The New York Mets Are All In at the Trade Deadline

A MLB exec on #Mets: "They want a middle of the order OF bat who isn't going to cost anything -- in terms of dollars or players.''
— Jerry Crasnick (@jcrasnick) July 21, 2015

Looking to capitalize on their stable of young starting pitching, the Mets are serious about contending this year. Like most teams, though, they're not just going to throw money and prospects around willy-nilly. They have simple needs, and simple demands: an outfielder that can slot into the heart of their lineup and who will cost literally nothing to acquire. Now it's just a matter of making it happen. It's called "the art of the deal."

@Dodgers Hi, Sean Newell from @VICESports here. Q: would you be willing to give the Mets Yasiel Puig for literally nothing in return?
— Sean Newell (@dontforgetmac) July 21, 2015

There are two ways of looking at this news, neither of which is particularly inspiring. The first view: the Mets really want a great player, but don't want to give up anything in return for him. For the Mets fan, this is, sadly, the better of two options. This is how you would run the team if given the chance. In fact, it's very possible that the Mets trade deadline strategy is to call up the sports radio stations in rival markets and float trade ideas to the local teams. Yeah, hi, this is….Meff…Dilpon from Los Angeles of Anaheim. First time, long time. I think a great trade for the Angels would be to send Mike Trout the Mets. This way the Mets have Trout, and the Angels don't. I'll hang up and listen.

@Nationals Sean Newell from @VICESports here. Can you give Bryce Harper to the Mets? For, like, a couple tickets to Citi or something?
— Sean Newell (@dontforgetmac) July 21, 2015

(We will update accordingly, should the teams respond to these potential offers.)

The other way of looking at is less optimistic, which is: the Mets are not going to do anything significant at the trade deadline, despite a putrid offense that reduces grown men to sighing, miserable blobs who just want to eat and go home. They don't want to spend any money on any halfway decent outfield bat—most likely because the owners do not have any money to spend—and so will look to catch lightning in a bottle off someone else's scrap heap.

There is, perhaps, a third option. Right now, Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom, and Noah Syndergaard only play once every five days. They've all shown power, combined with timely hitting. Get those guys in the outfield on their off days and it's a win-win. Outfield bats, at no extra cost to the team. Art of the deal.