (finished)
vs. CHC: 4-3 (finished)
Roster Moves 📰
OF Jesse Winker activated
OF D.J. Stewart optioned to Triple-A Syracuse
RHP Kodai Senga transferred to the 60-day IL with a left calf strain
RHP Sean Reid-Foley sent to Single-A Brooklyn on a rehab assignment
Down on the Farm 🌾
Jackie Bradley Jr. (Triple-A): 2-for-4, 2B
Sean Reid-Foley (High-A—Rehab): 0.2 IP, 2 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 K
Blade Tidwell (No. 10 Prospect, Triple-A): 6 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 0 BB, 6 K, 2 HR
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (55-50) vs. Twins (58-46)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: LHP Jose Quintana (5-6, 4.02 ERA) vs. RHP Simeon Woods Richardson (3-1, 3.27 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: WPIX
Should the Mets take a home run swing before Tuesday night’s trade deadline? ✍️
As the hours continue to tick down towards Tuesday evening’s trade deadline, the calculus for Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns continues to be fluid.
Two days ago, the Mets were the top Wild Card team in the National League, today they’re in the third and final position with Arizona and St. Louis hot on their heels.
Such is life in the crowded NL playoff picture, and it’s not unlikely to change anytime soon.
The Mets have been a little up and down coming out of the all-star break, and their star players—namely Brandon Nimmo, J.D. Martinez, and Pete Alonso have struggled to get it going after the break. New York’s brass is not worried about that trio getting on track—this team will break through and start to score consistently again.
Right now, though, the pitching staff is a much scarier situation.
We’ve all known for months how much difficulty the Mets bullpen has had. The rotation has been more steady, and for weeks the club had anxiously and excitedly waited for Kodai Senga’s return. Unfortunately, his return didn’t even last six innings. Senga took the mound on Friday night against Atlanta and was sensational—until a calf injury took him out of the equation for at least the rest of the regular season.
His latest injury was an enormous blow to this team, both on the field and emotionally, as every player in the clubhouse knew just how badly the rotation needed him.
New York’s starting five now has three essentially five inning pitchers in David Peterson, Tylor Megill, and Sean Manaea, and Luis Severino is likely going to be on some sort of an innings limit.
Yikes.
Stearns and the rest of the Mets’ front office has already proven to us they are committed to going for it here in 2024. The team has already made two trades, and as I sit here tonight I’m waiting for the bombshell.
You see, this is beginning to feel an awful lot like the 2015 deadline.
Nine years ago, the Mets were in the midst of an up and down rollercoaster season. They trailed the Nationals in the East and a playoff berth was far from assured.
And we all remember how that season ended.
So far Stearns has swung deals to bring in right-handed reliever Ryne Stanek—who despite a disappointing Mets debut should ultimately prove to be a boon to the team’s pitching staff. And former Citi Field nemesis Jesse Winker, who is a significant upgrade over D.J. Stewart as a left-handed hitting 4th outfielder.
Both trades make the Mets better, there’s no question. But they’re also both peripheral additions. To go back to the 2015 comparison, Stanek and Winker feel like Kelly Johnson and Juan Uribe. And now I want a Yoenis Cespedes.
What would that look like at this deadline?
Well from a position player standpoint, the Mets are pretty set. Sure, they could really use a healthy Starling Marte back—and hopefully he’ll be beginning his rehab assignment soon. But in the meantime the club has been able to capably fill right field with Tyrone Taylor and Jeff McNeil—and now they’ll be able to add Winker to the mix.
So let’s circle back to the pitching staff.
New York is still in desperate need of another bullpen addition—someone like Kyle Finnegan would really fit this team in their bullpen.
But if there is a Céspedes-esque addition available, to be made it will be in the rotation. And I’m looking right at the team New York got Cespedes from to begin with.
The Detroit Tigers.
Detroit currently employs the most attractive starting pitcher potentially available over the next day and a half. Left-handed ace Tarik Skubal.
