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Jed Lowrie

Trade Rumors: Rangers, Smith, Lowrie, Blue Jays, Frazier, Cubs

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The Athletics aren’t the only AL West team interested in Jed Lowrie’s services, as the Rangers have been in talks with the Mets about a deal that would send both Lowrie and Dominic Smith to the Lone Star State, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports (subscription required).  However, “talks to this point have failed to progress” between the two clubs.  It’s fair to guess that Smith was the Rangers’ real target in these negotiations, as Smith would be the sweetener added to the deal in exchange for the Rangers assuming most or all of the remaining $12MM on Lowrie’s contract.  New York is reportedly trying to create payroll space by shopping high-priced names like Lowrie or Jeurys Familia to other teams.

Smith is perhaps a bit of a curious fit for the Rangers, given that Texas already has a plethora of left-handed hitting first base/DH/corner outfield types, and only just dealt from that surplus in sending Nomar Mazara to the White Sox.  Still, adding a 24-year-old with five seasons of control has obvious value for the Rangers, as Shin-Soo Choo’s contract is up after the 2020 campaign, and Ronald Guzman could become expendable in the event of Smith joining the roster.  While Lowrie missed virtually all of 2019 due to injury, he also offers more to Texas than just a salary dump if he’s able to stay healthy.  If Lowrie was able to recapture anything close to his 2017-18 form, he’d represent a good third base answer if the Rangers weren’t able to sign Josh Donaldson.

More trade talk as we near the end of the Winter Meetings…

  • Though the Blue Jays have been mostly linked to free agents this winter, the club is apparently being just as diligent on the trade front, Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi writes.  In addition to Toronto’s known interest in Yankees southpaw J.A. Happ, the Jays have checked in with the Red Sox about David Price and Jackie Bradley Jr., and with the Pirates about right-hander Chris Archer and Joe Musgrove.  It doesn’t seem like any of these particular options are close, however, as Davidi notes that “the cost in both dollars and prospect capital remains too high” for Price, Bradley, and Happ.  The Jays and Pirates have been speculatively linked as trade partners since Ben Cherington recently went from Toronto’s front office to the GM chair in Pittsburgh, though this familiarity may not necessarily be a plus.  As Davidi puts it, Cherington “may think too similarly to his former colleagues for a deal to be struck.”
  • As the Pirates weigh a lot of interest in Adam Frazier, the Athletics are involved but perhaps no better than Pittsburgh’s third option as a trade partner, the San Francisco Chronicle’s Susan Slusser reports (Twitter link).  The left-handed hitting Frazier would be an ideal fit to help balance out Oakland’s heavily right-handed lineup, and would provide some experience to a young collection of second base candidates.  Frazier isn’t old himself (he is a few days away from his 28th birthday) and is still controllable through three years of arbitration eligibility.
  • While the Cubs are reportedly working hard towards swinging some (potentially major) trades, the possibility exists that the 2020 roster will look a lot like last year’s edition, president of baseball operations Theo Epstein told Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times and other media.  “The makings of a very good team is currently under control on our roster, with a chance to win a division.  And do that, and you have a chance to have a great October,” Epstein said, though “status quo is not a bad option, but we’re obviously out there looking to make changes and change the dynamic and improve.”  It could be that the Cubs won’t become big players in the trade market until most or all of the top free agents have selected their new teams.  In the case of Kris Bryant, for example, “officials from two teams aggressively trying to fill third-base needs…said the Cubs were asking too much for Bryant to seriously consider him while other options remained available,” Wittenmyer writes.

Athletics Interested In Jed Lowrie

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Second baseman Jed Lowrie is only a year removed from leaving the Athletics for the Mets in free agency, but the A’s are now interested in bringing him back via trade, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. However, for that to happen, the Mets would have eat the majority of Lowrie’s $10MM salary for 2020, according to Slusser.

