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New York Mets’ Justin Verlander pitches during the first inning of the team’s baseball game against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday, July 19, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
The Mets had to come out of the All-Star break like gangbusters to salvage the notion that they could push for a playoff spot and potentially buy at Major League Baseball’s Aug. 1 trade deadline — which is now just one week away.
Instead, they remained trapped in the continuous loop of underachieving letdowns.
After winning nine of their previous 13 to provide the smallest of glimmers, including two straight to nab a series win last week against the Chicago White Sox, the Mets have lost three of four; stuck in the mud and nowhere else to go.
The finest telescope that Steve Cohen’s money could buy would struggle to keep sight of the Atlanta Braves, who after Sunday led the National League East over the fourth-place Mets by 18.5 games. The NL Wild Card situation hasn’t improved much, either. They’re 7.5 games back of the third and final berth with four teams in between.
And while the richest team in baseball history is also one of the most disappointing ones, too, it is not run by an owner divulging in senile illusions of grandeur. The Mets likely aren’t turning this around and Cohen will attempt to use the same business savvy that made him a billionaire 14 times over by cutting his losses and beginning to sell off veteran contracts with eyes on attaining future sustainability.
How drastic will the Mets’ sale be at the 2023 trade deadline?
Cohen has often spoken about building a self-reliant pipeline of talent for the organization, similar to that of the Braves or Los Angeles Dodgers. But the Mets’ farm system that he inherited was thin and while there have been moves made to strengthen it — two of their top prospects, Francisco…
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