The New York Mets talking points entering the trade deadline was they didn’t want to disrupt their team chemistry. The trade deadline came and went, and they didn’t disrupt it.
They left their holes in the rotation and bullpen unaddressed. Arguably, they didn’t address third base. But, they didn’t disrupt that team chemistry. Now, they’re losing games.
Taijuan Walker wasn’t great, but it was a step forward for him. Again, the big issue is the long ball. The Miami Marlins two homers accounted for two of the four runs he allowed over 5.2 innings.
Seth Lugo was pushed for two innings again even if he’s showed he can’t really do that since his surgery. He’d let up what proved to be a crucial run in that second inning of work.
Offensively, they cracked the three run mark for just the fourth time over their last 13 games. It all came down to Brandon Drury in the ninth. He couldn’t drive home the game tying run from second, and so, the Mets lost 5-4.
The Phillies won putting the Mets only 1.5 games ahead of them. Unlike the Mets, the Phillies actively worked to address their needs. They’re ascending, and the Mets are on the verge of collapse.
The good news is if the Mets do collapse, they have a great clubhouse to help each other get through it.
Now, this is overly sarcastic, and the Mets can still very well win this division. That said, they didn’t try to win it. The Phillies did, and the Mets team, who can’t get out of their own way or get healthy enough, is in very real trouble.
The Miami Marlins began the game with consecutive singles off Tylor Megill, and Jesus Aguilar reached on a James McCann catcher interference. That brought .223/.255/.383 hitter Lewis Brinson.
The end result? A Grand Slam.
Making matters worse is those were all the runs the Marlins needed.The Mets answered in the second. Somehow, Javier Baez drew a walk, and he’d eventually score on a wild pitch by Jesus Luzardo. Brandon Drury, who is just about the only Met who can hit now, had an RBI double pulling the Mets to within 4-2.
In the third, Pete Alonso homered pulling the Mets within one, and at that time it seemed they might be able to rally back:
1️⃣0️⃣9️⃣mph off the bat of Pete. ? #LGM pic.twitter.com/DOK00I9lDc
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 3, 2021
Those vibes seemed to die immediately when Baez pulled up lame on a groundout. It’s a reminder Baez was dealing with injuries when the Mets obtained him. The good news is he stayed in the game. He was noticeably trying to stretch out his hamstring.
This was as close as the Mets got. In the bottom half of the inning, Brinson proved to be trouble again. He “singled” on a play J.D. Davis couldn’t make. He’d then score on an Isan Diaz RBI double.
The Mets didn’t get a rally going again until the eighth. They loaded the bases with two outs. In some ways they had the guy they wanted at the plate, but Drury grounded out.
The Marlins tacked one in the bottom of the eighth, and the Mets lost 6-3. The Mets keep losing games, and now, they only lead the NL East by 2.5 games. This is a really bad situation for the team.
Game Notes: Brandon Nimmo was scratched, but he did appear as a pinch hitter. Michael Conforto again did not start, but he came off the bench and doubled in the ninth.
While it may not be fair to have expected the New York Mets to start spending like drunken sailors, it was fair to expect significant progress. Frankly, we’re not seeing that entirely.
There’s the caveat the Wilpons never would’ve given Francisco Lindor that extension. They once did it with Johan Santana, but they’ve refused post Madoff.
Things are definitively improved, but it’s really not where it should be. Certainly, someone can say it’s not my money, and that’s true. However, what this ultimately about is winning.
It’s hard to see how the Mets recent decisions are driven by the intent to win. It seems like more penny-wise, pound foolish decisions.
In the Javier Baez trade, the Chicago Cubs paid most of Baez’s salary. With the Cubs kicking in so much money, they got a better prospect in Pete Crow-Armstrong. While the trade may be fair value even without the money, it’s fair to question why the Mets parted with the better prospect instead of adding payroll.
The Mets had the opportunity to add Josh Donaldson and Kenta Maeda. It not only was a move which would’ve significantly improved the Mets World Series chances, but it was all the more necessary with Jacob deGrom injured. They walked away because the Twins weren’t eating enough salary.
Then, they draft Kumar Rocker. The Mets had a handshake agreement if Kumar fell the Mets would draft him and give him a $6 million bonus. That amount plus some injury concerns helped Kumar fall.
Make no mistake here. When the Mets drafted Kumar and when they talked about $6 million, they knew something very likely could pop up on the medicals.
Knowing that, The Mets still went all-in on Rocker. They drafted underslot after Rocker. They had a lot of money remaining in the till, except they didn’t draft a Plan B to sign in the even Rocker didn’t sign. Again, Rocker was the only plan which is a horrendous plan if you’re drafting a guy of questionable health.