Lowrie joined the Mets on a two-year, $20MM contract, but it was one of multiple prominent offseason moves that didn’t go their way in 2019. The oft-injured 35-year-old sat out all but nine games, in which he totaled a mere eight plate appearances, as he dealt with a series of leg problems throughout the season. It’s now unclear where Lowrie fits on the Mets’ roster, as they already have what looks like a set infield with Robinson Cano at second, Pete Alonso at first, Amed Rosario at short and Jeff McNeil and J.D. Davis as third base possibilities.

Conversely, Oakland has a dearth of established options at second, having jettisoned 2019 starter Jurickson Profar in a trade with the Padres. Current choices Chad Pinder, Franklin Barreto, Sheldon Neuse and Jorge Mateo are all right-handed hitters, as Slusser notes, whereas Lowrie bats from both sides of the plate. He’d at least add some variety to the group, then, and it’s worth pointing out that Lowrie had the best seasons of his career in Oakland.

Already a two-time Athletic, Lowrie was one of the game’s most valuable second basemen from 2017-18, a 1,325-plate appearance span in which he slashed .272/.356/.448 with 37 home runs, 8.7 fWAR and an All-Star nod. Lowrie stayed healthy during that time, but injuries have so far wrecked his Mets tenure, which could end as early as this winter.

Mets Reportedly Looking To Move Bad Contracts

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The Mets entered the winter in a bit of a payroll predicament. Now, they’re searching for a creative way to resolve it, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (subscription link).

While the New York payroll limit isn’t known publicly, the front office seemingly feels it may be best served moving money off of the books. The contracts of veterans Jeurys Familia and Jed Lowrie are each under water after brutal 2019 seasons, so that seems to be the place the club is targeting.

Of course, no other club is going to have interest in paying Familia ($22MM through 2021) and Lowrie ($13MM through 2020) what they’re still owed. But the Mets are floating a “concept,” per Rosenthal, by which they’d attach some of those unwanted payroll obligations to an otherwise positive-value player-asset. Say, Dominic Smith and his five remaining seasons of team control.

Just how likely this is to come to fruition isn’t clear. But it’s conceptually possible. The Mets picked up Edwin Diaz and Robinson Cano last winter on this essential model (though that only makes it all the more frustrating to be pursuing this sort of pact in the opposite direction, involving other recently acquired players). And Andy Martino of SNY.tv tweets that the team actually had a chance to pull off such a scenario at the trade deadline involving Familia and Zack Wheeler.

It’s hard to conceive just what a Familia-Wheeler swap might have looked like — it’s tough to imagine any team would have taken on a big piece of that salary to rent Wheeler for a few months — but it seems the pursuit gained some traction. Then again, Martino also asserts in another tweet that the Mets nearly pulled off a Wheeler-Noah Syndergaard blockbuster before backing out of talks with the Astros. It appears the Brodie Van Wagenen-led front office has explored a wide array of possibilities in recent months.

It will be interesting to see if the Mets can find a salary swapping partner that makes sense. While parting with talent to dump payroll isn’t always advisable, the New York club may be particularly well-situated to do it. Smith is a unique asset: young and affordable, with a solid recent track record and a prospect background, but also largely superfluous to the Mets. Perhaps J.D. Davis could be another candidate to function in a trade of this kind, though he could also still have a functional role on the roster. If there’s an opportunity to free capital to improve the roster in other ways, it makes sense to pursue. But it’s also possible to imagine Smith and/or Davis being cashed in for prospects instead, so it’s important to consider that opportunity cost in assessing the possibilities.

Brodie Van Wagenen On Mets’ Offseason Plans

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Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen, who’s in the early stages of a crucial second offseason on the job, spoke to reporters about the team’s winter plans Monday. The club’s on the heels of an 86-win season, its third in a row without a playoff berth. There are obvious need areas on the Mets’ roster, then, but it’s up in the air how aggressive they’ll be this offseason with seemingly limited spending room under the budget of owners Fred Wilpon and Jeff Wilpon.

