The first half is over, and the Mets sell off is coming

The Mets ended the first half of the year in typical fashion as they bumbled away another game and were swept by the Red Sox

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

• The Mets blew a 9th inning lead and lost to the Red Sox 3-2 at Citi Field on Sunday, and were swept at home (box)

• Francisco Lindor committed a critical error in the ninth inning on a would-be game-ending double play ball with one out, and Jarred Duran tied the game with a two-run single two batters later

• The Red Sox were able to score the ghost runner without a hit in the tenth, and the Mets were unable to plate the ghost runner in the tenth inning to seal the loss

• Zach Thornton allowed just two hits over seven innings, but took a no decision and Luke Weaver fired a scoreless inning - he hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last 25 appearances

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Below is a complete list of everyone the Mets selected in the 2026 first-year player draft:

For more on the Mets 2026 draft class, check out SNY here.

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Roster Moves 📰

• LHP Zach Thornton recalled from Triple-A Syracuse

• RHP Tobias Myers optioned to Triple-A Syracuse

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Injury Updates 🏥

• 3B Bo Bichette (general leg and right ankle soreness) is expected back in the starting lineup on Thursday

• 2B Marcus Semien (left hip flexor strain) began a rehab assignment on Sunday - he went 2-for-3 with a home run and 3 RBI for Double-A Binghamton

• OF Luis Robert Jr. (lumbar spine inflammation) went 2-for-6 with two runs scored for Double-A Binghamton on Sunday

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Play of the Game 🙃

Yep, it was Francisco Lindor’s game-changing error in the ninth. He had a routine, game-ending double play ball in his pocket, but he booted it, and the floodgates opened on the Mets.

Boston would go on to tie it on a Jarred Duran two-run single and win it in the 10th when they scored the ghost runner, and the Mets had their typical non-response.

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The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️

In the latest edition of the Just Mets Podcast, Rich recaps the Mets terrible first half and the week that just passed without any sign of a pulse from the club.

SUBSCRIBE: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify

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Down on the Farm 🌾

• OF Chris Suero (no. 13 prospect, AA): 2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI

• C Daiverson Gutierrez (High-A): 2-for-4, 2 RBI

• RHP José López (Low-A): 5 IP, 2 R, 2 H, 2 BB, 2 K

BOX SCORES

Single-A SLU | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR (PPD)

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Today’s Game 🗓

The Mets are off Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The season resumes on Thursday when the Mets take on the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

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Francisco Lindor’s lost season, Luke Weaver’s trade value, and finding a way to retain Clay Holmes ✍️

New York Post

Thankfully, the All-Star break is here. We don’t have to endure a Met game for a few days!

You know it’s pretty sad and pathetic when I am not even upset the Mets lost the way they did on Sunday. Aggravated yes, borderline amused, for sure. But upset? Well, no and that pretty much tells me how far sideways this season has gone for this franchise, and the bulk of the last two seasons for that matter.

When Francisco Lindor booted that ball in the ninth inning on Sunday, all I could think of was, “typical.” That the game came down to that play was typical in that the Mets offense was dysfunctional to a point the Mets had to be perfect against the game’s hottest team in order to survive and win, and bad teams are usually far from perfect.

But that error also was generally typical of Lindor’s season, which has been mired by mental and physical lapses at shortstop, empty at bats at the plate, and a general lack of presence.

He’s been hard to watch, to say the least. I am not going to say this is a function of Lindor getting older and becoming a diminished player, at least not yet anyway. He is far too talented and agile for anyone to come to that conclusion. I think his two-month absence with that calf injury is contributing to his poor play, but again, he had these bizarre issues in the field well before he got hurt too, so I can’t totally attribute these lapses to the injury alone.

But on the other hand, Lindor is getting older, although he’s only 32, and the metrics would suggest his range has undoubtedly diminished over the last two seasons, although it was still elite in 2025. And of course, as players get older, they tend to become more injury-prone as well. Maybe the calf injury, or the recovery process from that calf injury has contributed to his steep drop in range this season - I don’t know. And in the case of Sunday, his error wasn’t a function of that diminished range. He just had a lapse in concentration and booted the ball and that was it.

It’s just frustrating since he seems to come up with these mistakes on a regular basis these days, and, as I said before, it’s really, really hard to watch a star player struggle like this and let the team down in the process.

On top of that, his .671 OPS and 86 OPS+ pretty much tell the story of what’s going on with him at the plate. So many empty at bats, so many missed chances, and a general lack of power.

