Cowtipper

Always gave off the douchebag vibe, but you can't judge a book by its cover because he really wasn't a douchebag. His 2024 was awesome. He wasn't great, but he was steady-Eddie and always reliable. One of those unsung heroes of that 2024 campaign. By 2025, I was over him and wanted him gone. And for most of 2026, I felt that way, too. But then he redeemed himself with a memorable walk-off in May, which I remember watching, and an astounding run toward the end of his tenure. He finished his 2026 with the Mets with a slugging mark over .500. Whodathunk that would happen. From July 4, onward, he hit .341/.438/.951 with 7 home runs, 14 RBI and 13 runs scored in 41 at-bats. Half of his hits went out of the park, and another four were doubles. Shades of Glenallen Hill or Matt Carpenter (if anyone remembers those). He was solid overall.

Well, the upside is the Mets did the opposite of what they often do, which is trade solid prospects for wild card veterans. Rather, they traded solid veterans for wild card prospects. We got some legitimately good ones in this deal. And thankfully, none that have no upside. A lot of them are filler, but not necessarily filler that will peak at Single-A and never do anything. Now, the Mets have to keep those prospects, instead of doing their other habit of ditching them before they're even 24 or 25 (unless you're Baty or Vientos for some reason). Speaking of Baty and Vientos, they're two I would have liked to see traded. Alvarez always had the most upside out of all of them and is the youngest, so I've always been more hesitant to trade him. Baty and Vientos fit the standard "Mets top prospect" profile -- super hyped in Metsdom, but zoom out and compare them to the talent in the rest of baseball and they're pretty 'meh.' But Alvarez was/is a notch above them. Also speaking of Baty and Vientos, the Mets should've done even more gutting. Shock therapy -- rip the Band-Aid off now so we can have a few great years down the line. Baty, Vientos, Robert, Polanco, Williams, Senga, Bichette, Myers, Semien, Manaea, and let's not forget Megill, Garrett. All could've/should've gone if suitors were out there. They're too old and/or their contracts aren't long enough for them to be there for the future we're building. Soto and Lindor have long enough contracts and should still be good enough for when the time comes, hence they're not on the list. That would've given us a core of Soto, Lindor, Benge, Ewing, McLean, Scott, Thornton and Alvarez, Baty, Vientos et al were intended for the future that never happened, so it's time to say goodbye. The guys I would've kept will likely be there for the future that could very well happen.

Stragglers: Baltimore Orioles acquired Codi Heuer from Brewers for cash considerations. Baltimore Orioles acquired Rece Hinds from Marlins for cash considerations. Baltimore Orioles acquired cash considerations from the Pirates for Johnathan Rodriguez. Cincinnati Reds acquired Juan Brito from Guardians for cash considerations. Cincinnati Reds acquired $250K of international bonus pool money from Cardinals for Caleb Ferguson. Los Angeles Angels acquired Kyle Robinson from Pirates for Kirby Yates. Happened a while ago, but just to be thorough: Detroti Tigers acquired cash from the Mets for Matt Seelinger.

The Pirates acquired right-hander Lake Bachar from the Marlins in exchange for prospects Brandan Bidois, Hyun Seung Lee, and Brian Sanchez.

The Diamondbacks acquired outfielder Lars Nootbaar from the Cardinals in exchange for left-hander Sandro Santana, right-hander Daniel Eagan, and a player to be named later. The Yankees acquired outfielder Heliot Ramos from the Giants in exchange for left-hander Henry Lalane and shortstop Kaeden Kent.

News of trades are still rolling in, so maybe the savior blockbuster trade is still to come.

The Rays acquired right-hander Tyler Wells from the Orioles in exchange for prospect Michael Forret. The Guardians acquired first baseman Nathaniel Lowe from the Reds in exchange for pitching prospect Alejandro Rivera. The Padres acquired pitcher Casey Mize and infielder Gage Workman from the Tigers in exchange for left-handers Kash Mayfield and Jackson Wolf. The Rays traded catcher Hunter Feduccia and minor league pitcher Jacob Kmatz to the Dodgers for minor league outfielder Jack Suwinski and international bonus pool money. The Athletics acquired reliever Seth Johnson from the Phillies in exchange for outfielder Colby Thomas. An update on this trade: The Red Sox acquired left-handed reliever Erik Miller and outfield prospect Carlos Gutierrez from the Giants in exchange for former top infield prospect Marcelo Mayer.

The Marlins acquired reliever Victor Vodnik from the Rockies in exchange for infielder Connor Norby and minor league pitcher Aiden May.

Astoundingly, one of the Mets longest-tenured players when he was traded. A very good reliever who never had a bad season in New York. Was with the Mets for four seasons, but played only one full season with them. Had a 2.31 ERA and 181 ERA+ in his Mets career. Very impressive guy, especially considering he didn't join the Mets until he was 35.

