The New York Mets are starting to come on strong, but a few players won't be along for the entire ride as they'll be gone by the trade deadline.
Even though there have been a number of slip-ups along the way, the New York Mets have steadily been climbing back to relevancy, as many baseball fans expected them to after a slow start. The club has closed the NL East gap to 3.5 games and, no surprise, a big help has been the rotation being stabilized by having both Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander back in the fray.
Given that this team is back in contention, though, it figures that the MLB Trade Deadline in two months is going to be yet another instance in which Steve Cohen and the front office get aggressive. They are in the business of a building a contender, and that will likely happen by any means necessary.
Obviously, that means the Mets will likely have some new faces in their crosshairs. The flip side of that, though, is that New York will have to trade some players. In that light, it's highly unlikely that these three players will survive the trade deadline and still be on the New York Mets.
Mets Rumors: 3 players who won't survive the trade deadline and why
3. Eduardo Escobar, 3B
Eduardo Escobar was one of the big signings for the Mets in the 2022 offseason as Cohen really started to sink his teeth into this thing. The veteran third baseman, however, didn't move the needle in the way that the club had initially hoped.
Make no mistake, Escobar hasn't been bad in New York. He slashed .240/.295/430 last season across 136 games and has put up similar numbers in the 2023 season with a .244/.289/.433 line on the year. But that could actually work in the Mets' favor at the trade deadline.
For one, Escobar still playing at a fine level at 34 years old and in potentially the final year of his contract — he has a $9 million club option for the 2024 season — could make him an attractive contract for other clubs looking to upgrade the infield to potentially swap with, knowing that he can contribute. He'd make a lot of sense at a trade between playoff teams both addressing needs.
The biggest reason that the Mets are almost surely going to deal Escobar before the Aug. 1 deadline, though, is the simple truth that they don't necessarily need him on the roster anymore.
While we saw Brett Baty sporadically last season, he now appears to be up as the long-term future of third base for the Mets. On top of that, Mark Vientos is also up now. Though he has struggled of late, he is another piece for the future of the organization and also happens to occupy the same roles as Escobar as well.
In that equation, the 34-year-old is always going to be the odd-man out, so it would be hard to imagine him staying on the roster with two readymade long-term replacements for him already in the majors.
2. Tomas Nido, C
Speaking of players who are going to be pushed out by exciting young prospects now making waves in the majors, you have to look at Tomas Nido as that guy for the Mets as well given the emergence of Francisco Alvarez.
Nido opened the season as one of two catchers on the major league roster, splitting time with Omar Narvaez. Narvaez has been out with a calf injury suffered in early April, though, which forced the Mets to call up Alvarez. It turns out, that's been one of the best decisions for them.
Alvarez has been a breath of fresh air for the team, accruing 1.0 WAR in 36 games for New York while slashing .246/.301/.509 with eight home runs, six doubles and 19 RBI. For a hyped prospect that was somewhat overshadowed by other names too, he's been fantastic. Meanwhile, Nido has been the opposite in his starts.
With 21 games under his belt thsi season, Nido has no extra-base hits on the season while hitting at unbelievably bad levels, slashing .130/.158/.130 on the year with a team-low -0.5 WAR for the year.
Now, you could make the argument of who would even want Nido at this point. That's fair, but the 29-year-old could very easily be a throw-in that could sweeten a deal given that this awfule season is, overall, an outlier in his career of solid if no unspectacular play. And with the performance of Alvarez and looming return of Narvaez, it doesn't seem like he'll be long for the Mets.
1. Ronny Mauricio, SS
Ronny Mauricio has been one of the top prospects iin the Mets organization for quite a while and he's making it clear at this point that, at 22 years old, he's ready for the bigs.
Playing with Triple-A Syracuse this season, Mauricio has been a monster, slashing .338/.378/.551 with seven home runs but 33 RBI to go with an unreal 23 doubles and two triples. This has all been over just 54 games. Put simply, the Dominican signed in 2017 by New York has started to put it all together.
The big question for the Mets, though, is where in the world they would put him in the majors? He's played shortstop to this point in his career primarily, but that's obviously a role occupied by Francisco Lindor, who is under contract with the club until 2031. For as promising as Mauricio is, that's not happening any time soon.
Meanwhile, it has been discussed that Mauricio, given his 6-foot-3, big frame, could move to third base. But that doesn't make his path to the majors any easier with Baty and Vientos up in the majors already.
If the New York Mets are going to be aggressive at the trade deadline and potentially pursue some big names, then they are going to have to pay the price to do that. Mauricio's lack of a clear path to the big-league roster right now makes him an ideal top trade chip for the organization to float out there as the centerpiece of any blockbuster deal they plan to pull off.