Infielder Jed Lowrie and outfielder Yoenis Cespedes are among the players clogging up New York’s payroll. Injuries prevented either from factoring in much or at all in 2019, but they (Lowrie – $9MM and Cespedes – $29.5MM) are slated to occupy almost $40MM of the Mets’ payroll next season. Lowrie at least logged some playing time in September, meaning he should be good to go at the start of 2020. However, Lowrie won’t have “a normal offseason considering what he went through last year,” according to Van Wagenen, who noted the Mets have “continued to try to diagnose what Jed’s issues were that kept him out this season” (via Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News). But signs point to the Mets rolling with Lowrie, Jeff McNeil and J.D. Davis as their third base options in 2020, Bob Nightengale of USA Today tweets. On paper, that’s a capable trio, and with Robinson Cano at second base and Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto as the Mets’ top two corner outfielders, it would make sense for Lowrie, McNeil and Davis to share the hot corner.

The ongoing presence of Cespedes further complicates the picture in the outfield, but as Van Wagenen said last week, there’s still no indication as to whether he’ll be able to play next year (via Tim Healey of Newsday). Cespedes, the Mets’ highest-paid player, missed all of this season because of ankle issues. If the Mets were sure Cespedes would miss at least 60 days next year, they’d be able to recoup 60 to 70 percent of his money by way of insurance. For now, though, the team doesn’t seem to have any idea as to whether Cespedes will significantly weigh on its payroll going forward. 

Regardless of what happens with Cespedes, it seems center field should be a priority for the Mets this offseason. The Mets tried Juan Lagares, Nimmo and Conforto there to underwhelming results in 2019. Lagares is now a free agent after the Mets declined his club option, while Nimmo and Conforto are likely better cut out for corner roles. Indeed, the Mets want to improve their defense in center, per Van Wagenen. Problem is that free agency’s not loaded with obvious solutions at the position, while the best trade candidates at the spot (Pittsburgh’s Starling Marte and Boston’s Jackie Bradley Jr.) earn fairly expensive salaries. That’s without adding in the assets they’d cost to acquire, and it’s worth noting Marte’s coming off a poor year as a defender.

Aside from center field, Van Wagenen cited pitching – both rotation and bullpen – as well as backup catcher as areas the club could address in the coming weeks (Twitter links via Mike Puma of the New York Post, Healey and Thosar). The Mets have one of the highest-profile free-agent starters in the game in Zack Wheeler, whom they issued a $17.8MM qualifying offer. While they’d like to re-sign Wheeler, it’s entirely possible he’ll end up out of the Mets’ price range, which would leave them with a still-enviable top of the rotation in Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman and Steven Matz. The team lacks depth after that foursome, though Van Wagenen pointed to David Peterson, Walker Lockett, Chris Flexen and Corey Oswalt as in-house options. If you’re a Mets fan who’s unexcited about the majority of that group, that’s understandable. But Peterson, MLB.com’s seventh-ranked Mets prospect, at least carries some intrigue. The 24-year-old, a 2017 first-round pick, reached the Double-A level this season and notched a 4.19 ERA/3.19 FIP with 9.47 K/9 against 2.87 BB/9 in 116 innings.

As for the Mets’ bullpen, it’s no surprise they’re interested in bettering a bunch that largely fell flat this year. The Mets were aggressive in trying to bolster the unit last offseason, evidenced by the acquisitions of Edwin Diaz, Jeurys Familia and Justin Wilson. But Wilson was the only effective member of the trio, and given that the Mets could move either Seth Lugo or Robert Gsellman to their rotation, their relief corps looks like an even bigger concern at the moment.

While it’s unclear how the Mets will configure their pitching staff next year, it seems their hurlers will primarily end up throwing to Wilson Ramos. The veteran catcher was yet another of the Mets’ headline-grabbing pickups from last offseason who may not have delivered as hoped in 2019. But despite his defensive deficiencies, the 32-year-old Ramos did record yet another fine offensive campaign. With $9.25MM owed to Ramos next season, it seems the Mets will continue to ride with him behind the plate and seek a defensively sound complement to place behind him.

