Sunday morning, the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies are wrapping up the two-game London Series on the other side of the pond (GameTracker). The Phillies won Saturday's opener 7-2. The two clubs will return to the United States after Sunday's game.
The Mets enter play Sunday with a disappointing 27-36 record and there's already talk they could trade away veterans at the deadline for the second straight summer. Despite the team's poor play to date, owner Steve Cohen is not ready to discuss the deadline yet, and is more focused on gaining ground in the wild-card race.
"I know everybody's focused on the trade deadline. That's all anybody wants to talk about. We've got a lot of games to play. Let's get focused on what's happening now. We've got to chip away," Cohen said Sunday in London (via the Associated Press and MLB.com). "... What are we, four games out of the wild card? We shouldn't be proud of that, right? We're still nine games under. But it gives you the opportunity to make the season a success. And so that's the way I'm looking at it."
The Mets are indeed only four games out of a wild-card spot, though there are seven teams between them and the third wild-card spot, and only the very-bad Colorado Rockies and Miami Marlins are further back in the race. Jumping two or three teams is tough, even with so much season to play. Jumping seven teams is a very tall order.
If the Mets do decide to sell at the trade deadline, they have rental starters (Jose Quintana, Luis Severino), rental relievers (Jake Diekman, Adam Ottavino, etc.), and rental position players (Harrison Bader, J.D. Martinez) to peddle. And, of course, there's Pete Alonso. He's a rental as well and could be the most impactful bat available this summer.
SportsLine gives the Mets a 14.3% chance at the postseason entering play Sunday. FanGraphs has a similar number: 11.3%. To make a run at a wild-card spot, New York must get better work from the bullpen. They have 11 blown saves and the bullpen has the third worst win probability added in the game.
On Opening Day, Cohen said he would be disappointed if the Mets miss the postseason in 2024.