Mets push into wild card race hasn’t decided trade deadline plan just yet

The 2024 MLB season has been a season of ups and downs for almost the entire league. Even the Oakland Athletics spent a little chunk of the season winning games and surprising everybody.

But nobody can encompass that 2024 has been a roller coaster ride quite like the New York Mets. Even dating back to last season, they've been on one of the wildest up-and-down rides in professional sports.

They came into 2023 with World Series expectations and the highest payroll in the league. After struggling terribly in the first half of the season, the Mets opted to sell at the deadline. That led into this season, where they now had smaller dreams of just being competitive. And they would begin the year horribly, starting off 24-35.

But after going 23-10 over their last 33, they are firmly back in the postseason race. But now we're weeks away from the trade deadline and the Mets don't really know which way they're leaning.

Mets "keeping an open mind" heading towards trade deadline

Jim Bowden of The Athletic ($) touched on his expectations for every team ahead of the trade deadline. His thoughts on the Mets were quite intriguing, to say the least.

"The Mets are only a half game out of a wild-card spot, which has essentially taken Pete Alonso off the trade market," Bowden wrote. "However, they are keeping an open mind and might end up doing some buying and selling at the trade deadline. If they find a trade that could really help them long term, they’ll consider it, but they also might just add a few pieces, particularly a starting pitcher and relief depth, to try to make the playoffs this year."

So, the Mets could be buyers and sellers?

Yes, that's exactly what Bowden is saying and, honestly, it makes perfect sense. It makes sense for the Mets and any other fringe team that wants to compete this year but also set themselves up for future success.

An example would be the Pirates or the Reds, who are in the same boat as the Mets. These three teams could deal away some of their rental players while looking to acquire a few controllable pieces to help them in 2025 and beyond. It's the reason that the Reds could be in the market for Jazz Chisholm Jr. while simultaneously trading away from their big-league bullpen.

For the Mets, they will likely hold onto Pete Alonso, unless they fall completely out of contention in the coming weeks. But, they will still answer the phone whenever any team calls because nobody is truly untouchable if the right offer is presented.