The Mets are undoubtedly in for a fascinating offseason. The club’s not short on talent, but there are clear flaws at the same time. If Van Wagenen doesn’t find a way to repair them, and if the Mets miss the playoffs yet again, it’s possible they’ll be on the lookout for a new GM a year from now.

Mets Activate Jed Lowrie

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The Mets are set to welcome one of their offseason additions, as infielder Jed Lowrie has been activated from the injured list, according to Tim Healey of Newsday. In addition, Dominic Smith has been transferred to the 60-day injured list and right-hander Drew Gagnon has been recalled from Triple-A.

Lowrie, one of the Mets’ significant signings of the offseason, has yet to play a game in his new uniform due to a series of left leg injuries affecting the knee, hamstring, and calf. Lowrie, 35, inked a 2-year, $20MM contract with the Mets but began the season on the injured list with a left knee capsule strain that emerged in Spring Training. However, a hamstring strain in May delayed the timetable for his recovery, and it seems that rehab subsequently snowballed into a complicated mess of recovery and re-injury.

With Robinson Cano and Todd Frazier installed at second and third base, respectively, it’s unclear just how much playing time Lowrie will receive. In that regard, not much has changed since Lowrie was signed, when the fit appeared questionable, given the team’s invested in Cano and the presence of promising youngster Jeff McNeil. At the very least, he’ll be able to offer some return on the first year of the Mets’ investment. He’s coming off a pair of productive seasons in Oakland, posting a cumulative OPS of .804, including a career-best 23 home runs last season. While he likely isn’t at full health yet, the Mets will hope for signs that Lowrie isn’t far off those numbers—not only for this season, but with an eye on 2020 as well.

Meanwhile, Smith may very well have played his last game this season; now on the 60-day IL, the earliest he could return would come in the final week of the regular season. If indeed his season is over, he’ll close the book on a breakthrough age-24 season in which he has slashed .278/.352/.506 in a part-time role. However, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports that there’s a chance he could be cleared to make another appearance or two, as he’ll be reevaluated in his recovery from a stress fracture in his left foot.

Mets Notes: Lowrie, Smith, Scouts

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The Mets’ late-season revival looks as if it’s petering out. After a tumultous first few months of the year, the Mets shockingly climbed into National League playoff contention by ripping off 21 wins in 26 games after the All-Star break. But New York has gone a woeful 6-10 since then, and with six straight losses (including a 4-1 defeat to the Cubs on Thursday), the 67-66 club’s now what could be an insurmountable five games out of a wild-card spot. Here’s more on the suddenly floundering team…

  • This season may not be a total lost cause for infielder Jed Lowrie, a free-agent pickup who hasn’t played at all in 2019 on account of knee, hamstring and calf injuries. Lowrie has been playing rehab games at the Triple-A level (he hit a home run Thursday), and the Mets remain “hopeful” he’ll make his debut in their uniform sometime next month, Anthony Rieber of Newsday writes. Manager Mickey Callaway issued a positive update on the 35-year-old Lowrie on Thursday, saying “he’s healthy” and “feeling good at this point.” After a pair of terrific seasons with Oakland, Lowrie joined the Mets on a two-year, $20MM contract, though it’s now unclear how often a healthy version will slot into the club’s starting lineup going forward. After all, the Mets figure to go into 2020 with Robinson Cano at second base and versatile breakout performers Jeff McNeil and J.D. Davis as candidates to continue racking up playing time at the hot corner.
  • Like Lowrie, injured first baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith is progressing toward a comeback, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News relays. Smith went to the IL on July 27 with a stress reaction in his left foot, which interrupted a quality season for the 24-year-old, but he finally just received clearance to resume baseball activity. Although plenty were down on Smith coming into 2019, the former top 100 prospect has slashed .278/.352/.506 with 10 home runs in 196 PA this season. It’s up in the air how much of a future he has with the Mets, however, as first baseman/NL Rookie of the Year front-runner Pete Alonso isn’t going anywhere, while McNeil, Davis, Michael Conforto and Brandon Nimmo represent a handful of controllable and viable corner outfielders.
  • There’s a house-cleaning going on in the Mets’ scouting department. The organization let go of director of pro scouting Jim D’Aloia on Wednesday, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. D’Aloia, who has been with the Mets for eight seasons, will remain in place until his contract runs out on Oct. 31. The Mets followed D’Aloia’s dismissal by parting with pro scouts Tim Kissner, Tim Fortugno and Lee MacPhail on Thursday, per Andy Martino of SNY. All three ave “good reputations in the game,” notes Martino, who adds that the club’s sure to make more changes in the coming weeks. That jibes with a report from Yahoo’s Matt Ehalt, who tweets that more turnover is coming and hears that it’s “an ugly situation” behind the scenes.

