The New York Mets won in blowout fashion in their final game before the trade deadline, as their new lineup with Jesse Winker piled on 15 runs.
Will Winker be the best player the Mets add at the deadline?
Host Ryan Finkelstein breaks down what is the latest on the trade market and what it could mean for the Mets plans at the deadline.
JOIN THE LOCKED ON METS INSIDER COMMUNITY: https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonmets
Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
SupplyHouse
SupplyHouse.com is the reliable way to get parts fast. Shop for your next plumbing, h-vac, or electrical job and get fast shipping from coast to coast.
Booking.com
The right stay can make you a fan of any US city - even your rival’s. Book today on Booking.com on the site or in the Booking.com app! Booking.com, Booking dot YEAH!
PrizePicks
Go to https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONMLB and use code lockedonmlb for a first deposit match up to $100!
eBay Motors
From brakes to exhaust kits and beyond, eBay Motors has over 122 million parts to keep your ride-or-die alive. With all the parts you need at the prices you want, it’s easy to bring home that big win. Keep your ride-or-die alive at EbayMotors.com. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers.
Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONMLB for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply.
FanDuel
FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list!
FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
[MUSIC PLAYING] It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Have the New York Mets made their last big move before the deadline? We'll talk about that more on today's show. You are locked on Mets, your daily New York Mets podcast. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello to all you amazing Mets fans. You're listening to Lockdown Mets. Part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you for making Lockdown Mets your first listen every day. Lockdown Mets is free and available on all platforms, including YouTube. On the show today, we have a Mets blowout win to discuss. I'll break that down in the first segment. I'll also make some apologies about the Jesse Winker trade. I think it looks pretty good right now. I'll explain why in that segment. Second segment, we're going to talk about some of the trades that took place around the league for starting pitchers, how that market might be at a hand and too expensive for the Mets to make some trades here when it comes to the prospect capital that had to give up. So we'll go through that a little bit. Then in the final segment, I'll make my last predictions for what will happen at this deadline. Is there a blockbuster trade incoming for the Mets, or will they be more conservative? We'll go through all of it. Before we get to any of it though, I'm your host, Ryan Finkelstein. If you want to find any of my work, follow me on X at Finkelstein-Ryan. You can also find some of my writing at JustBaseball.com where I work as the managing editor. This episode has brought you by PrizePix, the easiest, most exciting way to play daily fantasy sports. Theprizepix.com/lockdownmlb, use the code on lowercase lockdownmlb where it first applies to match up to $100. The New York immense bats got really quiet at the end of that brave series, which just meant they were due for an absolute breakout, and we saw it on Monday. Huge performance by this team. 15 runs on 17 hits. And who did they beat up? Simeon Woods Richardson, which to me is a very full circle moment when it comes to this show. For those of you who aren't aware, I started this show back in 2019. It was my first season hosting lockdown Mets. And the biggest moment of that year that really started to get this show at audience was when Marcus Strowman was traded to the New York Mets. And Simeon Woods Richardson was the headlining prospect in that deal along with Anthony K. And that was the trade that I got, you know, a little bit of a following and some people held on from there. Be curious if you are watching on YouTube or if you're listening. Let me know in a message on Twitter. Let me know in the comments if that's when you started to listen. But it was sort of interesting for me to be right up against another deadline here. I guess this is my sixth one covering the New York Mets on this show. And to see the Mets just destroying Simeon Woods Richardson, kind of a funny full circle moment. But you'd really saw the potential of this lineup. And again, we've seen it all year, but Jesse Winker being the bat that now is gonna back up Peter Lanzo, give you some insurance. The lineup flows very well. And we saw it all come together in that fourth inning. Peter Lanzo leads things off