Mets Turnaround Timeline: How Long Can New York Stave Off A Sell-Off?

[Tom Gatto]

Image courtesy of © Geoff Burke-Imagn Images

A 12-game losing streak in April put the New York Mets’ season in peril. To their credit, they've put together a solid month after stopping that skid. They're 14-12 in their last 26 games, and 6-3 over their last nine. Now, there's hope that this team will be watchable this summer — and maybe good enough to contend for a playoff spot.

There’s recent precedent for such optimism, too. Two years ago, the Mets were 21-26 after 47 games — the same as they were at one point in 2026 — and, OMG, did they turn it on after that. They finished with 89 wins and rode the vibes to the NLCS. This year's Mets entered Thursday's action 13th in the National League but just 7.5 games out of a wild-card berth, with more than two-thirds of the season remaining.

Still, the team has lots of problems. The roster doesn't have a Jose Iglesias-type veteran who can set the clubhouse alight. Current spark plug A.J. Ewing is a 21-year-old rookie who has yet to totally struggle at the plate. How will a slump affect his energy? The rotation is a minefield. The top bullpen arms are inconsistent. The offense (87 wRC+, 28th in the majors entering the finale of the Nationals series) can't be trusted, even though it averaged 7.6 runs per game during a recent 6-1 streak. Francisco Lindor, Francisco Alvarez and Clay Holmes are out with long-term injuries.

Those issues lead to this question: How much time should the front office give this flawed team to complete a turnaround — be at .500 or better, say — before going into sell mode ahead of the Aug. 3 MLB trade deadline?

Club president David Stearns has shown during his time in New York that he will be patient. Most recently, he stuck with manager Carlos Mendoza while the team was losing and the fans wanted the skipper to join the Red Sox's Alex Cora and the Phillies’ Rob Thomson on the unemployment line. Expect Stearns to give the players similar support even with half the everyday lineup — Lindor, Alvarez, Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. — on the injured list. Some of those players might be available for part of an upcoming stretch that will answer our question.

The Mets are early into a difficult part of their schedule. After this week's road trip to D.C. and Miami, they're looking at this group of series through the first week in July:

• Home vs. the Reds and Marlins
• At the Mariners and Padres
• Home vs. the Cardinals and Braves
• At the Reds and Phillies
• Home vs. the Cubs and Phillies
• At the Blue Jays and Braves

All of those teams are capable of making it to October. Yes, even the Marlins, the team that killed the Mets’ playoff dreams last year.

Once the gauntlet ends in Atlanta on July 6, the Mets will have played 91 games, barring rainouts. That'll be a sufficient sample size for Stearns and his lieutenants. It will also be the time that prices for deadline rentals start to increase.

Bottom line: If the club is around..500 and 6.5 back or.closer in the wild-card race a week before.the All-Star break, then the front office can remain patient and maybe do some buying. If the Mets are buried in the standings — say, 10 or more games behind — then the sell-off should probably get underway.

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