As my good friend Craig pointed out last week, the Mets are not likely to be serious buyers at the trading deadline because owner Fred Wilpon lost $700 million in the Bernie Madoff scandal. Obviously, it looks like it will be very difficult for the Mets to pick up a hefty salary when the owner of the ballclub is experiencing so much financial difficulty.And at this point in time, who knows if the Mets will even be close enough in standings to warrant trying to acquire more talent. After last night's game, the Mets are 7.5 games back of the Phillies in the NL East and with no help in sight, there is little reason to believe in the Mets in 2009.
Conventional wisdom would suggest that if the Mets fall out of contention in 2009, then Omar Minaya should begin to shape the roster for 2010 and beyond through trades. The idea of becoming a seller is certain to not be popular in New York, but it makes sense for the future of the franchise.
But the sad reality is this: even if the Mets fall 15 games out of first place in the next week, there is just no way this team will ever become sellers. It's not that the Mets don't care about the future, but who exactly does this team have to trade?
-The Mets are not trading David Wright, Johan Santana, K-Rod, Mike Pelfrey, Bobby Parnell or Jeff Franceour.
-Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran, Carlos Delgado, JJ Putz, and John Maine are all injured.
-No one wants Luis Castillo or Oliver Perez.
-And on top of that, I doubt the Mets would look to deal the quality relief pitcher they have left: Feliciano, Green, Stokes
So who does that leave us with to trade?
-Fernando Tatis
-Jeremy Reed
-Alex Cora
-Gary Sheffield
-Livan Hernandez
-Brian Schneider
-Daniel Murphy
-Tim Redding
Obviously, that list of players is not going to yield many quality players in return. Sheffield is the only guy on this list, who could actually get the Mets back something decent in return. And when I say decent, I really mean mediocre.
So as you can see, there is just not much there for the Mets to deal. When/If the Mets finally decide to pull the plug on 2009, there is no chance of a huge firesale dismantling this team. The personnel is just not there.
