I am not seeing a catcher to call up if they trade Alvarez. I would hope that they insist on an =>20 CS rate. If Colorado is taking offers on Goodman I wonder what it would take? I would guess that they can never have too many high ground ball rate pitchers.
I agree but there are so many catching prospects who may be 1-3 years away. I could see the Mets trading Alvy for a big haul if someone is willing to pony up. Then they’ll sign another aging vet to bridge the gap for a year or two.
I agree on one hand, although I do scan the progress of the kids and look for encouraging individual skills.
Before getting to Hunter Goodman, I checked the catchers throughout the Mets’ system. One might throw out runners reasonably well, another might show some power, another might hit for average, and occasionally one might even steal a base. But I could not find anyone who combines three of those qualities—or really even two of them at a compelling level.
More importantly, there does not appear to be an exciting catcher in Double-A who is ready for promotion to Triple-A while even maintaining a batting average comfortably above .220. There are isolated skills, but no obvious, well-rounded successor moving rapidly toward the majors.
That is what sent me down the Hunter Goodman path.
I then started thinking about the major prospect-heavy trades that keep coming up—setting aside the Soto-to-San Diego deal. Sale from the White Sox, Sale from the Red Sox, Betts from the Red Sox: two, three or four young players surrendered for one established major leaguer.
My admittedly unscientific and lightly researched reaction is: why trade one proven player to get three uncertain ones?
Historically, it seems rare for the selling team to receive equal value, much less clearly superior value. There is the normal injury and developmental risk, and even when one prospect eventually succeeds, it may be two years or more before he plays his first major-league game.
That waiting period matters when the team is subtracting a productive player such as Alvarez, Holmes or Weaver from a roster already well under .500.
So I wondered whether the Mets could reverse the usual deadline structure: trade with another seller and use multiple controllable assets to acquire a proven major leaguer who is already among the better players at his position.
That led me to Goodman. He is controllable through 2030, would interest almost every contender and would require a major offer. Colorado may have no interest in moving him, the Mets have limited expendable talent, and seller-to-seller trades of this kind are uncommon. All of that makes the idea extremely remote.
Still, I find the reverse side of these deals more appealing: acquire the proven major-league player and let the other organization assume the uncertainty of the prospect package.
Maybe that should be the lesson for a young, aggressive GM. While learning the craft and gaining experience, err on the side of acquiring the established player rather than repeatedly betting that several prospects will eventually replace one.
I would not trade Alvarez or Torrens. They both have value. Even average catchers are hard to find. So why get rid of a potentially an above average catcher and a potential gold glove backup? That would also create another big hole to fill.
AJ Ewing continues to be a breath of fresh air. He played a good, if not acrobatic first game in left field, but is in need of outfield coaching. Do they have one of those coaches or were they purged in last years’ coach dumping? During the game chatter, I said that if Robert could only hit, he might interest a lot of teams in a strong defensive player with some pop who could join another team for the rest of the season for very few dollars, and would cost not that much in a buyout if they didn’t pick up his 2027 option. Kudos to his manager for adding that into his contract. On the other side of the coin, if Robert was healthy and could stay on the field, then Ewing, Robert and Benge would make up a very strong run prevention outfield with good bat on ball skills. That must be what Stearns envisioned when he did his player purge in the off-season. And to move Soto to DH only helps both the defense and the black hole of DH that the Mets generally have.
It is still the new crop of Baby Mets that prodded me to say in my last Mets360 article, not to answer the trade deadline phone calls unless they were for a certain select group of players that we really needed to get rid of. I took some appropriate bashing in the comments that you always pick up the phone and listen just in case you were actually overwhelmed for one of your players. The reality is the Mets will not be overwhelmed at the trade deadline but certainly could in the off-season. It is the off-season where they will have a better chance of getting a much stronger return for any of the players that they wanna move. And that certainly includes all of the Toddler Mets (formerly the Baby Mets) like Vientos, Baty and Mauricio who get a new name to separate them from the rookie crop that has taken over two parts of the playing field and three parts of the rotation. Still seems those three may have moved up from diapers to pull-ups but they have not been properly potty trained yet.
It is also the reason why I believe that re-signing strong bullpen pieces like Minter and Raley, makes more sense than getting some A ball or AA prospects at best from teams who simply look at them as rental pieces. And I still believe that despite Cohen’s statement that he won’t be coughing up multi millions to move players like he did in 2023, that if someone wants a Marcus Semien for defense and maybe a change of scenery to bring him back somewhat closer to the guy that once hit 45 HRs in 2021, then Cohen will kick in tons of cash to make it happen.
