3 factors that can convince the NY Mets to avoid selling at the trade deadline

The New York Mets entered Wednesday with a 21-27 record on the season, good for last place in the National League East and third-to-last in the entire NL.

New York actually has a winning record over its last 10 games (6-4), but the Mets are still digging themselves out from a horrid start to the season that featured a 12-game losing streak.

If they continue on a mediocre path, the Mets won't dig themselves fully out of the hole by the trade deadline, and they'll be positioned as sellers.

On the other hand, there are a few factors that might convince Mets president of baseball operations -- with the backing of owner Steve Cohen -- to avoid selling at the deadline. Here are three of them.

3 factors that could convince David Stearns not to sell at the deadline

1. Players returning from injuries

The Mets have been hit with the injury bug all over their depth chart, ranging from their rotation (Kodai Senga, Clay Holmes) to their franchise cornerstones (Francisco Lindor), and everyone in between: Francisco Alvarez, Luis Robert Jr., Jorge Polanco, and more.

Reports indicate that Lindor will be back in June, and Senga sounds close to returning, as well.

It's easy to imagine Stearns wanting to see a larger sample size of the team he constructed this past winter before breaking up that group at the deadline. Injuries have prevented Stearns' vision from being truly tested over a significant period.

2. The rotation is actually performing well

We've yet to see an extended period of dominance from either Freddy Peralta or Nolan McLean, despite the fact that both have been healthy this year. This leads one to believe that one or both of these guys could really start to turn it on heading into June and beyond.

With Senga nearing a return, the Mets' rotation will only be without Holmes (until August) and doesn't really have any excuses not to be good. The collective performance of the rotation hasn't met its talent on paper, but if things start trending in the right direction, Stearns might hold steady at the deadline, thinking that the rotation will only get better in August and maybe even into September (depending on where the Mets are at in the standings at that point).

3. Bo Bichette (and/or other vets) going on a tear

Speaking of lacking performance, Bo Bichette's been bad this year. The two-time American League hit leader is batting .224 with a .609 OPS, far south of his .290 and .794 career numbers for both metrics. The last 15 games haven't been kind to Bo, either (.197 batting average). However, he has gone 5-for-10 with three homers (!) in the last two games (both against the Washington Nationals), so we'll see if that leads to a breakout stretch.

You have to believe that Bichette will really get going at some point; the question is when. If Bo goes on an extended heater in June or July, and other guys come back from injury, Stearns might believe that the Mets' offense doesn't need any substantial additions.

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