It could be a quiet trade deadline for the Mets, as a team insider tells ESPN New York's Adam Rubin that the team may not be buyers or major sellers by July 31. The Mets "are not actively shopping anyone," including controllable players like Bobby Parnell, Daniel Murphy or Ike Davis. The club doesn't have any major salaries that can realistically be unloaded — even a veteran like Marlon Byrd is just making $700K and wouldn't be moved for anything less than a quality prospect since the Mets don't want to "sacrifice 2013 competitiveness" by trading their viable Major League parts. As for acquiring a slugging outfielder, the Mets will keep an eye on big names like Giancarlo Stanton, Carlos Gonzalez and Andre Ethier though a trade isn't likely any time soon.
Here are some more items about both the Mets and Yankees…
- The Mets will probably call up a veteran lefty reliever sometime in July, Rubin writes, so that reliever would become trade bait. Rubin suspects that Tim Byrdak is likely to get the call over Pedro Feliciano.
- Parnell would be a valuable trade chip, as Bill Madden of the New York Daily News notes that the AL East alone has three teams (the Rays, Orioles and Red Sox) that would covet a hard-throwing young closer. “I’m sure those clubs could really tempt the Mets on Parnell — the Red Sox with the outfielder, Jackie Bradley Jr, and one of their top pitching prospects like (Rubby) De La Rosa, but that remains to be seen, and if they want to be able to compete next year, as they say they do, there’s no way they can trade him," a rival scout tells Madden.
- Also from Madden, Michael Young is "by far the best fit for the Yankees" since his contract is up after this season, he has a strong clubhouse presence and Young can play both first and third base. The Yankees had a scout watching the Phillies over the weekend.
- The Yankees consider Aramis Ramirez to be too expensive and they aren't in pursuit of the Brewers' third baseman, CBS Sports' Jon Heyman reports. The 35-year-old Ramirez was just placed on the disabled list today with a left knee injury, the same knee that has already cost him a month on the DL earlier this season. Though Ramirez is hitting a solid .271/.359/.414 in 209 PA, he has only five homers and is guaranteed approximately $20MM through the end of the 2014 season, plus a 2015 mutual option with a $4MM buyout.
- With Sandy Alderson having "all but promised" to spend on a major trade acquisition or free agent signing this winter, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post notes that Alderson's two most expensive free agent signings as Mets GM (Frank Francisco and Shaun Marcum) have both been busts. "This upcoming expenditure (or plural expenditures) will be a large part of his legacy. And the Mets probably have to hit on this player or players for the plan to succeed," Davidoff writes. On the plus side, Davidoff notes that the Mets have gotten a lot of recent production from under-the-radar inexpensive signings.
