The Mets are a dreadful seven games under .500 and 12 games back in the wild-card race. Their season is all but over — they need too many teams to collapse and need to do too much work themselves to be a viable pennant hopeful at this point.
The state of affairs is especially disheartening given the expectations and recent success, but a confluence of age and injury have doomed this season.
This places an important question on the table: Should the Mets be sellers as the trade season opens this month? The answer, sadly, appears to be yes — unless they can cut the wild-card deficit in half by the all-star break. Given the schedule —four games with the Dodgers and three with the Nationals —hope is fleeting.
Here are 10 things to consider that could remake the team for 3018, when the pitching should be healthy.
1 & 2. Trade Jay Bruce and/or Lucas Duda. Bruce has had a nice year anchoring the line-up, but he is a corner outfielder and the Mets have two corners in place — Michael Conforto and Yoenes Cespedes. Bruce has rebuilt his trade value, so the Mets should see what they can get for him.
The same goes for Duda, who occupies a position played by the Mets’ no. 2 position prospect, Dominic Smith. Smith is expected to be ready soon, which means a decision on Duda will have to be made. He is expected to want a longer-term deal, which is not something the Mets should consider. They should get something while they can.
Mets fans will read this and say — but wait. They are presences in the middle of the line-up. The reality is that, while both are solid, they are not worth what it might take to keep them. They are, using both the eye test and the array of statistical and analytical tools, above but near average for their positions. Basically, they are replaceable.
3. Bring up Ahmed Rosario. The Mets’ infield play has been among the worst in the league — and the infielders have been about as bad a defensive group as I’ve seen. The left side of the infield has been atrocious — Jose Reyes has nothing left at short, is not a third-baseman and can’t hit. Asdrubel Cabrera has the legs of an 80-year-old man and the range to match. The Mets have no reason to commit to this horror show any longer. Let Wilmer Flores play out the string at third — at least he hits — and bring up Rosario. The kids flashes leather like no one in a Mets uniform since Rey Ordonez, and he’s been raking big time in AAA. Bring him up, hit him lead off and let’s see what he can do.
4. Cut ties with Reyes. See above.
5. Consign Curtis Granderson to the bench. He is looking his age, and there are likely no takers among contenders. He remains a good character guy and could help with the transition for guys like Rosario.
6. Find a way to play T.J. Rivera. The kid can hit, and he had ice water in his veins. Let him super-sub — a little first, some second, a little third, and maybe an occasional at bat in the outfield. The goal should be to get him into the line-up about two thirds of the time.
8. Either sign Neil Walker or trade him. Walker has pop and is an adequate glove, but the cost and length of the deal will be the deciding factors. Walker will be 32 before the season ends, has had back surgery and, for the second year in a row, has spent time on the DL. Those are not good signs.
Are there alternatives? Walker will be out for a bit — torn hamstring — so the Mets have an opportunity to audition his replacement — whether it be Rivera (see above) or Gavin Cecchini, a former first-round pick as a shortstop who until this year had shown serious promise. Let’s see what they can do.
9. Find a real centerfielder. It may be worth playing Juan Lagares and Brandon Nimmo in a platoon for a while to see what they have — Lagares with the bat, Nimmo with the glove. My sense is that neither will take the position by the reins and run with it, which would then allow the Mets to approach the position with a fresh eye and make it a priority — either this year or in the off-season.
10. Let the Mets’ starting pitching work its way out of its inconsistency and slumps. Allow them to pitch through trouble and push their pitch counts up. Most of them are in their late 20s and it’s time to treat them like the aces they claim to and should be.
Hank Kalet 