New York Giants legend and current football analyst Tiki Barber never played baseball at the highest level but knows a thing or two about how members of a roster can turn on each other and on higher-ups within an organization.
During Friday’s edition of the WFAN afternoon show (that simulcasts on the television home of the New York Mets), Barber warned Mets owner Steve Cohen and president of baseball operations David Stearns regarding how they should approach the July 30 MLB trade deadline with the club in possession of a National League wild-card playoff spot.
Specifically, Barber was referencing how outfielder Brandon Nimmo publicly challenged Cohen and Stearns to make “additions” and “be buyers at the end of this month” both before and after the Mets acquired right-handed relief pitcher Phil Maton from the Tampa Bay Rays. A New York team believed by many in June to be a postseason afterthought ultimately won five of six games to enter the All-Star break at 49-46, and there’s now no indication that Cohen will let Stearns trade out-of-contract first baseman Pete Alonso before July 30.
With that said, Mike Puma of the New York Post raised eyebrows when he wrote for an article published on Thursday evening that “the Maton deal, in which the Mets absorbed the $2.75M remaining on his contract — in addition to a player to be named later or cash considerations — should serve as a model for the type of trades Stearns can still look to orchestrate.” The suggestion, fair or not, is that Cohen won’t go all-in on chasing postseason glory this year regardless of how the Mets play beginning with the four-game series at the Miami Marlins (33-63) that gets underway on Friday.
The Mets then face the New York Yankees (58-40) twice before they host the Atlanta Braves (53-42) for a four-game tilt.
“I think it has a lot to do with these next two series and how they perform,” Barber said about the Mets’ trade deadline plans. “If they come out and take care of business in this upcoming series against the Marlins, then you’re gonna start feeling really good about where they are and what they need to do. If they falter and they get into the next couple series and falter again, then you start worrying about the trade deadline going the other way.”
Mets team leaders such as shortstop Francisco Lindor have routinely discussed the “good vibes” associated with the team this summer after the Amazins allegedly dealt with clubhouse issues across the first half of the 2023 season. Cohen and Stearns failing to bolster the squad with even one major acquisition theoretically could eliminate such vibes and maybe even sink the Mets’ playoff hopes following their unexpected resurgence.
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