Are The Mets Headed Towards A “Transition Year” In 2024?
The MLB trade deadline has passed and the Mets were active sellers up until the very last minute. Dating back to the end of June, New York has sent away six notable players from their opening-day roster.
Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, David Robertson, Eduardo Escobar, Mark Canha, and Tommy Pham have all been given new homes and in return, New York has introduced 12 new players to the organization, nine of them being added to the team’s Top 30 prospect list.
The Mets have completely overhauled their farm system with players like Ronald Acuña Jr.’s younger brother, Luisangel Acuña, and Houston Astros No. 1 prospect Drew Gilbert headlining the new additions.
Mets Future Outlook
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic had the exclusive with Max Scherzer as he discussed what led him to waive his no-trade clause. Scherzer said that he asked Mets GM Billy Eppler if they were “reloading for 2024?” Eppler responded by saying, “No, we’re not. Basically our vision now is for 2025-2026.”
The former Mets pitcher then asked, “So the team is not going to be pursuing free agents this offseason or assemble a team that can compete for a World Series next year?” According to Scherzer, Eppler said, “No, we’re not going to be signing the upper-echelon guys. We’re going to be on the smaller deals within free agency. 2024 is now looking to be more of a kind of transitory year.”
Eppler addressed the media following the conclusion of the trade deadline, in which he had a chance to speak on Scherzer’s comments:
Closing Thoughts
The Mets should be embarrassed with the way this season has turned out. It’s one thing to get off to a slow start and have some slumps, but it’s appalling how they followed up a 101-win season with a selling spree at the deadline.
Surprisingly at the time, I wouldn’t have been against this team buying in some more in the hopes of getting back into the NL wild-card race. But that’s all it would’ve been, hope.
Now there is a reason to exhale and re-tool this roster for the future and Mets fans have Steve Cohen to thank for it. Without his willingness to eat what could be a combined $90 million on Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander’s contracts, New York would not have been able to get the prospects that they did in return.
I will also credit Cohen and the organization for not caring about how bad it looks to sell off this many assets today, in order to have a chance at a better future tomorrow. This is the start of a long journey for this franchise with a lot more decisions to be made, but the Mets are on this path now and there’s no turning back.
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