So I am sticking with a quiet trade deadline and a robust off-season transformation of this team. When you look at the NL East, if the Mets were simply a .500 team, they would be in the mix for the post season instead of being just ahead of the dreadful Giants and Rockies. Thanks for the open thread for a chance to ramble on.
DVR is warned up for Christian Scott for his start this afternoon against a tough Logan Henderson, who has thrown five innings or slightly more in his last five times out, with the Brewers winning all of those games. That is why the odds makers have the Brewers as overwhelming favorites today. Well, it’s not Sunday so hoping the Mets can steal a series and continue to play spoiler.
Not to beat a dead horse, but why in the world is Semien still getting playing time in this lost season? There is no rational reason to keep running him out there (1-13 with 6 Ks since coming back, and oh yeah, the one hit was a single and then he promptly got picked off going back to the bag standing up). The only possible explanation would be to have him show something positive to give some team a glimmer of interest at the deadline? Is that realistic at all in less than 2 weeks? It's really frustrating. I know that there aren't much better options, but Baty had hit better of late and has been better defensively than Semien. At a minimum there should be a platoon with Semien on the short side. There's just nothing positive that can come out of him playing every day. If they were in a battle for the postseason, maybe you could say you want his veteran presence in the lineup every day (I know, it's a stretch) but in this lost season, there's no benefit. Let Baty play every day through the deadline and if he gets hot, there's some chance that he might generate some trade value. There is literally no chance of Semien generating trade value.
I don't know if this is on the manager, the POBO or the owner, but whoever is making the lineup decisions that include Semien is just wrong.
If you are out of it, then you need to play the young players to see what you have. Semien needs to ride the pine or just cut him loose. He is terrible. If Minter and Raley both have expiring contracts, by all means, trade them. We can always resign them. But at their advancing ages they will want to maximize their paydays. What are the chances that they repeat their success next year? Probably not that high. The Mets have a good number of lousy players. If we get rid of players, they will need to be replaced. Who do we replace them with? The Mets will have a good number of holes. It will be tough to replace them with quality players. We really need a first baseman. We will know in less than two weeks. Lets see what Stearns does.
Another fresh take and insightful analysis of the available data. Anyone that played on a team in any sport recognizes the archetype that you describe, Brian: the guy with poor mechanics who compensated with sheer athleticism. I suspect that Ewing will learn his craft and his routes will only improve. If memory serves, Nimmo had lousy routes in the beginning when he started playing CF regularly. With all of the video technology, I’d be shocked if the Mets did not have a plan to get him going in the right direction (pun intended.)
Articles like these are what set M360 apart from other sites and why I keep coming back. I don’t take these for granted!
I can certainly accept some unpolished routes from a 21 year old who has done acquitted himself quite well since a rushed called up to a league bottom squad with struggling veterans.
A few weeks ago, someone gave an over/under on five players traded. Most everyone is taking the under, but I’d like the over - and way over. I’d like to see Holmes, Peralta, Raley, Minter, Bichette, Manaea, Weaver, Brazoban, and possibly Robert, Semien, or Baty.
My rationale for such a purge is to send off anything of value because relievers are finicky, pitchers in general are one pitch away from getting hurt and having no value. The only name that I would withdraw from the list is Robert due to his high end skills and I wouldn’t wait for Baty to slump again. Sayonara to all of them, and may the Mets receive some nice value and plenty of prospects.
To continue, when the Mets traded Verlander, Scherzer, et al, they got prospects that were well ranked, but like all prospects, can fizzle and did. I hope the scouting is better this time.
A few days ago, when watching the Mets/Brews game, we observed an advertisement for a contest where the prize is dinner with Gary, Keith, Ron & Steve (aka GKRS). Mrs. Hunter wanted to participate, but I informed her that the closest NL & AL teams are SF & SAC respectively, & I don't think they have any games left on the NW coast.
Then one of GKRS informed the audience that they wouldn't attend wearing suits. "What are they going to wear?", asked Mrs. Hunter. Well, I don't know, but I told her I'd really enjoy if they came dressed as The Famous Racing Sausages
What happened? First the team,expected to be aplayoff team turns into one of worst. Next the farm system last year a top ten is now one of the worst. No Met prospect made Laws top 70 list. Things don’t look good.
I am not seeing a catcher to call up if they trade Alvarez. I would hope that they insist on an =>20 CS rate. If Colorado is taking offers on Goodman I wonder what it would take? I would guess that they can never have too many high ground ball rate pitchers.
