With the MLB trade deadline looming, the Mets find themselves in an uncomfortable position. The club, which spent the most money in the history of MLB before the 2023 season, woke up on Saturday with a 42-49 record and eight games behind the San Francisco Giants for the last National League wild-card spot. Most teams in this position would be preparing their assets for sale, but the Mets entered the season with World Series aspirations, and are trying to build a perennial winner.

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Before Friday night’s loss to the Dodgers, Billy Eppler spoke to the media about the Mets’ current state and the upcoming two weeks. When asked about the possibility of the club simultaneously buying and selling, Eppler seemed open to the idea.

“I’ll be open to any opportunity,” Eppler told Pat Ragazzo of Sports Illustrated. “(We) just have to look for an avenue to continue to add talent to the organization, whether it’s short term or long term. We have to evaluate it all.”

Eppler interestingly indicated the Mets could still add a player in the short term to help the organization. With the Mets standing at 42-49 before the August 1 trade deadline, it’s hard to believe New York would mortgage their future for the unlikely chance to be the third wild-card team in the NL. Rather, it seems like the front office is focusing on players who will help the team in the short term and figure into their future success, like Trevor Gott, who will be under team control in 2024.

Ultimately, the Mets’ position as either a buyer or seller is up to the performance of the players. When asked if there was urgency in the Mets clubhouse prior to the 2023 trade deadline, Eppler deflected by quoting the consistency of the team.

“I don’t want to speak for the players, but when I listen to them talk I don’t think the urgency is something that just turned on,” Eppler stated. “It sounds like it has been there for a while. It’s the consistency aspect that really kind of needs to take hold. We were encouraged by what we were seeing going into the break.”

It’s fair to say the Mets have been aware of and accountable for their situation in 2023. All the players have spoken about righting the ship, but haven’t been able to do so. As Eppler said, consistency has been the main culprit of their underachieving season. After the Mets won six straight games at the start of July, the team turned the wrong way, and lost three in a row to fall back to seven games under .500.