With the Mets staggering into the All-Star break at 40-57, the conversation around the club has turned fast from expectations to the trade deadline. FanGraphs gives them just 0.8% odds to reach the playoffs, and after an offseason that was supposed to reshape the roster, the big question now is how far they’re willing to go by Aug. 3.
Former Mets general manager Steve Phillips didn’t hedge.
“I don’t think the Mets are in a rebuild, they’ll be in a retool,” Phillips said on an episode of the New York Post’s “The Show” with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman. “I’d be selling, [Freddy] Peralta would be dealt… Luke Weaver…could have even more value because he has some controllability.
I’d personally talk about Devin Williams in a trade, if somebody had interest, I’d move him. I’d be open to just about everything.”
Phillips ran the Mets from 1997-2003 and helped assemble the 2000 club that reached the World Series. He also made one of the franchise’s biggest moves when he traded for Mike Piazza and then signed him to a seven-year $91 million deal in 1998, the largest contract in MLB history at the time.
Now, in 2026, Phillips says the Mets should be willing to consider moving some of their biggest names and late-inning arms.
“If somebody asked me about Lindor, I’d listen … just to see what’s out there,” Phillips said. “Clay Holmes, if he’s healthy by then, gone. I’ll trade them all.”
The Mets are carrying a $365 million payroll, yet they sit with the fourth-worst record in MLB and are 12 games back of a National League wild-card spot. David Stearns, the club’s president of baseball operations, has not publicly said the team is headed for a sell-off, though the topic has already come up with players.
Phillips also sees room for the Mets to do more than just dump talent. In his view, they can sell and still try to improve the big-league roster.
“I’d buy right now, too, if I’m David Stearns,” Phillips said. “[He] can’t wait for the perfect timing.
[He] might have to get out in front and get a guy a year early instead of waiting for the offseason. So I think he’s gotta be open to selling for sure, but also targeting some buying if it’s available to him.”
In Other News...
Juan Soto Gets Brutally Honest About Choosing Mets Over Yankees
Juan Sotos first season in Queens has already become one of the louder storylines of the Mets year, and his comments at the All-Star break only added to it. The slugger made it clear he has no regrets about signing with the Mets, even as the club has spent much of the first half trying to dig out of a losing record while the Yankees have stayed in the AL East playoff picture.
For Mets fans, that matters because Soto was the centerpiece of a winter bidding war that reshaped both sides of New York. He chose the Mets over the Yankees in free agency, and now every result around him gets measured against that decision, especially with the season paused and the two clubs headed in very different directions. [Read more 🡒]
One Mets Prospect Is Finally Giving Fans A Reason To Watch
The days before the break gave Mets fans a little more reason to keep one eye on the farm system, and Daiverson Gutierrez was at the center of it. The catcher, ranked 24th among the organizations top prospects for 2026, put together a strong week with ten hits, a home run and a double in five games, a welcome burst from a player who had spent much of the season searching for traction.
Jonathan Santucci added to the encouraging run on the mound, continuing the progress he has shown since May. The left-hander, ranked 12th among Mets prospects, struck out eight batters and allowed two runs in a recent start against Hartford, another sign that the clubs lower levels are starting to produce a few performances worth following more closely. [Read more 🡒]