Just Mets

There’s no question if the Mets intend to remain in contention this season, an acquisition via the external markets will need to be made, and sooner rather than later.

Sandy Alderson said on Friday the club continues to explore the trade market in attempt to add to the roster. However, he noted the market is still thin at this point in the season.

“It’s not even July 1. How many teams are out of it right now? Three? Four? And, then there has to be a match. It’s a thin market.”

Alderson said if an opportunity presents itself, he’d be willing to overpay to acquire talent under the right circumstances.

“Personally? Am I prepared to overpay? I’m prepared to overpay,” He explained. “But there has to be something to overpay for.”

Alderson said it’s unlikely the club makes multiple moves this summer, noting the people on the roster have to improve.

“We need to get the job done with what we have [for now],” he said.

The problem is, the Mets need more than one player to make their offense competitive among the contending teams in the league. That’s just the truth.

It’s certainly fair for Alderson to raise the bar on guys like Curtis Granderon, Michael Cuddyer, and Lucas Duda. They’re the veterans, and they have all struggled at one or more points during the season. They have all unquestionably brought the offense down.

In fairness, they probably expected the production Granderson has shown in the last month for a year and a half, they probably expected Cuddyer to strike out less, and ground into fewer double plays, and probably expected more consistency from Duda from a power perspective. They also probably didn’t anticipate not having Travis d’Arnaud or David Wright basically at all, and it’s hard to make up for those losses even if they do acquire a player or two.

But it’s hard to raise expectations for some of the other guys, especially those who simply don’t belong in the major leagues, or part time players being asked to play everyday.

It is what it is now, and they have to find a way to patch their holes with talent from the outside, even if they get stop gaps until they can make bigger deals.

But until they do either of the two, talk is cheap at this point. Winning teams – as they claim they are – aggressively fill holes without hesitation. Let’s see if they’re up to the task.

The Mets have reportedly shown interest in A’s utility player Ben Zobrist, and have been connected to Brewers infielders Aramis Ramirez and Jean Segura. But according to those reports, no deal is close at this time.