The 2018 New York Mets are bad. They even started the season 11-1, but since then have gone 20-37. That's good for the worst record in the NL during that span. Injuries have been an issue, yes, but the key injuries don't seem to be going anywhere with this group. In looking at the construction of this roster, my vote would be to start over in order to build a strong foundation for the future. 

On Monday, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Mets are open to dealing, but that they'd prefer to hang onto controllable talent, including ace Jacob deGrom. We'll get to that part, but I don't think this is the time with this team for half measures. 

Now, I don't come by this conclusion easily and I don't feel great about it considering how many teams are going through rebuilds these days. Following the blueprints of the last two champions -- the Cubs and Astros, respectively -- it seems every team feels like they must tear it all down before building it back up. That's not always the case, but with this Mets roster, that's where I stand. 

Some things that are clear to me: 

So here we are. The Mets are left with a totally flawed roster, but there are players with value. Such as ...

  • Cabrera is good and hits free agency after this season. 
  • Frazier is on a two-year, $17 million deal through next season. It's possible someone would give up something of value for him.
  • Cespedes has two years and $58.5 million left on his deal. If he ever gets healthy, it's possible a team would be interested in acquiring him. 
  • Closer Jeurys Familia hits free agency after the season and we know rental relievers can land quality returns. 
  • Swingman Seth Lugo is 28, but he's team-controlled through 2022. He could land a very good return. 
  • JACOB DEGROM

Let's dig in on the latter. 

deGrom is 30 years old (exactly, actually, so Happy Birthday, Jacob!). He leads the majors with 1.51 ERA and has been ace-caliber for basically his entire career. He carries a 2.80 career ERA, good for a 139 ERA+. His strikeout rate is skyrocketing and he's not giving up homers anymore. This is a marquee player. He's also under team control through 2020. 

Also, I don't ever think his value will be higher. Unless you believe this ownership group is all of a sudden going to go nuts in free agency while Syndergaard, Matz and Cespedes will magically stop getting hurt, getting as much return as possible from deGrom right now in order to stock the system for the next postseason run (in, say, 2021) makes the most sense. 

In looking around the market for starting pitchers, there are teams with some solid prospect currency who would pay a pretty penny for a player the caliber of deGrom. A cursory glance outside the NL East (I don't think the Mets would help the Braves, for example) gives me a short list of the Indians, Brewers, Cardinals, Dodgers and maybe even the Astros (I shudder to think). Heck, even non-contenders who expect to contend soon (Padres?) could be in on deGrom, given the team control aspect. 

If the Mets did make deGrom available, he'd immediately be the single most attractive piece available and they'd have a bidding war on their hands. Something like the White Sox got back for Chris Sale seems realistic. 

If the Mets dealt Cabrera, Frazier, Familia, Lugo and deGrom, they'd totally stock up their upper levels of the farm system. They already have SS Amed Rosario (22), Dominic Smith (23), Michael Conforto (25), Brandon Nimmo (25) and Robert Gsellman (24) as foundations of their big-league roster. Syndergaard and Matz remain in tow. It's a foundation. 

Dealing deGrom in the short term might hurt, but would it really be that much more pain than watching the Mets on a daily basis at this point? Bite the bullet, Mets. Build a stronger foundation. Deal deGrom.