MLB: 5 Questions for NY Mets Fans to Look Forward to In Second Half

 

The New York Mets enter the all star break 39-55 – last place in the National League east, worst record in the NL and 4th worst record in the majors. Not exactly how Mets fans or even many folks around baseball saw this unfolding.

It’s always hard to endure empty months of baseball in the second half of a lost season, but there are five questions for Mets fans to look forward to in the final months of the season.

1. Who is getting traded?
Remember how exciting the 2015 trade deadline was for Mets fans? Constantly refreshing twitter to see which big bat the Mets would acquire? Now, for the second straight year, Mets fan will watch the Mets sell what they can and likely not acquire any major assets.

It seemed as if the Mets would wait until the offseason to address Jacob Degrom’s situation, but his agent recently laid out an ultimatim to the Mets to extend to trade his client. It would still be rather surprising if the Mets dealt him before the winter, before they hire a new full-time general manager, likely from outside the organization. It’s probably also safe to assume Noah Syndergaard will stick around, especially after a second consecutive injury-riddled season.

So with the Mets top two players sticking around, who could be on the move before 7/31?

Asdrubal Cabrera and Jeurys Familia are near locks to be traded. Both could provide value to a contending team and both are not under contract beyond this season. There’s been some talk that the Mets would consider moving Zach Wheeler for the right return. There isn’t much else the Mets can do until the winter.

2. Who on this roster are the cornerstone players? 
The Mets need a clear identity and determine who in the organization they can build around. Assuming neither are traded, they are terrific blocks to build around. The rest of the rotation is up in the air with Wheeler and Steven Matz having uncertain futures. Both have pitched well at times, but still dealt with inconsistencies and injuries – there’s no telling how a new GM and front office will view either player.

The lineup is much harder to dissect. Coming into the season, the Mets viewed their key players as Yoenis Cespedes, Michael Conforto, Jay Bruce, and to a lesser extent, Travis d’arnaud.

D’arnaud has missed the whole season due to an injury. Cespedes has been MIA since a hamstring/groin/some kind of leg pull back in May. Conforto has regressed. Jay Bruce has been abysmal.

The lone bright spot in the Mets lineup has been Brandon Nimmo, who many outside the organization had written off. Nimmo is batting .253 with a career-high 13 homeruns.

Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith are both still TBD, with Rosario showing potential and Smith looking more and more like a bust of a prospect.
There isn’t much happening in the Mets farm system that could provide hope in the form of a valuable MLB-ready prospect, so NY will have to spend money in free agency or make smart trades to improve.

3. Can Jacob Degrom become the second Mets pitcher to win the Cy Young in the last 7 years? 
Degrom, despite a 5-4 record is one of the presumed favorites for the award entering the second half. Degrom’s 1.68 ERA leads the majors, 149 strikeouts are second. If Degrom were to win the Cy Young, he would be the second Mets pitcher to win it in the last 7 years. RA Dickey won the award during a miserable 2012 season for the Mets. That offseason, Dickey was traded. Is Degrom headed towards the same path?

4. Which young prospects will the Mets call up for the second half? 
Enough about Degrom and trades. Jeff McNeil and Peter Alonso are two players that we could see manning the infield in Queens during the second half of the season for the Mets. Pitchers David Peterson, Justin Dunn, and Corey Oswalt should all get looks. There isn’t much in the form of top prospects that the Mets can lean on.

What about Tim Tebow? The 30 year old Eastern League All Sar is batting 2.75 with 6 homeruns He’s more of a Sandy Alderson pet-project and with Alderson on a leave of absence, it’s unknown what the Mets new trio of GMs thinks about the former Heisman trophy winner.

5. Will we see David Wright’s swan song?
We know the Captain is still rehabbing and working on a comeback. Will it happen? Wright has been suffering from a number of ailments, mostly related to a back condition known as spinal stenosis. I have a similar condition, personally. So I can relate and understand why it’s so difficult for Wright to play. But wouldn’t it be great, during a lost year, to see Wright take some at-bats in September and take a curtain call to call it a career? It would be an emotional time but it would be a way for the Mets to sell tickets and draw interest during another wasted September.