With just over six weeks to go until the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, the New York Mets are reportedly ready to listen to trade offers on much of their current major league roster, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.
The Mets, who came into the season with playoff aspirations and started off red-hot by winning 11 of their first 12 games, are currently 10.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East and eight games back of the second Wild Card spot. They have won just three of their last 15 games dating back to May 31.
According to Rosenthal, the team is hoping to retain their young and controllable talent — such as Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, Robert Gsellman, and Seth Lugo — though no player is specifically mentioned as off-limits. While these players can net the team larger returns, they are more likely to shop players like Asdrubal Cabrera, Jerry Blevins, and Jeurys Familia, who are in the final years of their contracts and will not be back in 2019. Familia could be the team’s best bargaining chip, as he could be a big boost to a playoff-caliber team that is looking to bolster their bullpen heading into October.
The discussion on the sell-off in recent weeks has largely focused on aces Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard; however, Rosenthal, citing his source, says the Mets would need a “boatload” of talent to part with either of them. If faced with a choice of trading one or the other, the team is also more willing to move Syndergaard over deGrom. Syndergaard is under team control for three more seasons after 2018, while deGrom is under control for two more.
This would mark the second consecutive season that the Mets have been sellers at the deadline. Last year, the club was able to unload Lucas Duda and Addison Reed before July 31, while trading Neil Walker, Jay Bruce, and Curtis Granderson in the month of August. The result was an influx of young relief pitchers, such as Jacob Rhame, Gerson Bautista, Jamie Callahan, and Ryder Ryan.
During the 2015 and 2016 seasons, the Mets were able to add pieces that contributed to their respective playoff berths in those years. Most notably, they acquired Yoenis Cespedes on July 31, 2015, for Michael Fulmer and Luis Cessa.