with the home run to tie the game is 22nd of the year. That's still the crazy thing about this Mets lineup is Peter Lanzo has not had that signature great month yet. And if that comes in August or September or both, that alone can carry the Mets into a playoff spot because Peter Lanzo has that ability to go out and hit nine home runs in a month to drive in 30 runs in a month. And so to see him starting to swing a good bat lately, I think that's a very promising sign. After Lanzo homers, Jesse Winker does what he does best. He draws a walk to lead off a rally. Mark Fiento's doubles. Jeff McNeil singles to score Winker. Then you had Louise Turin single to score Vientos. Then you had Harrison Bader walk to load the bases. Francisco Endor singles to score McNeil. You then had Brandon Nimmo hit a sacrifice fly to score Turin's. JD Martinez sacked fly to score Bader. Just like that, the New York Mets pile on six runs against Simeon Woods Richardson. And they later had another huge rally, a five run rally in the sixth inning. And then a four run rally in the seventh inning. So just absolutely crushed the twins. And Jose Quintana pitched a great game. So everything came together for the Mets. And it's really exciting to see because the last couple of days were a little bit rough. Good to see the Mets give back on their winning ways. And I think there was a couple of things that we learned from this game. First one is that Jesse Winker makes a lot of sense. And I want to stand up here and apologize to David Stearns and company. You know what you're doing? And I got to trust you. As other Mets fans should definitely follow suit on, this guy has made really good traits of the deadline so far. And we'll talk about what's next, if there is anything next. But the Jesse Winker trade looks fantastic in retrospect. And I was just off on it. And look, I had my opinion leading up to it that Jesse Winker wasn't the right fit. My concerns were about his defense and right field. And also just the fact that I didn't believe the New York Mets needed a left handed out fielder, I thought they needed someone who could handle left handed pitching. Because Tyrone Taylor and Harrison Bader, for whatever reason, have reverse splits this year. So I thought the most important thing was to go out and get somebody like Jesse Winker's former teammate, Lane Thomas, who could replace Sterling Marte, who could start in right field and could hit lefties. Well, here's the thing, Lane Thomas did get traded. And so now we have a real side by side comparison of two directions the Mets could have gone. And Lane Thomas cost an arm and a leg because he had an extra year of control. So you look at that deal, the Guardians land Lane Thomas, they had to give up Alex Clemby, who was a first round pick just last year, maybe the second round pick. I know he was your first or second round. There's been a lot of trades today. Regardless, a really promising teenage arm who is drafted out of high school, who had over 90 strikeouts and I think less than 60 innings pitch, just monster numbers so far this year in his first professional season. That level of prospect, you're maybe talking Jonah Tong. So instead of having to give up Jonah Tong, who I'd say is probably a top three, if not top four arm in the mat system right now, you give up a guy in Tyler Stewart, who's maybe seventh, and on top of that, the Guardians had to send two infield prospects in that deal. So just that alone, the cost of acquisition, clearly, Winker, a better fit. And also, you sort of see the vision I did lay this out after the trade was made, that the Mets are going to have Jesse Winker as a six inning starter, where he's gonna come into the game, he's going to, not come into the game, he's gonna start the game, especially when the Mets are facing righties. He'll get the first three of bats, and then if the Mets have a lead, they'll go to Tyra on Taylor. And that strategy worked out great in this game because Tyra on Taylor comes off the bench and he gets a couple of hits, scores a couple of runs, and Rob's a homer. So you're starting to see how this outfield mix is gonna come together. And having Jeff McNeil as a new man, because he has just been great, another huge game, two for four, scored a couple of runs, drove in three. To have McNeil now able to play right for you, play left, of course still play some second base, the glacial is cool is off. All right, well, Jeff McNeil can be your starting second base, been started there today. Jesse Winker can start and write. Yes, I have my questions about his outfield defense, but you know what? He's gonna catch a fly ball just as well as DJ Stewart has, and Charlie Marte hasn't been great out there either. So I think as much as I was concerned