Mets have very little to sell which is why they must buy this summer

No matter what lies ahead for the 2018 New York Mets, this is a year where they need to stay buyers.

This season started off great for the New York Mets. They were winning almost every day and looked like favorites to take the division. They began to lose a little more and the wins seemed to completely disappear.

There’s a lot of baseball left to play. It’s far too early to wave a white flag. In fact, it might be a waste of time to give up at all.

You see, the Mets don’t really have the pieces to ever become sellers in 2018. Their pending free agents aren’t too desirable. Those with a few years of control left are either overpaid, too cheap to trade, or only worth a Single-A mid-level prospect. The Mets don’t need more of those.

As exciting as it would be to write about who the Mets can acquire at the trade deadline, I’ve accepted the fact that they could do nothing at all. Something I’m unwilling to welcome is the idea that they actually sell.

Last summer we saw the Mets trade multiple players in July. Jay Bruce went to the Cleveland Indians. Curtis Granderson went to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Others departed New York, too, without much coming back in return.

This season won’t yield much better results. Unless the Mets do something crazy like trade Jacob deGrom, we’re looking at this franchise acquiring prospects outside of the top 100 lists.

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All of this considered, the Mets have to stay buyers.

If post All-Star Game the Mets are below .500 and a playoff spot looks out of their reach, I’m okay with them staying put. One promotion from a future star to the big leagues or a hot streak from the established veterans can change their fortunes completely. In 2015, we saw how the acquisition of Yoenis Cespedes completely lifted their spirits and launched them into the World Series.

I wouldn’t expect this Mets team to make such an impactful move as they did back then. The Mets don’t have the prospects or payroll space to make such a move. We can dream differently, but this front office is one of the more predictable ones in baseball. With rare exceptions, they go after easy targets in free agency and don’t make the moves necessary to win.

Even if the Mets concede the season is lost, I would like to see them focus on building the 2019 team. They can sell light with the hope of getting what they can for the following year. They did this to an extent last year when they acquired AJ Ramos from the Miami Marlins. I would certainly hope they could add a lefty reliever or upgrade at catcher.

The Mets will overhaul the roster quite a bit this offseason with several key free agents and a rotation in desperate need of some help.

The tough part of it all is that this franchise can’t do it the traditional way. They have very few MLB players teams want for prospects.

Next: Mets' worse offseason decisions haunting them

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So, when everyone else is selling, the Mets have to think about buying no matter what the standings say.