In the end, the Mets couldn’t find a fit.
For a third straight year that meant general manager Sandy Alderson walking away from the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline still holding his chips, but also no better on paper.
Bartolo Colon and Daniel Murphy remained with the team Thursday and still could be dealt later on, and Alderson retained young arms such as Noah Syndergaard and Rafael Montero that might have netted the Mets a corner outfielder or an upgrade at shortstop.
According to an industry source, the Rockies sent a sizable contingent to watch Syndergaard pitch for Triple-A Las Vegas in his most recent start. That is the same Rockies team that has coveted bats in Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez.
Alderson refused to comment on specific names Thursday, but said he had plentiful discussions on various fronts.
“Nothing came to fruition, but there were some proposals that we made that were not acceptable and some made to us that we didn’t feel were reasonable,” Alderson said. “So while we were active in conversations, although not super-active, we just didn’t reach any deals.
“I think going in we didn’t intend to be sellers, we didn’t intend to be buyers, necessarily. We were looking at the market and what it would dictate. We set a price on some of our players and under the circumstances they weren’t met. So be it. We’re happy with the team that we have. We’re happy that we’ve retained all of our players, and we’re looking forward to the last 60 or so games of the season.”
Two years ago with the team struggling, Alderson kept outfielder Scott Hairston at the trade deadline and ultimately lost him to free agency. Last year, Alderson kept Marlon Byrd and John Buck through July 31 before making a waiver deal in late August that sent both to the Pirates for Vic Black and Dilson Herrera.
But the Mets (52-56) enter August this season on the periphery of the NL playoff race. Even so, Alderson wasn’t prepared to deal his top prospects at this moment.
“In order to potentially improve the club in some significant way as opposed to some incremental way, we would have had to been prepared to deal some of our young pitching and at this particular stage we’re not prepared to do that,” Alderson said.
“At least in the deals that were presented or available to us. I actually think that if we’re going to trade some of our young prospects that we’re probably better off doing that in the offseason.”
The Mets never got far in discussions regarding the 41-year-old Colon, who will make $11 million next season. It didn’t help the Mets’ case that big-ticket pitching items Jon Lester, David Price and John Lackey weren’t dealt until just hours before the deadline.
“There are so many of these marquee pitchers that went late, just before the deadline, as well as some second-tier starters,” Alderson said. “Whatever teams might have circled back on someone like Colon, may not have had time to do it.”
The Nationals and Giants were among the teams with reported interest in Murphy, but the Mets, according to sources, weren’t going to move their scrappy second baseman without receiving a haul in return.
“We weren’t looking to subtract from our big league club necessarily, just to add to our stash of prospects,” Alderson said. “We’re looking for some players that are close to ready or ready and those didn’t eventuate.”