The Mets’ deadline plan looks a lot less adventurous this time around.
According to Jim Duquette, New York is not expected to repeat the kind of salary-eating maneuver Steve Cohen authorized in 2023, when the Mets absorbed more than $85 million to move on from Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander in search of better prospects.
“The Mets have been telling teams that, unlike the ‘23 deadline where they took on over $85 million to move the Scherzer and Verlander contracts for better prospects, they have no desire to pay down contracts to that extreme at this year’s deadline.”
That’s a sharp turn from the kind of deadline swing Cohen green-lit two years ago. And based on how that gamble played out, it’s not hard to see why the Mets would be more cautious now.
The 2023 deadline delivered prospects, but not much actual payoff. Some of the names that came back in those deals have already been moved again, while others have lingered in the system without making much noise.
Luisangel Acuna was traded for Luis Robert Jr. Drew Gilbert was sent out last year to rent Tyler Rogers, and Ryan Clifford will be lucky to hit his weight in Triple-A this season. The prospects the Mets picked up for David Robertson and Tommy Pham are still around too, but they’re stuck in the lower levels and haven’t done much to change the organization’s outlook.
That’s why this deadline feels like it could be more conventional. Instead of trying to engineer another dramatic salary dump, the Mets may simply operate in the standard rental market and take the best offer they can get. For a team that has sometimes looked like it was overthinking things, that might be the smarter lane.
Cohen’s willingness to bankroll a deadline like the one in 2023 doesn’t appear to be there now. And that matters because the Mets aren’t exactly a cash cow for him. They lose him money, and this year he’ll be in the red again.
It will also be only the second time under Cohen that the Mets have been deadline sellers. They tried and failed in 2021 with Javier Baez as the biggest addition.
The 2022 and 2024 deadlines helped get them into the playoffs, though the 2022 push wasn’t enough to win the NL East or get out of the Wild Card round. In 2025, they bought again and still fell well short, despite what looked good on paper.
There’s still room for Stearns to surprise people, and a controllable player would not be out of the question. But one thing seems clear: this is not shaping up to be the kind of deadline where Cohen takes on future salary to help push a blockbuster through.
What he won’t be able to do is trade a guy like Bo Bichette with Cohen picking up any future salary.
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