TRADE TALK SWIRLS AFTER LOSS
With long trip ahead, loss turns focus to trade talks
The Mets performed well in their 10-game homestand following the All-Star break, just not “exceedingly well.”
And after a somber send-off, the sell-off may now begin.
Riding a four-game win streak into Sunday, the Mets turned an easy spare opportunity into a 7-10 split, dropping a 3-2 decision to the last-place A’s at Citi Field. For the sixth time this season, the Mets won the first two games of a home series, and for the sixth time, the Mets failed to complete the sweep, also missing an opportunity to match a season-high five-game win streak.
Just over one week ago, general manager Sandy Alderson said that “things would have to go exceedingly well for us to realistically change direction” and, after falling to 6-4 on the homestand, the Mets will likely return home from their 10game trip that begins Monday night in San Diego without several roster staples of this and past seasons. The non-waiver trade deadline is July 31 and the Mets don’t return home until Aug. 4.
“I haven’t the faintest idea [what will happen],” manager Terry Collins said. “Next week’s going to be hard. I will do the best I can to keep their mind on the game, and away from worrying about who the trading talks are about.”
Infielder Asdrubal Cabrera, one of several players drawing interest from other teams, was unsure if he had played his final home game in Queens.
“It’s not fun when you start thinking about it,” Cabrera said. “I hope [to return]. That’s what I want, but there’s nothing I can do. It’s not my decision.”
Jay Bruce, another potential trade piece, described himself as far more emotionally detached than last season, when the Reds dealt him after nine seasons in Cincinnati.
With the Mets last season, Bruce played in his first playoff game in three years, and the team’s home-run leader noted how much more enjoyable the rest of season could be, if he is traded.
“[Last year], it was a little more emotional because it was all I had known, and it was what I considered home, but at the same time, I was a little older and I really wanted the opportunity to win because I knew what that felt like,” Bruce said. “I think that’s what it all boils down to. You know that if you do have an opportunity to go somewhere, the likelihood of you getting into some type of race, whether it’s a pennant race or a wild-card race, is high. And I think that that’s why you play the game and you’d like to experience something like that.
“The fact being brought up that this could be the last home game for a lot of us here, it’s something that’s a bit odd, but nothing happens until it happens. We don’t know for sure, and we’ll just see how it goes.”
This season, beginning with such high expectations, has gone nothing like Bruce or Cabrera or Collins anticipated. The supposed World Series contender has been unable to sweep even one series at home, and fell to 5-11 on Sundays, having lost seven of nine series finales in Queens.
Rafael Montero (1-7) allowed three solo homers, with Matt Chapman’s shot to left in the seventh inning putting the A’s ahead 3-2. In the ninth, the Mets teased another incredible ending. Wilmer Flores hit a one-out bloop single, bringing pinch-hitter Yoenis Cespedes to the plate.
At the crack of the slugger’s bat, the crowd erupted with the excitement of last season and the year prior, then went silent when Cespedes’ fly ball died well short of the center-field fence.
The only expectation remaining was change.
“We knew the situation we were in, we knew what we were up against, and we’ve played better baseball of late, but I’m not really able to say yet whether’s that’s gonna be enough or not,” Bruce said.