default-cbs-image

The Mets will open play on Friday night in fourth place in the NL East and a full 12 games behind the leading Nationals. Things are even worse on the wild card front, as the Mets are right now 14 1/2 games out of the second spot. Even though they won the pennant in 2015 and made the playoffs in 2016, they're postseason longshots in the here and now.

Given those facts, here's this dispatch from ESPN's Buster Olney ... 

The July 31 non-waiver trade deadline is a month and change away, and we're going to see deals start going down soon enough. Per Olney, the disappointing Mets are in sell mode. This is likely more reboot than rebuild, as the Mets will angle to contend in 2018 behind that high-upside rotation. That doesn't mean they can't flip some near-term guys for mid- to long-term assets. 

Of the guys whom Olney name-checks, Jay Bruce would likely drum up interest thanks to his left-handed power, and Addison Reed has shutdown potential in the bullpen. The market figures to be heated for swing-and-miss relievers, so Reed should be especially easy to move. As for Granderson, the 36-year-old has been raking since his awful April, so he might be of interest to a few contenders. 

Depending on what the Mets are able to extract in any of these deals, this is a wise tack. Barring a miracle, they're not going to be a part of the playoff fray, and after all the disappointments and dysfunction of 2017, an organizational pivot is probably in order.