If the Washington Nationals had a better bullpen you could bet the New York Mets would be buried even farther in the NL East. The Mets lingering around has given Mets fans hope that they can pull themselves out of their terrible baseball play and overtake the Nationals, who have been in first place since the end of April.

The reality is that the bullpen needs to be fixed and that can only happen in the off-season. Sixty million dollars is coming off the books so hopefully Sandy Alderson invests in that. The starting pitching has been hurt and the ones who have stayed healthy have been under-performing. Granted Jacob deGrom has had several skids of great quality starts even though his ERA has said otherwise.

Seth Lugo and Steven Matz have made their returns and have provided a spark, but they’re only there to help the team every 5th-6th day. With the recent struggles of Robert Gsellman, and the DL trips by Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler this rotation is a mess.

Terry Collins has said the team is remaining optimistic, but in reality it’s hard to look up when you hit rock bottom. The Mets have to face the truth about the direction of the 2017 team. The Mets are 11.5 games back of first place in the NL East and nine games under .500. They have no shot in the wild card this year as they sit 13.5 games back which is led by the red hot Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks.

The way the Mets have played has been an embarrassment and hard to watch at times. There is a vibe going on while watching this team that we haven’t seen since the rebuilding years- a lack of fight.

The Mets have embarrassed themselves on and off the field in 2017, causing headaches to the Mets PR and front office. Noah Syndergaard refusing an MRI, the dildo in Kevin Plawecki‘s locker, Matt Harvey skipping practice, Mr. Met flipping off a fan and now Wilmer Flores and other Mets players getting upset over Yasiel Puig‘s showboating home run. It is embarrassing to sit here and have to write a story about how Jose Reyes and Yoenis Cespedes had to “lecture” Puig on how to hustle around the bases after a home run. Hypocritical to say the least.

“I don’t think he knows what having respect for the game is,” Flores told reporters after the game. “We’re playing horrible. I know. But we don’t need this s–t.”

If the Mets weren’t playing terrible this wouldn’t have been an issue? The way I see it and many Mets fans see it is that the team is angry with their poor performances. They have no energy and no fight left in them. Yes, everyone and there mother is on the disabled list, but they have to worry about the guys who are there and play the game. They don’t need to talk smack about other players, because if they were winning ball games Puig’s home run wouldn’t have been an issue to begin with.

The trading deadline is a month away and with that the Mets need to figure out is – how is the rest of the season going to pan out? Do they take what they currently have and try to win? Or do they sell players like Lucas Duda and Jay Bruce for mid-level prospects or bullpen pieces?

If they choose to sell it wouldn’t be a bad idea to call upon their top prospects to fill in the positions of Duda and Bruce. Dominic Smith could be the Mets starting first baseman soon with Duda in his final year of arbitration. Brandon Nimmo could see some time in center field and right field.

Amed Rosario is likely to be the everyday shortstop for a long time in Queens. If the Mets opt to be sellers, they can give him and the other young kids a go in Queens and see what happens. It can’t be as embarrassing as how the season is currently going.

The Mets have hit rock bottom (well that is until their next debacle or embarrassing loss) and the only good news is – that the only way to go now is up.