5 questions facing the Mets in the second half of the season
Baseball’s unofficial second half kicks off Thursday, but in most respects, the Mets' season is already over.
Once a favorite to make the playoffs, prognosticators have their playoff odds at less than 1%, and after hitting a low-water mark of 17-games under .500, a fire sale at the upcoming Aug. 3 trade deadline is all but inevitable. That being said, there are still some significant questions to answer – ones that may shape the future of this team heading into a murky 2027 season already overshadowed by a potential lockout.
Here are five questions facing the Mets as they run out the season:
Who stays and who goes?
Some of these are no-brainers: Relievers are at a premium at the deadline and guys like A.J. Minter and Brooks Raley are on expiring contracts and could net a tidy return. Despite compiling one of the worst seasons of his career, Freddy Peralta will get a good amount of interest and shouldn’t be in a Mets uniform for much longer. But then there’s the gray area. While guys like Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Nolan McLean and (obviously) Juan Soto should be untouchable, president of baseball operations David Stearns has some pivotal decisions to make, and ones with a direct impact on 2027. There might be value in, say, retaining someone like Clay Holmes, who has one more year on his contract, and then extending him. What about Sean Manaea? Can a few good starts attract some viable suitors? Is it time to part ways with Francisco Alvarez, given the general consensus that some contending teams will be willing to overpay for catching? Luke Weaver will also be an interesting case study: It’s hard to count on relievers to replicate results from one year to the next and Weaver, who matched the franchise high by pitching 27 innings without allowing an earned run, will no doubt garner a lot of interest. But if the Mets want to compete, would they consider retaining a high-leverage reliever with a proven record of pitching in baseball’s most inhospitable market? Then there are the extreme longshots: Both Bo Bichette and Francisco Lindor have no-trade clauses and giant contracts, but Stearns has pulled off a surprise or two before.
Can Lindor get his groove back?
It seems like it should be a moot point, given where the team is in the standings, but Lindor is smack in the middle of his 10-year contract and could be one of this franchise’s cornerstones for years to come. And this has not only been a down season, but a worrying one. Hampered by hamate surgery that cost him his spring training, Lindor has simply not looked like himself this year, hitting a career low .216 in just 40 games (besides the COVID year, Lindor has never played fewer than 125 games in a full season). He’s made uncharacteristic errors at shortstop – both mental and physical – and his .969 fielding percentage is the worst of his career. At 32, he’s a little young to be hitting his physical decline, but there’s no doubt he’s been banged up this year, and that last year’s collapse and this year’s monumental failures have taken a toll on an athlete who puts significant pressure on himself to succeed.
What more can the kids show us?
In a season with few bright spots, the Mets’ youth movement has been the exception. Benge and Ewing have been better than advertised, and appear to be getting more comfortable by the day. McLean appeared to hit the dreaded sophomore slump early this season, but has been dominant in recent outings – proving that if the league adjusts to him, he can adjust right back. By virtue of a season lost to Tommy John, Christian Scott came into the year as something of a dark horse, but has more than proven he belongs in the majors. A late addition, Zach Thornton pitched himself into the rotation with a dominant seven-inning performance against the Red Sox last Sunday, and it’ll be intriguing to see what else the wily lefty can do. We might also get glimpses of some other up-and-coming talent, though a lot of the usual names have struggled this year in Triple-A (e.g., Ryan Clifford and Jonah Tong). We saw a glimpse of Nick Morabito earlier this season and it could very well be time for Jack Wenninger's debut.
Can Stearns earn his redemption?
This question won’t be answered by the end of the season, but he can start putting the pieces in place with a successful deadline. Rebuilding in New York is rarely an option, and Steve Cohen didn’t shell out $366 million just to see it get lit on fire. Now, some of this is on Cohen himself – he hired Stearns and this is his business investment; no matter what, the buck stops with him – but he’s clearly empowered his president of baseball operations to make risky moves as he saw fit. But Stearns now has a pivotal trade deadline ahead of him, and though he’ll certainly want to collect the usual bounty of prospects, he’ll no doubt also be assessing trades that could net the Mets players that can help them sooner rather than much, much later. This also has to be (yet another) period of self reflection for Stearns, who has a pivotal and very complicated offseason ahead. In addition to a managerial search, he’ll have to navigate the impending lockout. He also has the opportunity to recognize the blind spots that put the Mets in this predicament, and put people around him who can better compensate for his weaknesses.
Can the Mets find something to play for?
You might be thinking, ‘What’s the point?’ Well, last season left a black mark on this franchise and this year rubbed the stain in. While personnel may change, the last thing this team needs is to bring a culture of complacency into next season. They’re almost certainly not going to go on some magical run, but having players – in particular, young players – exposed to an environment where losing is both acceptable and normalized creates a dangerous precedent. It’ll be up to the veterans and interim manager Andy Green to right the ship, because the games actually do matter – just not in the way this team might've hoped.
Laura Albanese is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. She's been covering MLB since 2014 after starting at Newsday as an intern seven years earlier.