15 minutes left! The Twins acquired right-hander Jeff Hoffman from the Blue Jays in exchange for minor leaguers Dasan Hill, John Klein, and Dameury Pena. The Red Sox are acquiring left-handed reliever Erik Miller from the Giants in exchange for former top infield prospect Marcelo Mayer, pending medical reviews. The Astros acquired center fielder Daulton Varsho from the Blue Jays for right-hander Spencer Arrighetti, with Toronto covering part of Varsho’s contract. The Guardians acquired left-hander Foster Griffin from the Nationals in exchange for Will Dion, Josh Hartle, Kendeglys Virguez, and Nick Mitchell.

I remember him being an odd-looking duck. Strange eyes. Also remember not being too impressed by him, save for this year. I was cautiously optimistic with him this year, expecting the rug to be pulled out from underneath us, but it never happened. I remember too many meltdowns and unimpressive performances. I didn't quite like his acquisition when we got him in 2024, and he proved why when he pitched that year. 2025 was better, but too inconsistent. I remember he started off insanely well -- he had 1.62 ERA through his first 30 games. After that, his mark was 6.75. Unfortunately, that was from mid-June onward, so we had to deal with mediocrity for a while. In 2026, I was kind of rooting for him to make the All-Star team.

The Orioles acquired minor league outfielder Christian Franklin from the Nationals in exchange for right-hander Joe Glassey. The Brewers acquired right-handed reliever Antonio Senzatela from the Rockies in exchange for left-hander Mark Manfredi and shortstop Juan Martinez.

Not to beat a dead horse, but I truly hope we see some actual young guys and prospects, not just 5 Quadruple-A retreads.

Welcome back, Robert Stock, by the way. That's a name I never thought I'd see again with the Mets. He was a part of that topsy-turvy 2021 bullpen year where they used 42 pitchers. Remember Trevor Hildenberger, Geoff Hartlieb, Jared Eickhoff, Heath Hembree, Brad Hand, Anthony Banda, Jordan Yamamoto, Nick Tropeano, Akeem Bostick, Stephen Tarpley, Jacob Barnes and Yennsy Diaz? All from that crazy year. Not the mention Rich Hill, who was intended to "bolster" the team during the playoff run.

The team looked night-and-day different from it did in 2025 going into 2026, and by the end of the trade deadline it's going to look night-and-day different again.

The Royals acquired right-hander Nolan Hoffman from the Phillies in exchange for minor league right-hander Manuel Colon and cash considerations. The Pirates acquired right-handed reliever Luke Weaver from the Mets for shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura and $8MM in cash considerations. The Brewers acquired starter Dustin May and reliever JoJo Romero from the Cardinals in exchange for outfield prospects Alexander Frias and Josiah Ragsdale. The Cubs acquired right-handed reliever Ryan Zeferjahn from the Angels in exchange for catcher Moises Ballesteros and right-hander Mason McGwire. The Red Sox acquired outfielder Eli White from the Braves in exchange for reliever Tyler Uberstine.

Wow. You know, it's just one trading deadline, but all these prospects we're getting WILL inevitably produce at least one good player, I think. Very promising stuff. And there's still time for more trades, and supposedly Luis Robert, Kodai Senga and Francisco Alvarez might be traded.

Some of these have been posted above, but just for the sake of thoroughness... The White Sox acquired catcher Joey Bart from the Braves in exchange for right-hander Duncan Davitt. The Cubs acquired pitcher Clay Holmes and outfielder Tyrone Taylor from the Mets in exchange for infield prospect Jefferson Rojas, pending medical review.

The Orioles traded catcher Adley Rutschman, Jake Rogers, and cash to the Red Sox for prospects Anthony Eyanson, Carlos Narváez, Enddy Azocar, Kyson Witherspoon, and a player to be named later. The Cubs acquired left-hander Braxton Garrett from the Marlins in exchange for minor league infielder Jonathon Long and right-hander Jace Beck.

Oh Luke, we hardly knew ye. You were one hell of a pitcher. A true bright spot. Mets are getting shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura in return. He's already a 20-20 guy in the minors this year. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2026/08/pirates-working-to-acquire-luke-weaver.html Three of the top-five most used relievers in the bullpen have been traded so far. It's gonna be a rough second half, I think.

I think just in general, at least that's the vibe I got from what MLB Trade Rumors said.

DeGrom invoked his no-trade clause.

The Padres acquired left-hander Robbie Ray from the Giants in exchange for minor league right-hander Miguel Mendez and shortstop Joniel Hernandez, with the teams splitting the remaining cost of Ray’s contract. The Dodgers acquired left-hander Kris Bubic from the Royals in exchange for right-hander Carlos Duran.

Filler is what we'll need once all the good ones are gone. I wish they'd use prospects as the filler instead. Syracuse has had 11 guys aged 25 or younger pitch for them this year. In this lost season, those are the sorts you have be promoting to test their mettle on the big league stage. Let's not forget, Nate Lavender, though 26, is still awaiting his turn. Jack Wenninger is still down there.

Colorado Rockies traded CF Brenton Doyle to Chicago White Sox for RHP Mason Adams and SS Carlos Vielma. Braves acquired Joey Bart from the Pirates for Hunter Stratton.