Now, the metrics could have you believe Lindor is going to snap out of it, and at the very least, suggesting he isn’t showing signs of diminishment. His exit velocity is still good, as is his hard-hit rate. The expected numbers are a lot higher and in line with his numbers from 2025 as well. So again, there is hope that with time and more reps, Lindor is going to look like Lindor.

But of course, expected numbers don’t really matter if the present-day production isn’t there, and right now, Lindor isn’t doing much to help the team on either side of the ball. It’s as simple as that. He knows that, he knows the quality of his play is “unacceptable” as he termed it after Sunday’s loss, and I have complete faith that his accountability will ultimately turn into results for this team, as they always have in the past.

There’s a lot of noise around town about how the Mets should trade Lindor right now, and how bad the dynamic has been between him and Juan Soto, and all of that. I do think Lindor should be on the table this summer, but not because of anything subjective. The Mets simply have to see how the industry views him value-wise and see if there might be an unlikely taker for the remainder of his contract. The Mets would be shopping Lindor at pennies on the dollar, would unquestionably have to eat a lot of his contract as well, and so it probably wouldn’t be a responsible trade under those conditions.

Also - for all of those who want to move Lindor, who would his short-term and long-term replacement be, exactly? Bo Bichette? No, I don’t think so, especially since he could very well have 2 1/2 months left in his Mets tenure and is also an unlikely trade candidate this summer. Nobody has offered that one up among those who are calling for the Mets to move him.

Again, the Mets should shop him and assess his value. For sure. But unless there’s someone out there willing to make a blind and deaf move to take on the entire contract and give the Mets needed pieces in return, then I expect the Mets to hold on to him. Steve Cohen is on the record as saying neither Lindor nor Soto will be moved at the deadline - from a credibility perspective, it would be hard to reverse course from that stance anyway.

As for everyone else, the only other pieces which are untouchable from my seat are Nolan McLean, Carson Benge, and AJ Ewing. David Stearns should make a best effort to liquidate almost everyone else, including everyone in the bullpen. Those are his most valuable trade chips, those are the players - aside from starting pitchers - who have the most value at the trade deadline, and for a team that’s going nowhere, there’s no reason to keep any of those pieces around, especially those like AJ Minter and Brooks Raley who are free agents at the end of the year.

New York Post

I find Luke Weaver’s trade situation fascinating, for what it’s worth. He has a year left after this season and has been among the game’s best relief pitchers. Elite relief pitchers have been getting three-year deals for similar money to Weaver, so he could be viewed as one of this deadline’s great relief bargains and could possibly get the Mets the best return among any of the players they have on the roster. Again, I don’t think the Mets should retain Weaver given their current circumstances - they should sell high right now on him as a veteran, proven commodity in New York who’s coming in pretty cheap from a value perspective right now.

There’s another fascinating story, and that is with Clay Holmes.

It seems more and more likely he is going to pitch again in 2026. It might not be for another month or so, but that shouldn’t deter potential suitors if he were to only miss one or two starts post-deadline. He’s a bit of a crapshoot coming off this broken leg, but he was among the game’s best pitchers before getting hurt and a great success story among pitchers who have transitioned out of the bullpen and into the starting rotation.

But, he did say this week he would like to remain with the Mets, and is open to a contract extension with them.

For starters, that would certainly signal he is going to opt out of his contract at the end of the season, which is totally expected. He is probably earning at least half of what he’s worth and would undoubtedly score big in free agency, despite missing a good portion of this season.

Getty Images

Having said that, if I am the Mets, I would probably entertain his interest in remaining and try to sign him to another three-year contract now, especially with economic uncertainty looming in the sport and the cost only rising even for mid-tier starting pitchers. If he can be had for three years and $65-70 million, that would seem like a nice get for them and a way to keep a player who has clearly benefitted from whatever it is the Mets have cooked up for him in their rotation, which has been a point of weakness beyond Holmes since he got here.

Keep in mind, the injury might make him more valuable to the Mets right now than he might be in trade anyway, even with starting pitching in such high demand.

We shall see how it all shakes out.

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Around the League 🚩

• Ben Rice tripled in the go-ahead run in the eighth as the Yankees beat the Nationals 5-3

• Zach Wheeler allowed two hits and struck out ten over six innings as the Phillies shut out the Tigers 5-0

• The White Sox capped their storied first half with a 9-1 thumping of the A’s in Chicago

• Shohei Ohtani hit his 22nd home run of the year, but the Diamondbacks came from behind to beat the Dodgers 5-3