Now, Rocker is left figuring out the next step while the Mets pocket the $6 million it promised Kumar and all the savings on the underslot deals. If this was the Wilpons, we’d be screaming about their cheapness and Madoff.
That’s not exactly what’s happening here. Here, the Mets have an owner with the wherewithal to make these deals. He’s just opting not to for various reasons.
In the end, Cohen’s Mets made the same cheap decisions the Wilpons made. The only thing which has changed is the explanation. It’s a matter of “I can’t” to “I could, but I don’t want to do it.” Whatever it is, the result is the same.
So yes, things are better, much better. That said, this Mets team parted with a better prospect to save money, they opted not to eat salary to address an area of need, and they effectively punted the 2021 draft.
Between all of that, and not showing up to score runs against the Cincinnati Reds, this was a bad week, and frankly, it was a bad month. Let’s hope, it doesn’t all equate to a bad rest of the year.
There’s no other way to put it. The New York Mets flat out stole this game.
The Mets blew the 1-0 lead when Rich Hill surrendered a three run homer to Eugenio Suarez in fourth. That deficit grew to 4-1 when Kyle Farmer homered in the fifth.
At that point, the Mets looked dead in the water as Wade Miley dominated them over the first five innings, but the Mets got something started in the sixth.
Jonathan Villar drew a lead-off walk, and Pete Alonso singled. That brought the newest Met, Javier Baez, up as the tying run. Well, that was at least until Villar was picked off at second. That loomed large as Baez hit his first homer as a member of the Mets:
WELCOME TO NEW YORK, @javy23baez! ? pic.twitter.com/Cg8uQGIlp3
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 1, 2021
That got the Mets to within 4-3, but notably, it did not tie the game. They’d need to bullpen to shut down the Reds offense to give them that chance.
For a moment, it didn’t look like the Mets were going to get that chance. Joey Votto got a hold of a Seth Lugo pitch, and for a moment, it seemed like he tied the Major League record by homering in eight straight games.
Instead, it hit the top of the wall. There were now runners at the corners with no outs. Lugo rebounded by striking out the next two. Luis Rojas then went to Aaron Loup.
Loup returned the favor for Villar by catching Votto too far off the bag. Votto broke for second, but Pete Alonso didn’t panic, and he started a run down of Farley for the final out of the inning.
Aaron Loup starts the pickoff play and the Mets are through the 8th! ? pic.twitter.com/EXKICsixrF
— SNY (@SNYtv) August 1, 2021
This meant the Mets had a chance entering the ninth. Jeff McNeil would draw a lead-off walk off Heath Hembree, and Luis Guillorme entered as a pinch runner. Hembree then uncorked a wild pitch moving Guillorme to second.
After Hembree struck out Baez and James McCann, the Reds went to Sean Doolittle to get out Dominic Smith even though Smith hits lefties well. Doolittle did get ahead of Smith, but Smith delivered the game tying single.
DOM DELIVERS. ?@TheRealSmith2_ | #LGM pic.twitter.com/Qd00031aYm
— New York Mets (@Mets) August 1, 2021
This meant Rob Manfred Gimmick Baseball Time. The Reds started the inning with Jonathan India on second. He moved to third on a wild pitch. Jesse Winker didn’t beat them like he normally does because he walked.
Diaz responded in a way he did in the first half and not the second half. He rebounded by striking out the next two, including Votto, before getting Tyler Naquin to line out hard to center.
In the 10th, Luis Cessa found himself pitching against the Mets on the six year anniversary of when he was traded by the Mets as part of the Yoenis Cespedes deal. On his fourth pitch, Brandon Drury continued his hot hitting July with a walk-off single.
In the end, the Mets won a game they really had no business winning. Make no mistake, this is the hallmark of a good team amidst a special season.
As the New York Mets stared down the trade deadline, they needed to address their pitching, and they needed to get a third baseman. Instead of doing that, they instead opted to trade for Javier Baez.
For Baez, the Mets parted with Pete Crow-Armstrong, and the Chicago Cubs threw in Trevor Williams. Considering Baez was going to receive a qualifying offer, the deal was more than fair. In fact, you could argue the Mets got the better end of the deal.
However, while the Mets won the trade, you do have to wonder just how much better Baez makes them. It’s debatable.
For now, Baez stands as a replacement for the injured Francisco Lindor. Baez is not on Lindor’s level defensively, and he has really struggled this year.