In 21 starts so far this season, Skubal has been arguably the best starter in baseball. He currently boasts a 2.35 ERA with an 0.92 ERA. Opponents are hitting just .199 against him, he’s punched out 154 hitters in 130 innings, and while wins and losses are no longer viewed as the end all/be all for starting pitchers, you don’t get to 12-3 by accident.
Now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
The Tigers do not have to trade a 27-year-old superstar with two years of control left. And while it’s probably a stretch to say they’re still in contention in the AL Wild Card race, they have played well over the last few weeks to at least climb back to the periphery of discussion. They did, however, just trade their catcher, Carson Kelly, yesterday so take that how you will.
While they don’t have to trade Skubal now, the Tigers are obviously aware that his value will never be higher. They’d be silly to not at least listen and give teams a chance to blow them away. And if the Mets wanted to, they could make them an offer that would be difficult to turn down.
So what could a potential deal look like?
Well the Tigers don’t have a clear third baseman of the future in their organization. They currently start Gio Urshela at the hot corner, and 2022 first round pick Jace Jung fits better at second base. So the inclusion of Brett Baty in a trade package is essentially a prerequisite.
Beyond that, it would almost certainly take three other players in the top 10 of the Mets system.
The ultra versatile Jett Williams is currently the top ranked prospect in the Mets system and his positional flexibility makes him a fit for every team. Righty Brandon Sproat has shot all the way up to 5th in the Mets prospect rankings with a huge 2024 season split between Brooklyn and Binghamton. His stock is rising rapidly, and scouts now feel he has a top half of the rotation ceiling. I don’t see any way the Tigers don’t hang up the phone if both Williams and Sproat aren’t on the table. Righty Blade Tidwell has been a bit up and down this year but has shown a ton of potential in the minor leagues since being drafted in the 2nd round in 2022. He’s considered a high upside arm and while he may not have ace potential like Sproat, he certainly appears to be on track to pitch regularly in a big-league rotation.
If I’m David Stearns, I have no qualms about getting his Tigers counterpart, Jeff Greenberg, on the phone and offering him those four players for his ace.
What’s the worst he can say? No?
Even if he does, the Tigers do have multiple other players that would fit the Mets needs right now.
Starter Jack Flaherty and lefty reliver Andrew Chafin would both immediately fix some of the Mets biggest problems, so to me, the rest of the Mets deadline goes through Detroit. Exchanging names with them in effort to connect on a monster trade should be happening right now. And even if the two sides can’t match up on a Skubal deal finding out who in the Mets system they like will help connect on less dramatic trades.
I fully do expect the Mets to make more deals in the next several hours. But I still want my Cespedes. And right now, that player is named Tarik Skubal.
Around the League 🚩
Elly De La Cruz had three hits and stole four bases but it wasn’t enough as the Reds fell 2-1 to Tampa Bay
Ryan Mountcastle drove in four runs in the Orioles 8-6 win over the Padres
Emmanuel Clase nailed down his league leading 33rd save in a 4-3 Guardians win over the Phillies
Paul Goldschmidt crushed a walk-off homer in the bottom of the 9th to power the Cardinals to a 4-3 win over Washington
The Cubs and Rays swung an interesting trade that sent third baseman Isaac Paredes to Chicago in exchange for Christopher Morel and a pair of prospects
The Rays were busy on Sunday, as they also shipped right-handed reliever Jason Adam to San Diego in exchange for three of the Friars more enticing prospects
I obviously want us to upgrade but I’m not willing to give up those 4. I also don’t think Detroit will trade Skubel when their coach said he wanted them to buy at the deadline. I do want a starter and another reliever but I don’t think it’ll be that big of a splash
Cespedes had a great playoff run. Not so well after. They gave him a ridiculous contract afterward. I hope they are smarter this time. Anyway, you can make a case that every starter is about a five inning pitcher. Severino goes longer sometimes though is now on inning watch. There was a nice string of extended starts from pitchers but not lately.