I agree but there are so many catching prospects who may be 1-3 years away. I could see the Mets trading Alvy for a big haul if someone is willing to pony up. Then they’ll sign another aging vet to bridge the gap for a year or two.
I agree on one hand, although I do scan the progress of the kids and look for encouraging individual skills.
Before getting to Hunter Goodman, I checked the catchers throughout the Mets’ system. One might throw out runners reasonably well, another might show some power, another might hit for average, and occasionally one might even steal a base. But I could not find anyone who combines three of those qualities—or really even two of them at a compelling level.
More importantly, there does not appear to be an exciting catcher in Double-A who is ready for promotion to Triple-A while even maintaining a batting average comfortably above .220. There are isolated skills, but no obvious, well-rounded successor moving rapidly toward the majors.
That is what sent me down the Hunter Goodman path.
I then started thinking about the major prospect-heavy trades that keep coming up—setting aside the Soto-to-San Diego deal. Sale from the White Sox, Sale from the Red Sox, Betts from the Red Sox: two, three or four young players surrendered for one established major leaguer.
My admittedly unscientific and lightly researched reaction is: why trade one proven player to get three uncertain ones?
Historically, it seems rare for the selling team to receive equal value, much less clearly superior value. There is the normal injury and developmental risk, and even when one prospect eventually succeeds, it may be two years or more before he plays his first major-league game.
That waiting period matters when the team is subtracting a productive player such as Alvarez, Holmes or Weaver from a roster already well under .500.
So I wondered whether the Mets could reverse the usual deadline structure: trade with another seller and use multiple controllable assets to acquire a proven major leaguer who is already among the better players at his position.
That led me to Goodman. He is controllable through 2030, would interest almost every contender and would require a major offer. Colorado may have no interest in moving him, the Mets have limited expendable talent, and seller-to-seller trades of this kind are uncommon. All of that makes the idea extremely remote.
Still, I find the reverse side of these deals more appealing: acquire the proven major-league player and let the other organization assume the uncertainty of the prospect package.
Maybe that should be the lesson for a young, aggressive GM. While learning the craft and gaining experience, err on the side of acquiring the established player rather than repeatedly betting that several prospects will eventually replace one.
https://www.amazinavenue.com/mets-minor-league/88909/top-25-mets-prospects-for-2026-daiverson-gutierrez-24?utm_source=chatgpt.com "Top 25 Mets Prospects for 2026: Daiverson Gutierrez (24)"
I would not trade Alvarez or Torrens. They both have value. Even average catchers are hard to find. So why get rid of a potentially an above average catcher and a potential gold glove backup? That would also create another big hole to fill.
AJ Ewing continues to be a breath of fresh air. He played a good, if not acrobatic first game in left field, but is in need of outfield coaching. Do they have one of those coaches or were they purged in last years’ coach dumping? During the game chatter, I said that if Robert could only hit, he might interest a lot of teams in a strong defensive player with some pop who could join another team for the rest of the season for very few dollars, and would cost not that much in a buyout if they didn’t pick up his 2027 option. Kudos to his manager for adding that into his contract. On the other side of the coin, if Robert was healthy and could stay on the field, then Ewing, Robert and Benge would make up a very strong run prevention outfield with good bat on ball skills. That must be what Stearns envisioned when he did his player purge in the off-season. And to move Soto to DH only helps both the defense and the black hole of DH that the Mets generally have.
It is still the new crop of Baby Mets that prodded me to say in my last Mets360 article, not to answer the trade deadline phone calls unless they were for a certain select group of players that we really needed to get rid of. I took some appropriate bashing in the comments that you always pick up the phone and listen just in case you were actually overwhelmed for one of your players. The reality is the Mets will not be overwhelmed at the trade deadline but certainly could in the off-season. It is the off-season where they will have a better chance of getting a much stronger return for any of the players that they wanna move. And that certainly includes all of the Toddler Mets (formerly the Baby Mets) like Vientos, Baty and Mauricio who get a new name to separate them from the rookie crop that has taken over two parts of the playing field and three parts of the rotation. Still seems those three may have moved up from diapers to pull-ups but they have not been properly potty trained yet.
It is also the reason why I believe that re-signing strong bullpen pieces like Minter and Raley, makes more sense than getting some A ball or AA prospects at best from teams who simply look at them as rental pieces. And I still believe that despite Cohen’s statement that he won’t be coughing up multi millions to move players like he did in 2023, that if someone wants a Marcus Semien for defense and maybe a change of scenery to bring him back somewhat closer to the guy that once hit 45 HRs in 2021, then Cohen will kick in tons of cash to make it happen.