So far, Baez has a career worst -1 OAA. DRS tells a different story with a 4 DRS. That’s the second best mark of his career in a full 162 game season. That’s not the defensive wizard he’s purported to be, and it’s probably not a significant upgrade than what Luis Guillorme could provide.
Offensively, Baez is at a 105 wRC+. If he stays at or near this level, that’ll be just the third time over his eight year career he is at least a league average hitter.
The problem with Baez is he’s got a poor mix of not taking walks and swinging and nodding frequently. In fact, he leads the league in strikeouts. Overall, his 36.3 K% is borderline unplayable.
Keep in mind, Baez only exacerbates Mets offensive issues. They’re in the bottom half of the NL in strikeout and walk rates. Baez will serve as a hindrance to both. If anything, Baez moves the Mets further towards an all or nothing offense.
All that said, Baez does make the Mets better. If nothing else, he eventually moves Jeff McNeil to third and J.D. Davis to the bench. That helps the pitching significantly, especially starters like Marcus Stroman and Taijuan Walker.
There’s also his friendship with Lindor and experience playing for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic. With that, he has a familiarity with Edwin Diaz. Diaz has missed Lindor, and it’s shown. Hopefully, Baez can temporarily fill that void.
Baez also has championship pedigree being a part of the 2016 Chicago Cubs. In his career, he’s had some big series including his being the 2016 NLCS MVP.
On that note, Baez does create a more defined path towards winning the World Series. This is going to have to be a team which wins with its pitching and defense. They have enough offense to get it done.
All told, Baez is an improvement. The problem is he may not be sufficient. He hurts the offense, and he’s no longer the defensive genius we thought him to be.
Now, as evidenced by his 2.8 WAR, he’s a good player. In fact, that mark puts him as the Mets top position player. So yes, the Mets are better. However, it’s really debatable if they’re significantly better or really improved their chances to hold onto the division or win the World Series.
This should’ve been a great day for the New York Mets. The black uniforms were back for limited engagement, Carlos Carrasco was making his season debut, and they added Javier Baez at the trade deadline.
Instead of this being the Yoenis Cespedes celebration with Lucas Duda carrying the Mets to first place, you have to wonder if the Mets are in real trouble.
For his part, aside from surrendering a homer to Jonathan India on his first pitch, Carrasco was terrific. Over four innings, he allowed just that one run on three hits and one walk while striking out four.
It should be noted, part of the reason he gave up one run was a phenomenal play by Luis Guillorme to rob Eugenio Suarez of a would be RBI single.
.@lguillorme13 is pure entertainment. ? pic.twitter.com/4p24B5wMva
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 31, 2021
At that time, the Mets should’ve had a lead. Before Sonny Gray could blink Jeff McNeil doubled home Brandon Nimmo to tie the score. Then, the Mets loaded the bases with no outs.
The promising rally completely fell apart. Michael Conforto struck out in what would be an 0-for-4 night with a golden sombrero and a dip below the Mendoza Line.
Jonathan Villar then hit into an inning ending double play. That was about it for the Mets offense for the night. They wouldn’t get a runner into scoring position until the eighth, and they squandered that opportunity as well.
That wasn’t the case with the Reds. Miguel Castro‘s struggles continued. He allowed a double to India, and Jesse Winker was a Mets killer again driving him home.
Drew Smith‘s long ball troubles continued as he allowed a homer to Joey Votto the following inning. This was the seventh consecutive game Votto homered.
It was still theoretically a game in the ninth as it was only 3-1. That was until the Reds roughed up Anthony Banda in his second inning of work for three runs making it a 6-1 Reds lead.
In the ninth, in what may prove to be his last Mets at-bat, Brandon Drury hit a pinch hit RBI double. It proved to be nothing more than window dressing in the Mets 6-2 loss.
As if that loss wasn’t bad enough, Nimmo was going to be taken out of the game with a hamstring issue resulting from a dividing catch. Jacob deGrom was shut down again with more forearm inflammation. It should also be noted with the Mets falling to add a reliever the bullpen struggled.
All told, even with the Baez addition, this was just about as bad a day as you can get. The Mets looked bad and might be in real trouble soon.
Game Notes: In addition to getting Baez for Pete Crow-Armstrong, the Mets also obtained Trevor Williams. Williams was assigned to Triple-A Syracuse.
When making decisions at the trade deadline, it is not just about where your team is in the standings. It is also about where you are at as an organization. Right now, the Mets are 4.0 games up on the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies, two teams who are under .500. As for the organization, well, they are in a much more tenuous spot.