Brodie Van Wagenen Discusses Mets Roster

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With just over a month left in the campaign, GM Brodie Van Wagenen took stock of his club in a conversation with Jon Heyman and Josh Lewin on the Big Time Baseball podcast. (Audio link.) We’ll cover a few highlights here.

Van Wagenen wasn’t ready to declare victory, as there’s work left to be done to get into the postseason. But he did call it “very exciting and rewarding” to see the club’s mid-season turnaround. “Most importantly,” he said, “we’re playing meaningful games here in August and hopefully September.”

There aren’t many avenues available to improving the club from the outside at this point, but Van Wagenen suggested he’s bullish on the potential for impact from within. Brandon Nimmo, Robinson Cano, and perhaps even Jed Lowrie could return late. As the Mets GM puts it, “we’re getting back guys that we envisioned being core members of our starting lineup.” Notably, Cano is said to have “already resumed baseball activities to a pretty high degree of workload.”

Asked about how the organization was able to revive itself after a long skid earlier this season, Van Wagenen pointed back. “A lot of it … is related to what we tried to do in the offseason,” he said. The rotation is finally firing on all cylinders, while the bullpen has improved and the club has received contributions from some recent acquisitions (he cited Wilson Ramos and J.D. Davis at points in the interview).

Rookie sensation Pete Alonso has, of course, been an immense part of the success. He was “a key part of our offseason” plan, says Van Wagenen, who explains that the club “gave him a clear runway” in hopes of just this sort of breakout.

Likewise, utilityman Jeff McNeil is now a core cog after an offseason of uncertainty. Van Wagenen says that “we really never wanted to lose or give up” McNeil, even after pushing him off of second base by acquiring Cano. The club “never said yes” to any packages involving McNeil in talks on Cano, says Van Wagenen. The GM added, with respect to some other high-profile trade pursuits (e.g., J.T. Realmuto): “Some of those reports are more about which teams liked our players, and which players were of high priority to them.”

Mets Notes: Rajai Davis, Lockett, Pounders, Nimmo, Lowrie

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While dealing with the news that Robert Gsellman is likely done for the year, the Mets have made another roster move. Veteran Rajai Davis was added to the 25-man roster, tweets The Athletic’s Tim Britton. Signed to a minor-league deal, the 38-year-old Davis hit .287/.334/.410 in 84 games for Triple-A Syracuse. This will be his second stint with the team this season after appearing in four games in late May, which included a big pinch-hit, three-run home run to down the Nationals on May 22nd. Let’s check in on a corresponding move, as well as some injury updates coming out of Queens…

