If the Mets continue to perform well, general manager David Stearns could be a surprise buyer at the MLB trade deadline.
Stearns wasn’t ready to commit to a buy or sell strategy on Friday ahead of a 31-day planning period, but he could “definitely” envision a scenario in which he would add players to help push for the playoffs if nothing changes.
“We gave ourselves a chance,” Stearns said. “We just need to keep doing that.”
An astounding 10-2 record heading into a series against the equally hot-fought Astros opened up possibilities that seemed like a laughing matter just two weeks ago, such as owner Steve Cohen getting an increase on his $340 million salary.
“I think Steve has repeatedly demonstrated that he is committed to investing in the team with the resources we need to compete,” Stearns said. “And we will certainly continue to do that.”
As the Mets showed by getting back to .500 for the first time since May 7, the race for the National League Wild Card spot is tight and things can change quickly.
The Mets could be in control, struggling or out of contention altogether by the July 30 deadline.
“The reality is, we still have some time before we make a decision,” Stearns said. “Obviously, our team has performed much better the last few weeks and we’re much closer to the level and consistency of baseball we envisioned all season.”
As Brewers president of baseball operations, Stearns traded All-Star closer Josh Hader at the 2022 deadline and added other players to the first-team roster.
With the Mets in a championship-contending season, would he consider splitting up his team, cutting potential strengths and strengthening others?
“Every situation is different and the types of decisions you make in certain situations are different. [small-market] “Milwaukee will probably be a little bit different than the decision we’re making here,” Stearns said. “I’m not going to rule anything out at this point. A lot can happen in a relatively short amount of time during the season.”
Stearns joked that his self-imposed deadline for evaluating the Mets may be July 30.
“Decision points come at different times throughout the year,” Stearns said. “Sometimes a decision point on a potential deal will come up on July 15, but sometimes the decision point doesn’t surface until much closer to the deadline or due date. It’s hard to predict when that will happen, but we’re well prepared to make the best decision we can.”
Other notable thoughts from Stearns ahead of the deadline:
1. With 16 home runs, 43 RBI and a .791 OPS, Pete Alonso is coming off his best month of the season after a slow start.
The Mets’ revival temporarily put aside speculation that he might be traded while in the final year of his contract and making $20.5 million a year.
“Pete has handled the uncertainty, the pressure and New York very well throughout his career and I don’t think it’s affected him this year,” Stearns said. “I think Pete’s had a good year. He’s on pace to hit a lot of home runs. He’s in the middle of the lineup. He’s pitching very carefully every night. I think Pete’s performing exactly how we’d expect Pete Alonso to perform.”
2. Stearns doesn’t point out that the team’s turnaround was solely due to the move of Francisco Lindor to the leadoff spot on May 18, the roster reshuffle on May 31, the win over the Phillies in London on June 9 or J.D. Martinez’s walk-off home run on June 13.
“Right now we have all our good players on the ball at the same time,” Stearns said. “That gives us some long runs and allows us to score runs down the stretch, and that’s what we’ve been able to do.”
3. One thing Stearns hasn’t missed is that the Mets are 22-3 in the past 25 games that catcher Francisco Alvarez has started, even though Alvarez missed 51 days on the disabled list during that time.
“The impact Albie had on our team is something we all saw,” Stearns said. “You see it when he played when he was on the field and, frankly, when he wasn’t on the field. Maybe some of it is timing. And some of it is the importance of the catcher and how much of an impact a catcher has on the overall game…” [on] Both sides of the ball.”
