Steve Cohen likes being in charge and being decisive. It’s something Mets fans have noticed. He has a willing POBO in David Stearns, who also is not wishy-washy. There’s no question that both have a burning desire to see the Mets win a championship. This is despite the fact, that before the season both admitted that the Mets would not mostly likely compete for a World Series title this season. But vying for a playoff appearance was within bounds. This week in a later deleted message on X, when fans expressed their frustration with the way the Mets have been playing, Cohen put out the following post:
“All in the future, not much we can do until the trade deadline” – Steve Cohen
That post led fans to the conclusion that the Mets will again be sellers at the trade deadline. Is that what he meant?
Coming off losing 2 of 3 to the Braves, 3 of 4 to the Phillies and two awful losses to the Marlins , the Mets appeared outclassed and outplayed against their two biggest National League East rivals, and just sorry versus the Marlins. Yet there remains a very viable path for the Mets to make the playoffs. Aside from the Dodgers, the other NL West teams are all scuffling to reach .500. The same is true for the NL Central teams other than the Brewers and Cubs. The better version of the Mets, the team that went 12-3 earlier in the season, the one that gets back a healthy Kodai Senga, and has Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and Jeff McNeil shake off their hitting malaises to become their former selves, should be in the competition for at least the final wild card spot throughout the season.
What it would take for the Mets to be sellers at the trade deadline
Last June the Met’s season spiraled down on the back of a 7-19 June. So far May 2024 has not been good to the team, and another 30 days of struggling to score runs while the pitching sags, will sink this season, and it won’t even be June 30th. If that were to be the case, the July 30 trade deadline might be longer than Stearns and Cohen take to play ‘Let’s make a Deal’ for some of their pitchers (Quintana, Manaea, and Ottovino), and possibly Pete Alonso.
Could the Mets be buyers at the trade deadline?
While less likely, it’s not out of the question. Were the Mets to catch a good streak and put themselves squarely in the wild card chase, they could acquire a relief pitcher or a player to replace a key player lost to injury. They would presumably not sell the farm and only tinker with the roster since they are far from being in the upper air of the NL’s best, the Dodgers, Braves and Phillies. Right now, you’d heavily favor those teams vs. the Mets in any playoff series. If Cohen and Stearns don’t feel the Mets have enough to go the distance, then they won’t go all in with big trades. Which is correct.
You can sense that even the Mets owner is frustrated just like the fans, watching his team struggle to score runs almost every game. It’s not a quick or easy fix. Surely the stars can perform more like they are expected to, but the best version of the Mets lineup both hitting and pitching-wise, falls far short of the NL’s best. And we’re not even mentioning the Brewers and Cubs, flawed teams, but also teams that overall are better than the Mets right now.
Steve Cohen’s deletion of the X message is probably the most interesting part of the entire circumstance. He probably decided he didn’t want to foster a conversation about the trading deadline two and one-half months before the fact. Mets fans shouldn’t be looking to have that conversation just yet either. The 2024 season’s only just past the one-quarter pole and it’s still too early to raise the white flag on this season.
