The Mets are having a strange weekend aren’t they? Following embarrassing the Yankees over in the Bronx, the Mets came back to Citi Field set up for arguably their most important series since 2022. Starting with two straight wins over the Braves including absolutely mashing Charlie Morton on Friday, the Mets overtook the Braves in the standings and became the top National League Wildcard team. The following day, they lost Kodai Senga for at least the rest of the regular season, and were shut out in a loss that leapfrogged the Braves and Padres back ahead of them in the standings. So with the trade deadline quickly approaching and moves already being made quickly and some costly, where are the Mets right now and what is the plan? This should come as no surprise but, they should still be closer to “all in” than “settle down a bit”. The Braves had lost 6 straight coming into Saturdays matchup and the Mets had been on a 5 game winning streak, eventually these things tend to even out a bit. In terms of what the Mets were going to need come Tuesdays deadline, neither Senga’s injury or their loss on Saturday gave me anything new in terms of how they should approach this playoff push. The Mets needed to trade for another starter even before the Senga injury, and another uninspired outing from Megil reinforces that. DJ Stewart should probably have played his last game as a New York Met, and the Mets had already needed another outfielder and a lefty bat with some pop. The question is not about whether or not the Mets approach at the deadline should change (although they reportedly only began checking on the starting pitching market post Senga injury) but just how aggressive they’re willing to be. Once again, I think todays performance is very easy to put in the rear view mirror, the offense was due for a stinker and Megil hasn’t been a major league caliber starter all year. If you’ve come out of the last couple of days feeling anything other than that the Mets are the better of the two teams, I’m not sure what you’ve been watching.

Here’s my big “hot take”, the Braves should absolutely be sellers. Relievers have been bringing in really nice hauls with the Marlins getting a strong return for AJ Puk and the Angels most recently getting a really nice return for Carlos Estevez. Literally every reliever that the Braves have, is good. I can’t tell you that the Braves aren’t still good enough to make the playoffs, they certainly are. But they don’t have the lineup to get far at all, and this would be a rare opportunity for this Braves team with the nasty core that it already has locked up for the long haul, to completely change the look of their farm system. They could also offer up Marcel Ozuna, instantly making him arguably the most attractive bat on the market and making the Braves at least 3% more likeable by getting rid of that scumbag.

As for the Mets, some of my targets such as Zach Eflin and Randy Arozarena are already elsewhere. Teams that I thought might be selling such as Texas now appear to be headed in a different direction. And with Senga gone, does the priority for the starting pitching acquisition change from just a solid backend arm to maybe someone a bit more expensive, but more exciting. Here’s my current outline for how the Mets should look to navigate the next couple of days.

Taylor Rogers and Michael Conforto Should be in Orange and Blue by Sunday Morning

For those who read my 5 Realistic Mets Deadline Deals article, I’ve been in favor of a Conforto reunion for quite some time, and while I prefer Tyler of the two Rogers brothers, Taylor makes a lot of sense. The Giants are looking to dump salary and view both of these players as part of that, the Mets could probably find themselves a very cheap deal to bring in two players who would both significantly improve their team. Rogers gives them a lefty that isn’t Jake “I struck out Aaron Judge” Diekman or Danny/Alex Young, two guys that you cannot be relying on in a postseason push like this. He’s under contract for next season allowing them to pair him with Diaz in the bullpen again next year for a nice lefty/righty combo out of the pen, and once again the Giants are more so looking to dump salary with these two as opposed to expecting massive returns. I still very much have interest in Tyler Rogers, but no longer believe this to be a move the Mets are going to make, especially given the current prospect cost on relivers this year.

“Michael Conforto is barely an above average hitter.” You are absolutely correct and do you know who are two guys that are plenty below average? DJ Stewart and Ben Gamel! Not only would a Conforto reunion really get the fans excited but I expect his numbers offensively to improve should he come over. He’s struggled at Oracle Park since becoming a Giant and has a fairly positive hitting history at Citi Field. He’s also shown solid hitting numbers on the road both in 2023 and 2024, he’s just not the right fit for Oracle. And as such the Giants are looking for someone to take him, I feel David Stearns and the Mets should welcome him with open arms.

