The Mets saw the writing on the wall, but now it’s actually happening.
Owner Steve Cohen and general manager Billy Eppler began the selling process ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline on Thursday night — the underachieving Mets sending David Robertson to the Miami Marlins for a pair of prospects.
“It’s not a complete surprise. You knew this was a possibility,” center fielder Brandon Nimmo said (h/t SNY). “It’s setting in that this is the path that we’re going down. That’s never an easy pill to swallow.”
Despite possessing the highest payroll in baseball history, a roster flush with proven veterans that was expected to take the next step after winning 101 games last season has fallen woefully flat. Their hopes of winning the National League East have been dead for well over a month while their Wild Card prospects don’t look all that healthy, either, as they sit seven games back of the final postseason berth within the expanded format.
“You can’t sit here and say you’re blindsided by this,” Nimmo continued. “We were just hoping that we could do enough in the last week and a half or so to give it a shot.”
Instead, the Mets followed up a stretch in which they went 9-4 to start July with a 3-4 stretch prior to Thursday night’s 2-1 win over the lowly Washington Nationals.
“It’s kind of crazy,” outfielder Mark Canha, who could also be moved before Tuesday, said of coming back to the clubhouse after a win to see Robertson traded. “We’re all professionals here and we know what the business is like and we know the facts. The facts are that we’re not in a great spot at the time being.
“It doesn’t help that the trade deadline is now instead of in two weeks. We probably should’ve played better if we wanted to be buyers instead of sellers.”
Nimmo, doing his best to maintain his usually-sunny disposition, also could help but show cracks: “They made it clear the direction we’re going in and the rest of us have to take it in stride and keep going out there and try to win games.”
Entering Friday’s matchup with Washington, the Mets have 60 games remaining in their 2023 season, so making up the difference in the Wild Card isn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. It will, however, be even more difficult to do so after trading their best arm in what has been an Achilles heel of a bullpen.
“Just because we’re selling doesn’t mean we’re not going to be putting our best foot forward,” slugger Pete Alonso said. “We still have a ton of talent. We still have a chance. Losing Robby sucks, maybe these kids are going to be the next coming of top talent. You never know what goes into the decision until afterward.”
