The Marlins, sitting 15 games under .500 in early May, jumped the market and sold off batting champion Luis Arraez to the Padres.
Don’t expect the Mets to follow suit. David Stearns wants to give the team at least a couple of more months to prove itself.
The team president suggested that major changes to the Mets, who entered play Tuesday eight games under .500, with the third-worst record in the NL but only 4.5 games back of a wild-card spot, will not arrive until around the trade deadline on July 30.
“We’ve got plenty of time before that,” Stearns said before the Mets began a doubleheader against the Dodgers at Citi Field.
“Throughout the month of July you are preparing for the deadline and having conversations. I think every single year takes on a little bit of a different pace. … But throughout the month of July, you’re preparing. You also don’t need to make decisions until the end of the month. So we’ll continue to evaluate where we are.”
The Mets have dropped 12 of their previous 16 games, several in gut-wrenching fashion, and are already 14.5 games back in the NL East.
When Stearns last addressed the media, on May 16 in Philadelphia, he said he believes in the track records around the clubhouse and that this club can still make a run.
The Mets have lost seven of the 10 games since that pronouncement.
A week and a half later, Stearns reiterated that the talent around the team still has him believing, but he acknowledged the team’s play has not reflected its talent level.
“We haven’t played like a playoff team, and I think that’s a reality of how we’ve played here through the first 50 games,” said Stearns, who added that despite the Marlins’ decisions, the trade talk has been typically quiet for late May.
“That doesn’t mean we won’t, but we gotta show it. I think we have a group of players that is very committed to that goal, that is determined to play better. But until we show it, it’s a reasonable question.”
Several of Stearns’ offseason moves — notably bringing in Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, Harrison Bader and J.D. Martinez — have proven solid in the first few months of the season. It is the holdovers, from Jeff McNeil to Francisco Lindor to Pete Alonso to Edwin Diaz, who have taken steps back.
“I think they have higher expectations of themselves,” Stearns said. “These are players who have really quality, at times elite, track records in this league, and at periods of the year, we have guys who have struggled. And great players, top players, fight through that. I think our guys will.
“I think they would expect and I would expect when we look up at the end of the year, they’re going to have seasons that more greatly resemble the types of players they’ve been throughout their careers.”
Credit: Source link