How Much are the Mets Willing to give for let’s say a Flaherty or Fedde?

The Mets rotation greatly lacks a true ace, and while I find the Senga injury more of a bump in the road than an entire pothole, they need to bring somebody in. I think this offense is too good and the team has too much potential not to be willing to bring in a guy who could really headline the rotation, but I cannot possibly imagine them bringing in Skubal or Crochet. This leaves you with two very interesting options. I was personally on board with bringing in Fedde over the offseason, and while we ended up going a different direction I find it hard to fault Stearns for preferring established names such as Severino and Manaea over Fedde. He’s completely revamped his career following his time in the KBO, and has been absolutely stellar for an awful White Sox team. You’d have him back for 2026 which greatly adds value and allows the Mets to feel that they’re not giving up top guys for a rental, but here’s my concerns. First off, we need to know what the White Sox value Fedde at. He is having a phenomenal season and the White Sox are pretty desperate for young talent, but at what price point does it just become more worth it to go all in on a Skubal or Crochet rather than the resurging Fedde. Secondly while once again I quite liked Fedde this offseason and think he’s reinvented himself in the KBO, thrusting him from the sub 30 win White Sox to potentially the ace of a staff in a playoff race smells like a recipe for disaster. Overall I like Fedde and see him as the more realistic option mostly because the Mets will be attracted to that extra season of control, and have already checked in about him with the White Sox. But I don’t think we should be overlooking my second name.

Flaherty has never really wowed me nor have I ever thought of him as an “ace”, but he’s having a very strong season in Detroit posting a 2.95 ERA, 2.8 bWAR and only 1.6 walks per 9, by far the lowest of his career. He’s played in the playoffs before with St. Louis (and a brief relief appearance with Baltimore) and has put up solid numbers. I feel Flaherty will be the lest costly of the two options and is more built for pitching in New York than Fedde. Once again my biggest point of emphasis is what type of deal Stearns can put together that makes Flaherty more worthwhile than a backend starter, but isn’t giving up so much that you’d rather just go for the big fish in Skubal. I’m personally prepared to go all in on Skubal, I really do think this team is special. But it ain’t happening, these two however could very reasonably be in Flushing within the upcoming days.

Brett Baty is Their Most Valuable Trade chip, and they Should use him as Such

The time to move Brett Baty is now, with Vientos cementing himself as the Mets third baseman and the Mets farm system flooded with infielders a place for Brett on this team becomes increasingly harder to find each passing day. Whether or not you may recognize it, even with his struggles to this point at the major league level, Baty still holds a lot of value. He’s only 24 years old, and it wasn’t long ago that he was a top 30 prospect in all of MLB. He’s consistently shown hitting prowess in Triple-A and has greatly improved defensively. Really for Baty at the major league level it’s about fixing his swing and approach, as he hits the ball on the ground far too often. But much like we’ve found out with Vientos, sometimes these things take time, and continued success in Triple-A will have other teams willing to take their chance on figuring out how to make Baty click at the major league level. The question becomes what type of trade could he potentially be thrown into? The Rays have reportedly shown interest in Baty, but following the trades of Eflin and Arozarena, there’s not personally a deal I see worth making with the Rays involving Brett. The Marlins on the other hand are a different story. They’ve show interest in Baty in the past, and unlike the Rays I actually would find interest in a trade with the Marlins. The question with bringing in Tanner Scott is, who closes out games between him and Diaz, and is it worth trading your best piece for a rental reliever, even in spite of how good he’s been. My hope is that the White Sox, Tigers, or Athletics show interest in Baty, but just because he’s your most valuable piece doesn’t mean that you move him unless the right deal comes along.

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