  • Recently-added Walker Lockett will return to Triple-A. Lockett, 25, did not make an appearance in this most recent stint in New York. His last appearance was a start on August 5th at Citi Field. He gave up 4 earned runs in 4 2/3 innings in a 5-4 team win over the Marlins. Brooks Pounders was designated for assignment in order to add Davis to the 40-man roster, per Newsday’s Tim Healey (via Twitter). Pounder, 28, has been around the block the last few years, but never making more than 14 big league appearances in a season. Employed by the Royals, Angels, Rockies, and now Mets, he’s racked up an 8.47 ERA/6.14 FIP across 45 career appearances since his debut in 2015.
  • In rehab news, outfielder Brandon Nimmo is on his way to Triple-A Syracuse for a rehab assignment, per SNY.tv’s Danny Abriano. Citi Field should be the next stop for Nimmo if all goes well these next few days. He’s been out since May 21st with stiffness in his neck and back, but just finished a successful 5-game warmup in High-A. It’s been a lost season for Nimmo, who appeared on the cusp of stardom after a 4.5 fWAR 2018 in which he hit .263/.404/.483 in 140 games. The power evaporated from Nimmo’s game this season (.219 ISO to .123 ISO), but his approach remained laudable, and he is also working through a fairly significant year-over-year drop in BABIP (from .351 to .288).
  • Nimmo’s return could mean Davis’ stay in New York will be short. Michael Conforto and J.D. Davis aren’t going anywhere. Davis and Juan Lagares both have the right to reject a minor league assignment if they so choose, and Aaron Altherr is out of options and unlikely to pass through waivers – or at least he hasn’t yet, as before the Mets claimed him from the Giants, they had claimed him from the Phillies. Altherr, 28, may be touring the country via the waiver train, but he has yet to see much playing time – and even less success. He struck out in his sole at-bat with San Francisco, while his total line for the year is a sterling .085/.141/.169 in 64 plate appearances.
  • Jed Lowrie is also beginning a rehab assignment as the DH in High-A with Port St. Lucia tonight, per Mike Puma of the New York Post (via Twitter). Lowrie signed for two years, $20MM this offseason, but has yet to make his New York debut. It’s a shame Lowrie still isn’t ready, especially since it’s looking like Jeff McNeil might require a rehab assignment before returning to action, per SNY.tv’s Andy Martino. 

 

NL East Notes: Zimmerman, Phillies, Lowrie, Marlins

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Ryan Zimmerman is in the final guaranteed year of his contract, and the longtime Nationals staple tells MLB.com’s Bill Ladson that he has yet to speak to GM Mike Rizzo or team ownership about what he hopes will be a continued relationship in 2020 and beyond.  The Nats hold an $18MM club option ($2MM buyout) on Zimmerman for next season that is highly unlikely to be exercised, given the veteran’s injuries and declining production in recent years.  Zimmerman is very eager to finish his career with the only franchise he has ever known, and reiterated that he is open to playing the rest of his career by ear, even returning just in a platoon situation at first base.

“I’m willing to come back [to Washington] and do one year, year by year, for a lot less money,” Zimmerman said.  “I don’t think the money matters to me anymore.  I just want to continue to play baseball and keep playing baseball in D.C.  I’m lucky that my kids are here.  My family is here.”  If the Nats didn’t want to keep Zimmerman on the roster, he stopped short of saying he’d retire, though “it would be a tough decision to leave my family and not be around” while playing in another city.

