PHILADELPHIA — What if the group had stayed together? As the Mets play out their schedule, competing on a daily basis and winning frequently in recent weeks, several players have questioned where the team would be in the wild-card race if the status quo had been maintained at the trade deadline. Instead, the Mets traded away Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, David Robertson, Mark Canha, Tommy Pham, and Dominic Leone for minor league prospects. On July 31 — the day before the trade deadline— the Mets were six games out of the NL’s last wild-card berth. As play began Thursday, the Mets were eight games behind for the final wild-card berth.
“I have thought about it a handful of times,” Adam Ottavino admitted before the Mets’ 5-4 loss to the Phillies on Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park. “But there is still no way to predict that. You try to think, ‘Where would we have won more games?’ And it’s hard to say without seeing it, but I have definitely thought about it a handful of times because it is true that, even though we kind of spun our wheels, we never fell way further out of it.
“A lot of teams are kind of limping to the finish line at the moment, and you would have thought there would be a couple of teams that would have played real well. That is part of the dynamic too, and that hasn’t happened for whatever reason.”
The Mets lost six consecutive games, at Kansas City and Baltimore, the week after the trade deadline. Since that losing streak, they have gone 21-21. If they had won six more games, they would be at .500 and just three games behind the Cubs for the final wild-card berth as play began.
That still would have left the Mets as long-shots for the postseason with just over a week remaining, but it would have given them a chance. “It’s something that you say, ‘We’re in the position we are in now, but we definitely could have made a run at it,'” Brandon Nimmo said. “But we also could be in the position the Padres are in, where they kind of need to run the table the rest of this season just to get in. I have always been a big believer in, ‘If you could just get in, you have a shot,’ but it’s natural to look back and think that we have held steady in the wild-card race… We got rid of a lot of people at the trade deadline.”
The trades have given the Mets an opportunity to evaluate players like Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio, who have energized the lineup during this period. David Peterson, Tylor Megill, Jose Butto, and Joey Lucchesi have been consistent performers in the starting rotation.
“It’s only human to wonder ‘what if’ or ‘how,’ but I think going through this, this is the first time as a player I have experienced this stage because every year we have either stayed as we were or acquired new additions,” Pete Alonso said. “This is a transition, but also getting guys experience and building a strong foundation, creating a culture. I think that’s what we’re doing right now. We’re not only developing talent at the big league level, but we’re also building chemistry, and I feel like we’ve been playing outstanding baseball.”
Francisco Lindor admitted that he has wondered where the Mets would be if the team had stayed intact. However, the shortstop expressed support for the decision made by owner Steve Cohen and the front office to replenish the farm system through the trades. “It’s in the past, but we’re human — we have those moments,” Lindor said. “We reflect on certain moments in the season, but it’s not just the trade deadline. There have been many moments throughout the season.”
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