2 Mets trade deadline home runs, 2 swings and misses

The Mets swung and missed by not flexing their financial might

Other teams are onto the Mets. Discussion leading into the trade deadline was how the Mets would use Steve Cohen’s financial wealth to their advantage. They failed here. Outside of the early July trade for Phil Maton, there was nothing money-driven about the moves they made. Did Cohen get cold feet? Or maybe teams are no longer so tempted to make such moves with a team that has a weapon like this.

It’s different with a buyer than a seller. The Houston Astros and Texas Rangers set themselves up to try and go for a championship last year with the two moves they made with the Mets. It would be different for the Detroit Tigers to let the Mets pay Javier Baez if it rewarded them Tarik Skubal. Other, less ridiculous scenarios, never came to fruition either. We all wondered about the possibility of the Mets getting Blake Snell on the cheap. As it turns out, the San Francisco Giants are trying to compete while also selling some parts away.

The MLB trade deadline ain’t what it used to be.

The offseason is when the Mets having the richest owner in the sport matters most. Other clubs are into their game. A creative thinker like Stearns paired with Cohen is tough to match. When the Mets are making a move like selling players and paying their contracts, teams will bite. When they’re looking to win baseball games and provide salary relief, there’s still a price to pay.

We shouldn’t begrudge the Mets for swinging and missing here. Use this as a wakeup call. 

Thank goodness there’s always the waiver wire in August when plenty of big contracts will make their way there. Perhaps sliding down the standings and moving up the waiver wire wouldn’t be such a bad thing in the last week of August.