about that, my concerns were overblown. Again, apologies to David Stern's. I think that trade, in retrospect, is a brilliant one because the cost of acquiring guys is so steep right now that Mets have been able to really address this roster by making smart, shrewd trades on guys that other teams are looking to get off of and the Mets were able to pull off some deals between Ryan Stanik and Phil Mayton and Jesse Winker. I think the question now though, is what is next? Is there another big move out there? Or is Jesse Winker going to be the biggest move the Mets make? Jose Budo got a save in this game because he pitched the final three innings. And I think there was something to be said about that because as it's going on, there are Mets fans who are really curious. Why is Jose Budo still out there? Jose Quintana gives the Mets a quality start, six strong innings, allowed just one run on five hits a walk, got five strikeouts. When he exits, the Mets are up 11 to one. So why even pitch Jose Budo? Well, Budo is on three days rest, was ready to go. And there's a chance that Budo was making his last appearance out of the Mets bullpen, got up to 44 pitches. Could we see him make a start over the weekend potentially? I think that's in the cards. And when you see the Mets have him go out there and pitch those three innings, I think that was the plan the whole time. They were going to piggyback Quintana and Budo here. And look, if it was a four to three game, Jose Budo might have been very necessary in that spot and we wouldn't have quite seen how blatant it was. But because the Mets had blown out the twins, it is pretty obvious here that Budo could be going back to the rotation. The Mets are absolutely keeping that card in their deck. The question now is what will materialize at the deadline? Is there a starting pitcher the Mets can jump on or they can keep Budo in the pen? Or is Jose Budo destined to take Tyler McGill's spot in that rotation and be there for the rest of this season while the Mets go out and maybe add some relievers? So I want to talk about what's left on the market, because a lot of action took place on Monday here. So we're going to go over the cost of pitching right now and what's the best course for the Mets to take. We'll talk about all that in just a minute. First though, a word from our sponsors. Today's episode is brought to you by Supply House. Get supplies from the site that's made for skilled trades, supplyhouse.com. Supplyhouse.com is the reliable way to order plumbing, HVAC, and electrical products online with their easy to use website, which is packed with helpful resources and the latest product info and help you get the job done right. Get expert supported industry leading service from the front leads folks in the business and talk to a real person every time. Pros and the skilled trades can get a competitive edge by joining Supply House's free trade master program where every trade master gets access to a dedicated phone line, free shipping, and discounts on every order. During the thousands of trade pros already benefiting from a free membership at supplyhouse.com/t-m in order of plumbing, HVAC, and electrical supplies from anywhere with just a few clicks at supplyhouse.com. You know we love talking stats here at locked on Rockies. Here's one that's super simple to remember. Discover automatically doubles the cashback you've earned on your credit card at the end of your first year with cashback match. That means with Discover you could turn $150 cashback to $300. That's right, you could put it towards some memorabilia you've had your eye on or treat yourself to a premium sports network. You earn and discover doubles. See terms at discover.com/creditcard. (upbeat music) - If you're an everyday listener to the show, make sure you become a locked on meds insider. This is our texting service where you get updates from me. Anytime news breaks on the meds, you can ask me questions anytime. You can also take part in our locked on meds and sign photo giveaways. If you wanna be locked on meds insider, find the link in the episode description go to subtext.com/lockedonmeds. All right, so the trade deadline is here. Okay, it's gonna be at six o'clock tonight and there are still some dominoes to fall but a lot of pieces have already been traded. And the starting pitching market is very, very steep. Michael Lorenzo was the first one dealt today if I'm not mistaken. Going to the Royals we talked about him a bit on yesterday's show, didn't think he would cost a lot and he really didn't think it was a relief pitching prospect but maybe the Mets viewed Lorenzo as a guy that wasn't really worth any prospects as a rental who was a backend starter at best. They might view Jose Budo as better than Michael