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3 New York Mets who won’t survive the trade deadline and why

By Cody Williams

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 20: Eduardo Escobar #10 of the New York Mets is congratulated by Luis Guillorme #13 after Escobar hit a two-run home run against the San Francisco Giants in the top of the fourth inning at Oracle Park on April 20, 2023 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 20: Eduardo Escobar #10 of the New York Mets is congratulated by Luis Guillorme #13 after Escobar hit a two-run home run against the San Francisco Giants in the top of the fourth inning at Oracle Park on April 20, 2023 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /
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New York Mets, Eduardo Escobar
New York Mets, Eduardo Escobar. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) /

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.

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