Just Mets

With the All-Star Game approaching, typically that means trade winds begin to blow harder as the trade deadline draws closer as well.

However, due to so much parity in baseball once again in 2015, there are only eight teams that are ten games or more out of their division races, and only four teams are more than ten games out of their respective wild card race entering play on Wednesday.

And no team in the American League is more than seven games out of the wild card race.

As such, only a small number of teams consider themselves out of contention, leaving a short supply of available talent for those who believe they’re still within reach of a playoff berth.

As play opens Wednesday, the Mets are 43-42, four games out of the wild card and 3 1/2 games behind the Nationals for the lead in the National League East. While they’ve trended downward in recent weeks, the club still believes they’re within reach of a playoff spot as the All-Star break nears.

However, the trade market remains difficult to navigate. A couple of weeks ago, Sandy Alderson described the market as being, “thin” in terms of available players, and quite possibly overvalued due to the short supply of talent available.

And on Tuesday, those conditions mostly remain unchanged, a club source told Kevin Kernan of the New York Post.

“We’re trying to do something, but it’s still a little early,” the source said.

Terry Collins is trying to remain confident in the hitters they have on the roster, although the offense somehow continues to worsen with each passing day.

“The way we are sitting right now with our pitching, if we get Cuddy and Duda going, I’m telling you right now, we are going to have a pretty good second half,’’ Collins explained before Tuesday’s loss to the Giants.

With respects to Collins and those players, that seems like a big IF at the moment. Both are mired in horrific slumps, and have been for more than a month.

The Mets do have some payroll flexibility arriving thanks to an insurance policy against David Wright’s contract which covers 75 percent of his pay as long as he is on the disabled list. That policy reportedly went into effect 60 days after he was placed on the disabled list, or around mid-June.

Still, it remains to be seen if the Mets take advantage of that flexibility, or expand their payroll altogether to acquire the talent they need to remain in contention.

Either way, Collins knows one piece is not all the club will need unless the people currently on the roster start hitting.

“If the guys take care of their business, then we will need less help than they think,” Collins said on Thursday. “We got to get the middle of our lineup going, then all of a sudden that extra piece is all you need. Right now it looks like we need several, we need to get our guys going.’’

In addition, if the trade market remains premature, the Mets stance could change if they continue to slip in their respective races. So, based on the way the club has trended, the sooner they can improve the roster, the better off they are.

There is still a lot of baseball left between now and the trade deadline.

If that happens, perhaps they would look for takers for some of their higher priced players such as Daniel Murphy, Jon Niese, and/or Bartolo Colon if they fall out of contention.

For the latest trade rumors surrounding the Mets, check out the Rumor Mill here.