So far, the New York Mets have traded Eduardo Escobar, David Robertson, and Max Scherzer. These trades have made the obvious very clear – the Mets are sellers at the trade deadline.
With the trades, it’s apparent the Mets are doing all they can do to maximize the returns to get the best prospects possible. In the Escobar and Scherzer trades, the Mets retained a significant portion of each player’s remaining contract.
So far, the Mets have obtained the following prospects:
- Coleman Crow (Escobar trade)
- Landon Marceaux (Escobar trade)
- Marco Vargas (Robertson trade)
- Ronald Hernandez (Robertson trade)
- Luisangel Acuña (Scherzer trade)
With Vargas and Acuña, the Mets have added two top 100 caliber prospects. With the collection, they’ve significantly improved their top 30 prospects.
There’s more to come as well. It’s been expected that Mark Canha and Tommy Pham with their expiring deals (Canha has a team option). Teams like the Houston Astros are making a push to obtain Justin Verlander.
It has begun questions as to what direction the Mets are taking. Pete Alonso has publicly noted if Scherzer can get traded then anyone can. Brandon Nimmo said he would have a talk with the organization about their future.
Scherzer had made statements very similar to Nimmo, and the next day, he was traded. However, with respect to Alonso and Nimmo, there is absolutely no speculation that they will be traded.
And yet, with Cohen now using his financial might to rebuild the farm instead of pushing for a World Series, there is active speculation the Mets are on the verge of a rebuild.
With that speculation and the recent deals, Mets GM Billy Eppler answered questions from reporters. During the session, he said, “It’s not a rebuild, it’s not a fire sale, it’s not a liquidation. It’s a repurposing of Steve’s [Cohen] investments in the team.”
Eppler would go on to say, “Generally with clubs that are going to go through a rebuild, you have to endure five, six, seven years of losing, and we don’t have the appetite for that. We’re not gonna do that. What we want to do is use Steve’s investment and enhance this farm system and get us to our larger goal.”
Of note, Eppler said he anticipates the Mets will have a competitive team in 2024. Of course, that is open to interpretation and does not indicate who and who will not be traded.
Overall, the Mets farm system has been significantly improved, and it may be improved further at the trade deadline. That is because the Mets are “repurposing” Cohen’s money at this trade deadline.
