The clock is ticking down towards the July 31 trade deadline, but to date the Mets have yet to acquire talent from the outside to bolster their offense which has been shutout ten times in the first 84 games.
In recent weeks, Sandy Alderson described the trade market as being, “thin,” saying there were only a handful of teams who could be considered sellers, some of which have shifted gears and become buyers.
But that could change as the unofficial second half of the season begins after the All-Star break as teams begin to determine whether they have a realistic shot at a playoff spot come October.
For now, Alderson feels pretty optimistic about his team, despite what really is a non-competitive offense.
“We’ll the good news is, we’re two games over .500 and really have not gotten major consistency or significant contributions from anybody except (Curtis) Granderson,” Alderson told Kristie Ackert of the Daily News. “So you can look at it in retrospect, ‘Gee that’s got to change.’ On the other hand you can also say, it can only go up.”
When analyzing their offense, the last three weeks have shown a downward trend, which seems quite impossible considering how bad their offense was previously. So, it’s safe to say short of a game here or there, they will continue to lack any sort of consistency in their lineup going forward without help from the outside.
Alderson recognizes there’s a need for more offense, and feels activity will pick up over the next week.
“Things will pick up, I think the marketplace will be more active and there are more possibilities now,” Alderson said. “We’ll see what shakes out, but definitely the activity will pick up in the next week.”
Alderson said two weeks ago the Mets are likely to only add a single piece, and not anymore than that. So even if the Mets bring in a meaningful bat, they’re going to need improved contributions from those who are here, specifically Lucas Duda and Michael Cuddyer. They’re also going to need to not only get Travis d’Arnaud back sometime soon after the All-Star break (which for now, seems highly unlikely), but have to find a way to keep him on the field.
In the case of d’Arnaud, the Mets have been fortunate to get improved production from Kevin Plawecki during his latest absence. He has posted a .782 OPS in his last 15 games. However, Plawecki has not been playing with regularity, as those 15 games date back to June 3.
Meanwhile, Duda is mired in a massive slump – he is 19-for-his-last-123 with one home run and 42 strikeouts in 34 games since May 31.
Duda was seen in the clubhouse along with Mets hitting coach Kevin Long studying multiple videos of himself hitting following Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to the Giants, during which he went 0-for-4 with a strikeout.
“He’s swinging at some fastballs that he is a little bit tardy on, some of the offspeed pitches he is a little out front on, a little in between. That is kind of what happens when you struggle a little bit,” Long told Ackert. ”We’re just trying to slow things down. Manage his leg kick a little bit better, see if we can’t get him back on track.”
He has been very late on hittable fastballs in the center of the zone, and he has been chasing too many off-speed pitches well out of the zone. He could be trying to do too much, but it’s also clear the opposition is giving him a minimum number of pitches to hit as well.
Whatever the problem is, if the Mets are going to be anywhere near postseason baseball in 2015, things must change for Duda regardless of who the Mets acquire, as he is and will probably continue to be the centerpiece of the Mets lineup.
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