The Yankees and Mets both have glaring deficiencies, but are still very much alive in their mediocre divisions.
That is the conundrum both teams face as they come out of the All-Star break and head toward the non-waiver trade deadline on July 31. What happens in the next couple of weeks could determine if these teams are contenders or flops, buyers or sellers.
The Yankees have been circling the .500 mark for most of the season and ended the first half 47-47, five games behind the Orioles in the AL East. They are without four-fifths of their starting rotation and two of their biggest offseason acquisitions — Brian McCann and Carlos Beltran — have been busts.
“You cross your fingers that [Masahiro] Tanaka and (Michael) Pineda will be back, so what you are trying to do is hold the fort and stay close,” MLB Network analyst and former Indians and Rangers general manager John Hart said.
“I would instinctively think there’s no white flag for the Yankees. They aren’t going to go out and make the biggest deal of the deadline, but I think they can use another starter and another pen guy. Maybe, there’s a bat there, too.”
The one starter whose name you likely will hear the most on the rumor mill is Cliff Lee’s.
With $25 million due to Lee next year, plus a $27.5 club option for 2016 (or a $12.5 million buyout), he might be available for a team willing to pay most of his contract and give up a minimum of prospects. But Lee has missed the past two months with a flexor strain and teams only will get a slight look at him when he returns to the Phillies rotation on Monday.
“Until you see it, it’s a big financial risk with a significant player package going the other way.” Hart, who brought up David Price and Cole Hamels as other potential trade targets, said of the 35-year-old left-hander.
“His price tag is going to be some issues for some clubs,”
The Mets, 45-50 and seven games behind the Nationals and Braves, face much different questions than the Yankees. Pitching is not a concern with Dillon Gee now healthy, Jon Niese not far behind and potential starters lurking in the minors. The Mets must decide if they want to trade that pitching surplus or one of their young studs in their farm system, and turn into a bat.
The Mets kept their hopes alive with an 8-2 homestand before the break and could go from sellers to buyers with a successful West Coast trip to start the second half. But the key for GM Sandy Alderson may be acquiring a talent that could help them beyond 2014.
“That’s a real possibility,” Hart said. “If they can get a player where they have to take on a little bit of financials, but at the same point they get a little bit of years. Someone they can match up with [Curtis] Granderson and [David] Wright. No matter what they do this year, things are looking up for next year. If there’s a deal we can make now that could be more affordable than in the winter, then yeah, why not?”