Lorenzo. And as we've talked about leading onto this deadline, I think that really is the dilemma here for David Serns and the Mets front office. Are you acquiring a picture that's significantly better or at least just a clear upgrade over McGill and Budo? Because if not, you're better off keeping with what you got and maybe just addressing the bullpen. So Lorenzo goes somewhere else. There's a couple other big trades though. Eric Fettie gets dealt to the Cardinals in a three team trade. We say Kakuchi goes to the Astros. Frankie Montes goes to the Brewers. Now we'll knock that trade out first. Montes is not having a good year. The Brewers though had to give up Joey Weemer who was once a top 100 prospect and sort of a change of scenery guy, almost similar to a Brett Beatty in some respects, guy that is very athletic in the outfield but has not had a lot of success. It's a lot to give up for a pitcher that's got an ERA over five. Jacob Judas also has pitched very well this year in the Brewers bullpen and there is a mutual option for him in 2025. So not nothing for a guy that has not pitched particularly well this year. Now we go to two guys that the Mets maybe could have gotten it on that would have been upgrades. We'll start with Eric Fettie because he's the one that we've been talking about a lot. I said on yesterday's show, I thought the price would be too steep. And ultimately, I don't think the White Sox did very well in this trade and it's getting panned, but I can explain what happened here, although it is a very intricate deal. It's a three team trade. The Cardinals who get Fettie pretty much just give up Tommy Edmund and they get Fettie and Tommy Fam for a guy in Edmund who has not played this year, but that is how much the Dodgers value Tommy Edmund as they traded three prospects and apparently a player to be named later to the White Sox to acquire both Edmund from the Cardinals and Michael Copac from the White Sox. What this deal looks like from the White Sox perspective? They send Copac to the Dodgers, fam to the Cardinals and then Fettie to the Cardinals. Now I'll tell you, Tommy Fam did not have much value. He has not been playing good baseball lately. So I don't think that really significantly changed this package when it comes to a prospect return. If they dealt him, they probably got less than what the Mets did last year or they acquired Jeremy Rodriguez in a trade. I don't think they were gonna get a prospect that good. So you sort of have to throw the Tommy fan piece aside. That was just part of what made this deal work for all three teams with some of those supplementary pieces. Michael Copac, I don't think he had a ton of value on the market even though he throws 101. He hasn't been a very successful pitcher. So they end up including him in this deal. And if you told me from a Mets perspective, they could have landed Fettie and Copac would the Mets have beaten this trade offer? I feel like deck was made available to them. They probably could have done it. And I talked about a package on "Yesterday's Show" as well as I wrote an article about it where the Mets would trade. Luis and Hella Kounya, Nolan McLean and Jeremy Rodriguez for just Fettie. Now getting Copac too would have made that deal maybe worth it to me. But I think this is pretty indicative of where the Mets are. Maybe they don't want to trade a Kounya. Maybe they still have a lot of faith in McLean and Rodriguez. They don't want to give these guys up. And for a guy in Fettie who is a good but not great pitcher, I can sort of understand it. And for those of you who thought I completely overshot when I said that was the package, I think they got something pretty similar here. Miguel Vargas has not played well in the big leagues. So he's got a diminished value. But I'll tell you, Miguel Vargas has put up significantly better numbers in triple A this year than Luis and Hella Kounya. Miguel Vargas was a top 30 prospect in baseball by baseball America a couple of years ago and hasn't gotten consistent run because the Dodgers are so talented. The White Sox probably really loved the idea of Miguel Vargas. And in a vacuum, they might like Vargas more than an Kounya or even Bret Beatty if he was on the table for Fettie. And I don't know if the Mets were willing to go that length for either of those for Fettie. I don't know if they're willing to put either of those guys on the table. Same thing with Kakuchi. And I think you probably would have had to to get either of these pitchers. Now the rest of the deal is a couple lower level prospects but guys that have a lot of upside in that teenage range. So for example, to the package I talked about, Jeremy Rodriguez is very similar to the level of prospects that the White Sox got as the second