As the Mets floundered through June and early July, David Stearns insisted they were not ready to sell just yet. They were going to give themselves time to see if they could recover before making the decision to buy or sell. Plus, with the draft looming, offices around the sport were distracted with preparation.
But as the second half begins Thursday night, it seems the time has come: A rival executive said the Mets informed their team that the sale is on, and that everyone but young stars Carson Benge, AJ Ewing, Christian Scott, Nolan McLean and the obvious, Juan Soto, is available. That doesn’t mean everyone will go. But it means the Mets will listen on just about everyone, which is in keeping with what people familiar with their thinking have signaled for weeks.
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That the Mets are fielding calls already suggests they will be spreading out their sell-off over several weeks, rather than waiting until the week of the deadline when the market has settled and time constraints create a more frenetic process. Some executives argue that selling earlier, before more teams have identified themselves as buyers or sellers, can increase returns and takes advantage of immediate desperation while demand is low.
The Mets, it seems, will be testing the theory.
The most likely players to go remain those on expiring contracts. Brooks Raley and AJ Minter are as sturdy lefty relievers as the current market has to offer. Freddy Peralta and Clay Holmes are likely to be coveted by the many contenders who need starting pitching.
Despite Peralta’s struggles and Holmes’s current injury, both should bring the Mets a helpful return – in part because it will be relatively easy to determine whether the Mets are getting more in a trade than they would holding on: Both Holmes and Peralta would likely receive a qualifying offer at the end of the season, meaning any return for either would have to eclipse the value of the compensation pick teams receive if players who decline the qualifying offer go elsewhere.
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The Mets could still extend Holmes, according to people familiar with their thinking who anticipated conversations with Holmes’s agent to occur between the draft and the deadline. While Stearns’s front office has been reluctant to give long-term deals to starting pitchers in his tenure, Holmes’s early career years as a reliever mean he has fewer innings on his arm than the usual 33-year-old starter with ace capabilities.
As for players with control beyond this season, Luke Weaver will be one of the best relievers available in terms of 2026 performance, and the fact that he will be under control through next season should make him enticing for contenders with money to spend. Huascar Brazoban will also have some suitors, but the Mets do need to build their bullpen around someone in 2027.
They also need someone to catch for them next year, though Francisco Alvarez’s plus-power and Luis Torrens’ steady defense could both draw interest in a still-forming catching market. That both have control beyond this year means the Mets would need to receive more value in return than the value one or either would provide next year.
As for other players under control beyond this year, Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio could be attractive for teams with immediate or future infield needs. An executive with one current contender said they plan to check on Baty’s availability, and Mauricio currently has no clear path to big league playing time, either.
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And as for Francisco Lindor, no one has given any indications the Mets are shopping him, though no one has said he is off the table either. He is an MVP-caliber player making MVP-candidate money for the next five seasons. Any team wanting to make a deal will likely need not only to be able to pay him that money, but also give the Mets a return that includes viable 2027 big-league talent. Few teams seem willing and able to meet those asks. But with a noticeably weak free agent market for hitters looming, it feels unwise to rule anything out.
