PHILADELPHIA - A.J. Minter knows the trade deadline is coming fast, and he knows his name is in the mix.
But the Mets left-hander isn’t talking like a guy trying to get out. He’s talking like someone still carrying the weight of what never happened in New York.
“The sad part is it feels like I didn’t do my job,” Minter told NJ.com on Sunday in Philadelphia. “My job was to come here, be healthy and help this team win.
I didn’t do both. It’s a sense of wishing it could be different.”
That feeling has been hanging around for a while. Minter said in spring training that he felt he let his teammates down after last year’s season-ending lat injury in April, which required surgery and kept him on the injured list while the Mets faded out of contention later in the summer.
This season brought a different kind of frustration. Minter was still working his way back from that same injury when the Mets broke camp, and New York stumbled hard right away.
A 12-game losing streak two weeks into the year left them in a hole they’ve never climbed out of. By the time Minter made his regular-season debut in late May, the Mets were already 11 games under .500 and eight games out of a Wild Card spot.
With Sunday’s win in Philadelphia, they sat 10 games back of a postseason place and 16 games under .500.
“I fully expected when I signed here to compete and to go to the postseason every year,” Minter said. “Me being injured, I was part of the reason for it, so it’s definitely tough.”
What makes it harder is the group around him. Minter has formed close relationships with fellow relievers Brooks Raley and Luke Weaver, and the bullpen has been one of the Mets’ best areas all season. Raley owns a 2.02 ERA in 40 appearances, Weaver just put together a run of 25 straight outings without allowing an earned run, and Minter has posted the best ERA among them at 1.80 over 20 innings.
“We know it’s part of the business, unfortunately,” Minter said. “What makes us so good - with Luke going on the run he did, and same thing that me and Brooks who has been having a great year - is the camaraderie down there. It’s the roles that we have with no egos.
“What makes me have a good season is Brooks having a good season. He pushes me.
Same thing with Weave and everyone else down there. We’re feeding off each other.”
With the deadline two weeks away on Monday, Minter understands the reality. So do the other veterans on this roster. There’s a real chance Minter, Raley and Weaver all get moved in the next 14 days, and with Minter and Raley on expiring contracts, it would be a surprise if the Mets didn’t deal them before August 3.
For now, Minter says his focus is simple: keep dealing.
And if he does end up somewhere else, he sees that as part of the job too.
“If I do get traded, my job is to help bring back as much talent as I can back here,” Minter said. “That’s the least I can do. I want to go out there, keep shoving and hopefully I can give them a nice little prospect back.”
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