Sandy Alderson Offers A Relatively Bleak Outlook On New York Mets

Prior to yesterday’s loss to the Atlanta Braves, New York Mets’ General Manager Sandy Alderson hopped on a conference call to update the beat reporters on the state of the team. The picture Alderson painted wasn’t very pretty, as most of the injury updates he provided were negative. Here’s a quick recap of what Alderson laid out yesterday (check out MetsBlog for more details on each story):

• Yoenis Cespedes is back in Port St. Lucie receiving treatment on his sore quad. There is currently no timetable for his return.
• The team sees the benefit of a minor league stint for Michael Conforto, but that he will stay with the big club for now. Alderson refused to rule out a demotion if the Mets think it will help Conforto, who is a big part of the team’s future.
• Noah Syndergaard remained in New York, instead of throwing as previously reported, to get a second opinion on his injured finger. There could be more on that front as soon as today.
• A.J. Ramos is weighing whether or not to treat his shoulder injury in a more conservative route or undergo surgery. Either way, expect him to be out for a while.
• Jose Reyes is still with the Mets because they don’t really have anyone in their farm system they deem worthy of replacing him. Alderson believes that Reyes is still a viable big league player despite his poor performance.
• Adrian Gonzalez was released because his performance had fallen off over the past three weeks, with his OPS over that span hovering around .500.
• Alderson wasn’t high on Dominic Smith, noting that he wasn’t “hitting the cover off the ball” in Triple-A, but is eager to see what he’ll do with his second chance at the big league level.
• Both Peter Alonso and Jeff McNeil should be promoted to Triple-A in the near future.

Alderson also noted that the Mets’ play over the next several weeks will determine how the team approaches the trade deadline. While the Mets have previously stated that they aren’t going to sell this year, it may become an option if they continue to fade further into irrelevancy.

Listening to offers for Syndergaard and deGrom is always an option, but it is unlikely the Mets will deal either of their aces in order to avoid waving the white flag on the next few years. The more likely trade candidates are pending free agents such as Jeurys Familia, Asdrubal Cabrera, and Jerry Blevins. An under the radar possibility could be Zack Wheeler, who has pitched better of late and is only under team control through next season. With a weak starting pitching market at the trade deadline, Wheeler could be worth shopping if he could net the Mets a prospect to help the team become younger.