Here’s more from around the NL East…

  • The Phillies’ surprise hire of former manager Charlie Manuel as the team’s new hitting coach is explored by Matt Gelb of The Athletic (subscription required), who wonders if it could be a harbinger of future moves if the Phils continue to underachieve.  Owner John Middleton, as per Gelb, “has solicited opinions in recent weeks from inside and outside the organization to gain a clearer picture of his franchise’s warts,” and Middleton also “became a decisive voice in” Manuel’s hiring.  It stands to reason that further coaching changes could be made, or manager Gabe Kapler could be on the hot seat, as he is only under contract through the 2020 season.
  • Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen gave reporters (including the New York Post’s Mike Puma) an update on Jed Lowrie on Wednesday, saying that Lowrie has been participating in simulated games, including running, fielding, and hitting drills.  Due to a string of knee, hamstring, and calf injuries, Lowrie hasn’t played at all this season, and despite his recent progress, it still isn’t clear if he’ll be able to make it onto the field.  Van Wagenen is still hopeful Lowrie can play in 2019, though he also didn’t reveal any plans for a minor league rehab assignment.  Since Lowrie would obviously need a good deal of time to ramp up, there isn’t a lot of opportunity left for an overly-lengthy rehab assignment, given that the minor league season comes to a close in early September.
  • Marlins CEO Derek Jeter was non-committal about the idea of moving in the fences at Marlins Park for 2020, telling MLB.com’s Joe Frisaro and other reporters that the organization would “maybe” consider such an idea.  As Frisaro notes, Marlins Park has allowed the second-fewest home runs of any stadium in baseball since the start of the 2012 season (when the Miami ballpark opened), and while the Marlins’ oft-disappointing lineups have undoubtedly played a role in this power outage, players on all teams have been constantly bedeviled by the ballpark’s big dimensions.

Brodie Van Wagenen Addresses Mets’ Struggles, Deadline Plans

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Embattled Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen discussed his team’s dire straits today with the media. Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News and Mike Puma of the New York Post were among those to round up the choicest quotes. MLB.com’s Christina De Nicola approached it from a bit of a different perspective, focusing on the forward-looking aspects of Van Wagenen’s chat.

With the Mets all but buried in the standings, Van Wagenen faced the music on his “come get us” pre-season bravado with respect to the rest of the NL East contenders. As he put it today, “they came and got us.”

That may put a satisfactory wrap on a memorable quote, though it also glosses over some of the actual causes of the Mets’ failings by suggesting their rivals simply got the better of them. Van Wagenen’s claim that the club was the favorite in the division wasn’t just an attention-grabbing statement worthy of skepticism; it also seemingly represented a key driving factor for the team’s decisionmaking over his first offseason at the helm.

Van Wagenen did accept blame for how things have gone, though he did so in a curious manner, deflecting even as he absorbed culpability. “I wouldn’t want to put the blame on players or coaches or scouts or anybody of that matter,” he said, “but I can tell you that this team we built was one of unified vision and it hasn’t worked, so I accept my responsibility in that capacity as well.” Likewise, he seemingly minimized the role of big-picture roster-building when he cited a failure to “do enough of the little things right as a team.”

At the end of the day, the top roster-building decisionmakers have to own their missteps. There are quite often intervening factors that do help explain unanticipated struggles, to be sure. But it’s hard to argue that unforeseeable or simply unlucky happenings have really driven the disaster in Queens this season — Jed Lowrie aside, at least. (The oft-injured veteran has yet to play. He is now said to be dealing with a calf injury, with no apparent target for a return.)

The single major blunder, to this point, has been Van Wagenen’s signature trade — the swap that brought in ace closer Edwin Diaz and highly compensated veteran Robinson Cano. It seemed a highly questionable decision at the time, albeit one that would almost certainly deliver short-term rewards. Instead, both players have struggled mightily, and rather unexpectedly, even as the key prospects sent in the trade have prospered.

“You have to look at where we were and where we are now,” Van Wagenen said when asked whether he has had second thoughts on the deal. He noted that Diaz and Cano still have the remainder of the season to “change the narrative.”

Once again, this explanation seems to miss the mark. The real problem isn’t (just) the ensuing struggles of those players. It’s the series of conceptual failings that led to the deal in the first place. First, the deal was rough for the Mets from a value standpoint, given the huge amount of Cano’s contract the team absorbed. Even assuming that away, it was legitimately questionable whether the Mets had a strong enough roster to justify that kind of outlay for such clearly win-now players (a closer and an aging second baseman). Beyond all that, there were quite possibly better ways to utilize the team’s resources — a dedicated pursuit of Manny Machado, increased offer to Yasmani Grandal, etc. — even in a scenario in which the team pushed for contention.

