The New York Mets are in a quite uncomfortable position. They have dropped crucial games recently, their advantage in the NL East is dwindling (it currently stands at 2.5 games) and they lost six of their last 10 games.
To make matters worse, the injury woes that affected the organization early in the season seem to be back. Arguably the two best players on the Mets’ roster, pitcher Jacob deGrom and shortstop Francisco Lindor, are currently out with injuries.
Whereas the injury crisis of May and June seemed to affect more position players, the rotation is the one suffering the blows this time. Not only is deGrom out indefinitely with forearm tightness, but Joey Lucchesi was lost for the season with Tommy John, Noah Syndergaard suffered a setback and isn’t expected back before September, David Peterson is out for weeks, and Carlos Carrasco allowed three home runs in his latest rehab outing.
To keep their first place in the NL East, the Mets will need outside reinforcements, which means they will likely be active in the trade market.
The Mets will be looking for arms
That’s what acting general manager Zack Scott said, per MLB Trade Rumors. He stated that adding pitching will be the Mets’ “top priority†before the deadline.
“I would say as of today, that’s our top priority. It has been for a while…” he told Jon Heyman on Big Time Baseball. “I always say, I do subscribe to that old adage that you can never have enough pitching, and I do think in the seasons, in my experience, that have fallen apart, that’s been the main reason why they have fallen apart.”
Unsurprisingly, he didn’t discuss specific targets the Mets were interested in. MLBTR lists Merrill Kelly (Diamondbacks), Michael Pineda (Twins), Jon Gray (Rockies) and Tyler Anderson (Pirates) as potential mid-tier starting pitchers who could be on the move. The team reportedly sent scouts to Kelly’s last start with Arizona, but the snakes’ asking price on their right-handed hurler is said to be high.
“But right now, with pitching, I feel like it’s always a sellers’ market, so they hold the prices pretty high, and we’ll see if those prices come down or if they hold the bar really high and maybe those guys don’t even get moved, because the industry just decides it’s too high in price to pay. But I expect there to be some movement. I also know that a lot can change in these last days leading into the deadline.â€