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New York Mets relief pitcher David Robertson, left, talks to catcher Francisco Alvarez after a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in New York. The Mets won 11-10. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
The sell-job for the Mets ahead of the 2023 MLB trade deadline on Aug. 1 has begun as veteran reliever David Robertson was traded to the Miami Marlins for two prospects after their rain-delayed 2-1 victory over the Miami Marlins on Thursday night.
“We were faced with where our club was at this point of the season,” Mets general manager Billy Eppler said. “In this circumstance, the value of the players we acquired exceeded our expectations. So we executed it.”
A team that owned the highest payroll in MLB history and once had World Series aspirations is 17 games out of the NL East division lead and seven games out of the Wild Card. Though the severity of the sale still remains to be seen.
The Mets are likely in the process of purging their expiring, veteran contracts. But the chance still remains that they could sell some of their most notable starting pitchers in Justin Verlander or Max Scherzer.
Robertson, 38, performed well after signing a one-year deal with the Mets this winter — originally as the eighth-inning man to set up closer Edwin Diaz. But in an unreliable bullpen thrown into chaos after Diaz went down with a knee injury at the World Baseball Classic, he took over as the Mets’ impromptu closer, posting a 2.05 ERA with 14 saves.
“I signed here expecting to play for a team that was going to compete for the division,” Robertson said after the trade was announced. “We still had the guys to get it done, we just couldn’t put it together. I don’t know what it was… but there’s still a lot of season left. They can still turn it around. Until you’re mathematically eliminated, you’re still in…
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