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New York Mets starting pitcher Max Scherzer tries to get to first base to make a tag during the seventh inning of the baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Citi Field, Sunday, July 16, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
The Mets needed to come out on the other side of the All-Star break with a statement. That didn’t happen.Â
After losing two of three to the Los Angeles Dodgers, the sentiment that the Mets will be sellers at Major League Baseball’s Aug. 1 trade deadline has only strengthened. Their divisional situation is in shambles sitting in fourth place and 18.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East.
Their Wild Card situation isn’t much better with 8.5 games and four teams separating them from the final NL berth — and so the writing is on the wall that Steve Cohen is going to be a seller.Â
Mets general manager Billy Eppler on Friday admitted that he is already getting calls. Manager Buck Showalter is manipulating the starting rotation’s order to ensure that Justin Verlander gets two starts before the trade deadline.
That’s two more chances to bump up the veteran right-hander’s trade value, though the previous two decades of a Hall-of-Fame career will do more of the talking for a playoff contender in need of a bump.
It’s an almost unthinkable notion that the Mets could potentially be trading Verlander after half a season in Queens and Max Scherzer — another veteran righty destined for Cooperstown.Â
But Verlander has been pedestrian following a Cy Young-winning campaign in 2022 with the Houston Astros. He missed the first month of the season with a shoulder injury and has gone 3-5 with a 3.72 ERA in the 13 starts since his team debut. He lost just four games last year.Â
Scherzer’s second season with the Mets hasn’t been much easier. He was ripped for five runs on six this in five…
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