The New York Mets trade on Friday could be the start of a unique strategy the team takes heading into the 2023 MLB trade deadline.
This season has not been at all what the New York Mets hoped or paid a lot of money for. Heading into the weekend, the team is six games under .500 and currently seven games out of the final spot in the Wild Card race.
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The pitching staff has been a disaster despite having a pair of future Hall-of-Famers leading the rotation. And everyday players like Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, Starling Marte, and Jeff McNeil have had down years after playing like All-Stars in 2022. That is why the team’s trade on Friday wasn’t necessarily surprising.
New York Mets record (2023): 34-40
Something has to change and the New York Mets started that trend by shipping off third basemen Eduardo Escobar to the Los Angeles Angels for a pair of pitching prospects. Following the trade, SNY MLB insider Andy Martino revealed the move might be the first of several more where the organization uses owner Steve Cohen’s immense wealth to buy its way into improving its farm system.
“By sending Eduardo Escobar to the Angels for two pitching prospects that they like, and according to a source, paying down all of the remaining salary for Escobar, other than the major league minimum, the Mets are able to get players they want because of financial resources. This is something I would expect the team to continue to explore as the trade deadline season goes on.”
– Andy Martino
Martino suggested the New York Mets could actually target bad contracts on rival teams — like the remaining money on Patrick Corbin’s $35 million Nationals deal or Yankees’ third baseman Josh Donaldson and what’s left of his $21 million contract — in potential trades.
While Cohen has spent huge sums of money during his time owning the franchise, he reportedly wants the team to build up the farm system and form a long-term answer around homegrown talent. In what seems like a losing year, this seems like a shift in that direction.
