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2 Mets trade deadline successes, 1 failure

By Zachary Rotman |
Washington Nationals v New York Mets
Washington Nationals v New York Mets / Rich Schultz/GettyImages
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The New York Mets had easily the most eventful deadline of any team in Major League Baseball. They took the team with the highest payroll in MLB history and dismantled a good amount of it.

David Robertson, Max Scherzer, Mark Canha, Justin Verlander, Tommy Pham, and Dominic Leone were all moved in exchange for prospects. The Mets, who entered the day six games back of the deadline, made a decision to punt on the 2023 season and focus on the future.

Now that the deadline is officially over, there're a couple of things the Mets deserve credit for, and others that they do not.

NY Mets trade deadline success: The Mets had to pick a direction, and they did so

The most important thing of this trade deadline was for the Mets to pick a direction. They could either try and win with the roster that they had, which wouldn't have been an insane direction to take with them being just six games back, or they needed to sell. They chose the latter.

The Mets traded virtually every expiring contract that was moveable. Teams clearly had no interest in a guy like Carlos Carrasco, but everyone else was moved. With the Mets selling those players had no value, and the Mets did well to get pieces back for them.

The only two players who were not on expiring deals were Scherzer and Verlander who the Mets received big prospects for. With the Mets selling and likely not coming into 2024 with the same World Series or bust expectations, moving these aging Future Hall of Famers while they could still bring back the returns they wound up bringing back made a lot of sense.

Again, the one thing the Mets couldn't do was stand pat. They couldn't keep the expiring contracts while also doing nothing to add. Instead of trying to go for an improbable playoff run, the Mets chose to sell off those veterans and revamp their system. They deserve praise for that.

NY Mets trade deadline failure: The Mets did not sell high on Brooks Raley and Adam Ottavino

Building a good bullpen is so hard because of how volatile good relievers can be. Take Edwin Diaz for example. He had a 57-save season before the Mets acquired him, then had a historically bad first year with the Mets, and then was elite again. Diaz is mostly reliable, but other relievers are extremely hard to trust. Brooks Raley and Adam Ottavino fit into that category.

Raley had an ERA approaching 5.00 in 2021 for the Astros, while Ottavino had a 4.21 ERA in Boston that season. They've both been good in each of the last two seasons including this one, but who knows what they'll do next year? They both have options for the 2024 season with Raley's being a club option and Ottavino having a player option. They're both in their mid-30's and could really help a contender right now.

Paul Sewald, a pitcher with the same control as Ottavino and Raley, netted the Mariners a really solid return. With the Mets trading away their two veterans who were under control through the 2024 season and not planning on having World Series aspirations, why not trade these older relievers and sell high on their values?

Raley, after a rough start, has a 2.37 ERA on the season. Ottavino also got off to a rough start and has a 3.35 ERA. Ottavino allowed just one run in 11 appearances and 10.1 innings pitched in July while Raley has allowed just two runs (both in one outing) in his last 17 appearances and 14.2 innings pitched.

The Mets didn't have to trade Scherzer or Verlander but sold high on those players to get prospects. They could've done the same thing with these relievers and chose not to.

NY Mets trade deadline success: Steve Cohen was willing to eat an absurd amount of money to overhaul the farm system

Let's make something abundantly clear. The Mets do not land prospects close to the caliber of prospects they got from Texas and Houston if Steve Cohen didn't eat the money he did.

In the Scherzer trade, the Mets sent Scherzer and $35 million in cash to get Luisangel Acuna from the Rangers. Acuna is immediately ranked as the second-best prospect in the Mets system and ranks 44th on MLB.com's Top 100 list. That's a legit prospect with the potential to be a force in the majors. They got him in exchange for an underwhelming Max Scherzer.

It's possible Texas takes Scherzer without the cash, but there's no chance the Mets get anything remotely close to Acuna. Cohen's money bought the Mets a top prospect they can build around.

The Mets traded Justin Verlander back to Houston along with a whopping $54 million assuming Verlander's 2025 option vests. In exchange, the Mets got prospects Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford. Gilbert and Clifford were ranked first and fourth in Houston's system per MLB Pipeline, but when the list was going to be updated next week they'd be first and second.

Gilbert is a top-100 prospect already, and Clifford is a fast-rising prospect who can find himself on a top-100 list sooner than later. If Houston had to pay Verlander the money he's owed the next two years it's possible they take him, but again, the Mets don't get one of these guys back let alone both.

Cohen did his best to try and practically buy the Mets a championship by shelling out massive contracts to Verlander and Scherzer. When that failed, he allowed the Mets to pivot and spent even more money to land prospects that are not only among the best in this revamped Mets system but among the best in the majors.

The Mets might not have the advantage of the best GM or roster of players to build around, but the 29 other owners wouldn't do what Cohen allowed the Mets to do.

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