The point here isn’t to lay on the blame. Van Wagenen had a distinctly difficult task as an agent-turned-GM who was trying (with limited resources) to turn around a roster that had struggled in the prior season. That was the strategic direction of ownership — even if the new GM pitched it in his interviews. And it wasn’t a ridiculous thing to attempt. It’s just that the undertaking came with obvious risks, especially in the manner it was pursued, and several of the downside scenarios have come to fruition — none moreso than the big-picture one, in which the Mets are left yet again facing a need to pursue some amount of rebuilding or reloading while also carrying a series of player assets that hints towards near-term contention.

It was a tricky spot; it is now, all the more. Van Wagenen will need to adapt on the fly. So, where do the Mets go from here?

Most notably, Van Wagenen slammed on the brakes so far as expectations are concerned. In mid-June, Van Wagenen said that the Mets were “right where we wanted to be.” Now, about a month later? “In the second half of the year I think we have low expectations for what we can be,” he said bluntly. Rather than posturing as front-runners, says the GM, the Mets will fashion themselves as “underdogs” who’ll “try to prove some people wrong this year and certainly try to improve on it next year.” It’s a starkly different look from an executive who said before the season, upon his latest hot stove conquest: “This action, rather than our inaction, should demonstrate to the fans that we say what we do and we do what we say.”

Without any pretense to immediate contention, the Mets can turn to making the best of the roster they have compiled. “We have to face our reality, to some degree, about where we are in the standings,” said Van Wagenen. Rental players — Zack Wheeler, Todd Frazier, Jason Vargas (who does have an option remaining) — seem clearly to be on the block. But the question remains whether the Mets will also “face reality” with respect to their broader organizational position, which is certainly a question that can’t be answered by Van Wagenen alone.

Van Wagenen says the Mets will be “open-minded, … thoughtful and measured” at the deadline, though that characterization obviously doesn’t offer much in the way of specific direction. He was clear that he does not “anticipate being in a situation where we’d have a total teardown rebuild.” He also says he “fully expect[s]” the team’s best veterans with future contract control “to be on our roster” past the trade deadline — though he didn’t rule out deals of star pitchers Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. The front office has been bombarded with phone calls of late, adds Van Wagenen. It’ll certainly be interesting to see whether any of those chats lead to creative scenarios in which it makes sense for the Mets to move some of their best and best-known players.

If there’s a definitive statement on the Mets’ near-term approach to be found in Van Wagenen’s words today, it probably resides in this passage:

“The reason why we put some chips on the table this year is because we felt like we had a core of starting pitchers from which we could build around. … Right now, as we look at the halfway point, we feel like we have a core going forward, just maybe a different core. … We have a core from which we can compete, and we’ll look at our moves with both win now or certainly win in 2020 [perspectives] and looking beyond that.”

You can probably read that to mean just about whatever you want it to, but it certainly sounds as if Van Wagenen sees a vision of the future. Perhaps it suggests the club’s ace hurlers are now open to be moved … or that they are part of the “different core.” If there’s a core in place, one might think that a big push for 2020 would yet make sense … yet Van Wagenen was careful to note that the team needs to be “looking beyond that” point in time.

Whatever the precise core concept — it presumably features Michael Conforto, Pete Alonso, and Jeff McNeil at a minimum — there’ll be an awfully tough path to navigate. Whether they pursue immediate contention or some manner of rebuilding, the Mets face a tricky financial situation in 2020, when they owe about $115MM to players (not including David Wright) even before accounting for raises to Syndergaard, Diaz, Conforto, Steven Matz, Seth Lugo, Brandon Nimmo, and a few others. For a team that hasn’t yet cracked $160MM in payroll to open a given season, it’ll be challenging to add enough to spur a turnaround. And with so much already on the books, no small part of it (Cano, Lowrie, Jeurys Familia, Yoenis Cespedes) largely immovable, it’ll also be tough to embark upon a dedicated rebuilding effort.

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