After this season, Michael Conforto, Jeurys Familia, Rich Hill, Aaron Loup, Marcus Stroman, Noah Syndergaard, and Jonathan Villar will be free agents. After the following season, Edwin Diaz, Seth Lugo, Trevor May, Brandon Nimmo, and Kevin Pillar will be free agents. Jacob deGrom can also opt out of his contract, and Taijuan Walker can decline his player option.
Focusing more narrowly, after two years, the Mets could lose 2/3 of their outfield and 4/5 of their starting rotation. They can also lose four key set-up men as well as their closer. Put another way, this team is on the precipice of losing very important pieces of a team which is going to take it to the postseason this year.
Now, this is certainly a much different proposition with Steve Cohen at the helm than it was with the Wilpons. There is an implicit trust Cohen will continue trying to win. However, as we know, you’re not always successful identifying who to keep and who to let go as well as who the right replacements are.
When we look back to the early 90s, the Mets were coming off their best stretch in Mets history. They made the right decision letting Gary Carter and Keith Hernandez go. However, they made some bad calls like thinking Vince Coleman could replace Darryl Strawberry. They over relied on their belief Kevin Elster, Dave Magadan, and Gregg Jefferies could be first division starters. Of course, there was also the Worst Team Money Could Buy.
All told, when the Mets switched from build around a core to replacing and altering the core, things fell apart. We can look at other points in Mets history when that happened. It happened again when the Mets passed on Alex Rodriguez as part of a calamitous offseason after the 2000 pennant. The 2009 Mets made the mistake of keeping Oliver Perez. The 2017 Mets got their money tied up in Neil Walker, and they saw Robert Gsellman and Lugo couldn’t hang as starters for a full season.
In some ways, that leads us to now. The Mets have extremely important decisions to make on who stays and who goes. They need to see who the correct replacements are. From what we’ve see from this front office, we should have faith they are up to the task. That said, we all had very well placed faith in Frank Cashen, and he blew it up.
Seeing where the Mets are, the best decision they can make right now is to absolutely go for it. Yes, that may very well require overpaying for players and rentals. Back in 2015, that didn’t make much sense. It was year one of contending for a young core who was cost controlled. Their decisions, including letting Daniel Murphy walk, turned it into a two year window. That window slammed shut without a World Series.
Right now, the Mets window is definitely open, but it’s being propped open. Without the right options, this window can slam shut after this year. It may well be that after the 2022 season. The Mets definitely need to keep this possibility in mind as they look to add at the trade deadline.
Players like Kris Bryant and Trevor Story dramatically changes the fortunes of this team. The same can be said for a player like Jose Ramirez. It may hurt to overpay for Max Scherzer or another top of the line starter, but imagine a two headed monster of deGrom and Scherzer (and having deGrom insurance) as the Mets look to win a World Series.
Ultimately, the Mets are going to see radical changes to this roster over the next few years. They’re in first place now with a team capable of winning a World Series. They need to make sure they do everything they need to do to get that World Series, or they may be ruing the missed chance for a team in transition over the next few years.
The New York Mets had Taijuan Walker on the mound with the opportunity to win the rubber game of the five game set. In the third, Dominic Smith opened the scoring with an RBI single scoring Brandon Nimmo, but he was caught trying to stretch the single into a double. At that moment, it was hard to believe the Mets were going to be dominated in this game.
Walker who looked promising after rough starts out of the All-Star Break took the mound in the fourth with a 1-0 lead. That would turn into a 2-1 deficit as he allowed homers to Austin Riley and Abraham Almonte in the inning. The home run ball is increasingly becoming an issue for Walker. He went from allowing six in his All-Star first half to five over his first three starts out of the break.
Where it was two blasts which got Walker in the fourth, it was singles in the fifth which cost him the game. He allowed four singles in the inning including RBI singles to Ozzie Albies and, who else, Riley. At that point, it was 5-1 Braves, and it appeared the Mets had no shot at coming back in the game.
Aside from an epic Pete Alonso blast to the upper deck (promenade) at Citi Field, that largely proved to be true. That homer from Alonso might not have been the longest in Citi Field history, but it was arguably the most impressive:
4️⃣5️⃣3️⃣ FT
Pete got ALL OF IT. #LGM pic.twitter.com/SBcOUva9ZZ
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 29, 2021
The Mets would get no closer. In fact, they’d fall further back when Jeurys Familia allowed an eighth inning solo homer to Dansby Swanson. All told, this was a 6-3 loss. It really seemed the Mets didn’t have any carryover momentum from last night’s big win with Michael Conforto nailing the tying run at the plate. It also seemed like the Braves, not the Mets, were the team playing with a purpose.