So I am sticking with a quiet trade deadline and a robust off-season transformation of this team. When you look at the NL East, if the Mets were simply a .500 team, they would be in the mix for the post season instead of being just ahead of the dreadful Giants and Rockies. Thanks for the open thread for a chance to ramble on.
DVR is warned up for Christian Scott for his start this afternoon against a tough Logan Henderson, who has thrown five innings or slightly more in his last five times out, with the Brewers winning all of those games. That is why the odds makers have the Brewers as overwhelming favorites today. Well, it’s not Sunday so hoping the Mets can steal a series and continue to play spoiler.
Not to beat a dead horse, but why in the world is Semien still getting playing time in this lost season? There is no rational reason to keep running him out there (1-13 with 6 Ks since coming back, and oh yeah, the one hit was a single and then he promptly got picked off going back to the bag standing up). The only possible explanation would be to have him show something positive to give some team a glimmer of interest at the deadline? Is that realistic at all in less than 2 weeks? It's really frustrating. I know that there aren't much better options, but Baty had hit better of late and has been better defensively than Semien. At a minimum there should be a platoon with Semien on the short side. There's just nothing positive that can come out of him playing every day. If they were in a battle for the postseason, maybe you could say you want his veteran presence in the lineup every day (I know, it's a stretch) but in this lost season, there's no benefit. Let Baty play every day through the deadline and if he gets hot, there's some chance that he might generate some trade value. There is literally no chance of Semien generating trade value.
I don't know if this is on the manager, the POBO or the owner, but whoever is making the lineup decisions that include Semien is just wrong.
If you are out of it, then you need to play the young players to see what you have. Semien needs to ride the pine or just cut him loose. He is terrible. If Minter and Raley both have expiring contracts, by all means, trade them. We can always resign them. But at their advancing ages they will want to maximize their paydays. What are the chances that they repeat their success next year? Probably not that high. The Mets have a good number of lousy players. If we get rid of players, they will need to be replaced. Who do we replace them with? The Mets will have a good number of holes. It will be tough to replace them with quality players. We really need a first baseman. We will know in less than two weeks. Lets see what Stearns does.
Another fresh take and insightful analysis of the available data. Anyone that played on a team in any sport recognizes the archetype that you describe, Brian: the guy with poor mechanics who compensated with sheer athleticism. I suspect that Ewing will learn his craft and his routes will only improve. If memory serves, Nimmo had lousy routes in the beginning when he started playing CF regularly. With all of the video technology, I’d be shocked if the Mets did not have a plan to get him going in the right direction (pun intended.)
Articles like these are what set M360 apart from other sites and why I keep coming back. I don’t take these for granted!
I can certainly accept some unpolished routes from a 21 year old who has done acquitted himself quite well since a rushed called up to a league bottom squad with struggling veterans.
A few weeks ago, someone gave an over/under on five players traded. Most everyone is taking the under, but I’d like the over - and way over. I’d like to see Holmes, Peralta, Raley, Minter, Bichette, Manaea, Weaver, Brazoban, and possibly Robert, Semien, or Baty.
My rationale for such a purge is to send off anything of value because relievers are finicky, pitchers in general are one pitch away from getting hurt and having no value. The only name that I would withdraw from the list is Robert due to his high end skills and I wouldn’t wait for Baty to slump again. Sayonara to all of them, and may the Mets receive some nice value and plenty of prospects.
To continue, when the Mets traded Verlander, Scherzer, et al, they got prospects that were well ranked, but like all prospects, can fizzle and did. I hope the scouting is better this time.
A few days ago, when watching the Mets/Brews game, we observed an advertisement for a contest where the prize is dinner with Gary, Keith, Ron & Steve (aka GKRS). Mrs. Hunter wanted to participate, but I informed her that the closest NL & AL teams are SF & SAC respectively, & I don't think they have any games left on the NW coast.
Then one of GKRS informed the audience that they wouldn't attend wearing suits. "What are they going to wear?", asked Mrs. Hunter. Well, I don't know, but I told her I'd really enjoy if they came dressed as The Famous Racing Sausages
What happened? First the team,expected to be aplayoff team turns into one of worst. Next the farm system last year a top ten is now one of the worst. No Met prospect made Laws top 70 list. Things don’t look good.
7/24/26. Mets to 18 games under .500.