Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns discussed a variety of topics with the media during his scheduled availability on Friday, dishing out his opinions and thought process as the trade deadline steadily approaches while also providing an update on Kodai Senga’s recovery.
David Stearns on the field in Milwaukee before a game in 2022.
The Mets, who looked destined to once again sell off a bevy of veteran pieces at the deadline for a second-straight season after falling to 11 games below .500 earlier in the year, have catapulted themselves right into the thick of the National League playoff race thanks to a 15-6 June record that has them currently sitting with a 39-39 record just one game back of the St. Louis Cardinals for the final Wild Card spot.
Stearns, when asked if he had to reevaluate his plans as a result of the team’s hot streak, said that there’s still a good chunk of time left to go before deciding on a clear direction for the roster this season and that the team needs to continue its strong level of play in order to make the most of their newfound opportunity.
“The truth is we still have time before we have to make decisions,” Stearns said. “Clearly, our team performance has improved quite considerably over the past few weeks. I think we’re playing much closer to the level of baseball and the consistency of baseball that we envisioned throughout the course of the season, and now we have to continue it.”
With recent reports suggesting that the Mets may look to deal from their starting pitching surplus while still remaining competitive, Stearns stated that he hasn’t ruled out that broad possibility, offering that the deadline remains over a month away and that nothing can be ruled out at this juncture.
“I don’t think I’d rule out anything at this point,” Stearns said. “We’re still over a month away from the deadline so we still have some time to evaluate, and as we’ve just seen, a lot can transpire in a relatively short amount of time during the season.”
Stearns, who believes there’s a scenario in which the Mets are buyers, told reporters that he’s confident owner Steve Cohen will provide him with leeway in regards to payroll flexibility, opening up the amount of possibilities for the team
“I think Steve has shown repeatedly that he’s committed to investing the resources into the team that we need to compete, and certainly I think he’ll continue to do so,” Stearns said.
Perhaps looked at as a deadline “addition” of sorts, it appears that Senga is progressing in his return from a right posterior capsule strain that has sidelined him since spring training. Stearns mentioned that while he doesn’t have a concrete timeline, he believes that the process is being ramped up and that Senga is expected to depart on a rehab assignment next week.
“The goal now is get him on a mound next week in a rehab outing,” Stearns said. “We’ll continue to map it out from there, but once we get into that rehab outing progression, we can be a little bit more specific as to what we think this looks like. We still may not know the exact number of outings it’s going to take, but I think what we saw yesterday here in a live BP session was really encouraging, and taking this next step in getting him on a mound in a minor league rehab game would be really good as well.”
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