Frankly, the Mets were lucky to escape this series with the two wins they had. As a result, they still have a good hold on this division. That said, they allowed the Philadelphia Phillies to remain in this race at the trade deadline, and if that team can address that bullpen, the Mets may be in trouble. Simply put, they needed to be better in this series, and really, in all of these divisional games.
Game Notes: J.D. Davis is in a 6-for-35 stretch with 15 strikeouts. Brandon Drury earned the start after the game winning homer last night. He had a hit in seven straight at-bats putting him two short of John Olerud‘s team record.
The Mets entered the bottom of the ninth up 2-1. Tylor Megill was terrific over 5.1 with little run support. Jeurys Familia got out of a big jam. Brandon Drury had a huge go-ahead pinch hit homer.
Luis Rojas gave Edwin Diaz the ball in the ninth. This wasn’t quite a must win game, but it’s one the Mets really needed to keep control over the division.
In 2019, Diaz was Armando Benitez like in these big spots. While Diaz was great in the first half, and arguably should’ve been an All-Star, we’ve seen that Jekyll/Hyde closer return.
When Diaz allowed a ground rule double to Abraham Almonte, you could sense the panic amongst Mets fans. After a Guillermo Heredia fly out, Ehire Adrianza ripped a single to right field.
Atlanta Braves third base coach Ron Washington waiver Almonte home, and Michael Conforto unleashed a perfect throw home:
Got him! ? @mconforto8 ➡️ @McCannon33 pic.twitter.com/IYnfAd1Due
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 29, 2021
James McCann fielded it, and he laid down the tag as the ball snowconed on him. Almonte would’ve been safe 9,999 times out of 10,000, but this was that one time eliciting the double, “He’s out!” from Gary Cohen.
Conforto, who has struggled all year, did everything right. He charged the ball, and he unleashed a strong accurate throw, something which used to be a hallmark from him. McCann got it and laid down a great tag.
Not only did the play save the game, it might’ve saved Diaz. He settled down to record the save. That’s even with Pablo Sandoval ripping an opposite field liner which looked to be a game tying double until Kevin Pillar tracked it down.
Instead of talking about the blown save, and worrying if the roof was caving in, we’re talking about a great throw by Conforto. These are the plays which makes seasons like this one special. It’s plays like this which could help these players turn things around.
By no means is it fair to suggest the New York Mets and their players were throwing the game. Certainly, there was nothing Jerad Eickhoff wanted more than to have a strong start.
In many ways, this was the future of Eickhoff’s MLB career. He had already been DFA’d multiple times this season with no one willing to pick him up. That meant he was there for a Mets team desperate for a pitcher.
There’s no doubt the Mets were overturning every stone they could. After all, they just pulled the trigger on a trade for Rich Hill. Clearly, they wanted better than Eickhoff, but they just couldn’t find it.
It was a disaster for Eickhoff. He joined Pat Mahomes as the only Mets starter to walk five and all 10 ER. It was just that bad over his 3.2 innings.
Luis Rojas and the Mets were clearly asking him to wear one in what was a thinly veiled attempt to punt the game from a starting pitching standpoint. As noted, Eickhoff could only give them 3.2 innings.
Eickhoff left the mound to a chorus of boos. It’s unfortunate that’s the way he goes out. Certainly, he will be DFA’d in short order, and with the trade deadline this week and Carlos Carrasco due to come off the IL on Friday, there’s no way Eickhoff pitches for the Mets again.
To their credit, the Mets tried to make a game of it. Jeff McNeil‘s two run homer in the fifth not only extended his hitting streak to 14 games, but it pulled the Mets to within 10-3.
Pete Alonso followed with a double, but reliever Yennsy Diaz would bat killing the rally. That was probably the Mets chance.
That was certainly the case when Diaz allowed a homer to Austin Riley, a player who is absolutely killing the Mets, hit a two run homer in the sixth. That made a prayer of coming back seven runs back against a bad Braves bullpen, an unrealistic nine run deficit.
Brandon Drury hit a window dressing two run homer to make it 12-5, but this was a game the Mets blew by not having a legitimate Major League starter. We can debate what the Mets should or should not have done, but in reality, there was no one on this roster to put the Mets in position to win.
For the Mets, they still lead the division by 3.5 games. Ultimately, they’ll be fine with getting two starters back and the trade deadline.
Unfortunately, for Eickhoff, this may be it. Certainly, someone could grab him as minor league depth. It’s just hard to imagine he’s going to get a real chance to start in the majors again.