and third pieces of this deal. Nolan McLean, I put him in there because I knew the White Sox wanted bats and the Mets don't have a lot of bats to trade right now. Jacob Reamer has been hurt this year. He would have been a piece that could have been dealt this season. You obviously have Drew Gilbert and Jet Williams although I don't think the Mets would have wanted to trade them. But those guys have been hurt. Alex Ramirez has had a bad year. Kevin Parada has had a bad year. Even Acuna, in some respects, even though you might look at some of the numbers, he's doing well. He has not set the world on fire in Triple-I. It hasn't been a year where he has improved his value. Luis and Alacuna was more valuable last year at the deadline when the Mets traded for him than he is right now. So I say all of that to put everything in context for this trade market. It's going to be really hard to land a starting pitcher or even to get Tanner Scott because Carlos Ostevez netted the Angels two really good pitching prospects. Are the Mets going to put two really good pitching prospects on the table for Tanner Scott? Or since it's the Marlins, two really good position players? Because if there's enough of a market with the Orioles potentially being involved, the Yankees, name what other contender if the Phillies get in, who knows? Who knows who else will be in on Tanner Scott? That cost is going to be fairly significant. So you look at what's out there and I just don't know if the Mets have the stomach to meet the price to get an upgrade. You look at the Astros deal for Kakuchi and that's even worse. Joey La Perfido was a top 100 prospect I believe going into this season by us at just baseball I think for sure. A guy that there was a lot of excitement about when he came up and joined the Big League club this year. Now he hasn't had a ton of success but it's been a limited sample. There's still a very bright future ahead for La Perfido and the Blue Jays get him for a rental pitcher who had a 475 ERA and has pitched worse lately than he did earlier in the season when he got off to a great start. Now I'm sure the Astros view Kakuchi, they see the strikeouts, they think they can get more out of them and they desperately needed pitching and they probably view Kakuchi as a guy that it's probably gonna cost maybe less than the ask for Jack Flaherty but someone who could start a playoff game for them if their rotation doesn't get healthy and they need someone to help them get there and then to perform once they're in October. For them it was worth it to Trey La Perfido as well as infill prospect Will Wagner who is Billy Wagner's son and a pitcher Jake Bloss and from those in the prospect community they like those two prospects as well. So a lot to give up for Kakuchi, the Mets aren't gonna trade three prospects for a rental. So when it comes to the starting pitching market what is their left for the Mets to go after? There's the Blake Snell pipe dream. There's the two guys I talked about on yesterday's show which I still think are on the cards if the price comes down enough and the rays and the Rockies are motivated to get something of value for those guys and the two I'm talking about, Zach Lutel and Cal Quantrell. I think those are starting pitchers who have that extra year of control where the Mets might say, you know what we'll put something on the table but are they gonna put Luis and Hela Kun on the table for either of those guys? If that's the ask I don't know what the Mets do it. Are they gonna put Noel McLean on the table? Are they gonna put a Jeremy Rodriguez? What are they willing to trade because you gotta trade something still significant enough that the Rockies are gonna look at a pitcher who's thriving in course and say yeah we'll send Cal Quantrell out. Or for the rays to just say alright there's some value coming back that's good enough for us to trade Lutel. I think Lutel is the most likely option if the Mets are gonna get a starter but I don't know if they're gonna ultimately pay that price 'cause they might look at Lutel or even Cal Quantrell and say you know what, how is it Buddha's better than these guys? And we're gonna stick Buddha right back in that rotation and we're gonna roll with that and we trust that the way that we have built this bullpen the pieces that are coming back with Sean Reed Foley and Reed Garrett and hopefully Daniel Nunez as well as the potential to, I don't know, plug in a Brandon Sproat if they really want to. Maybe you pitch Tyler McGill out of the bullpen and he plays up a little bit. That's still an option to them. Maybe Matt Gage is the real deal who just came up to replace Jake Deakman who was finally DFA. But the Mets I think might look at this trade deadline and the prices that are out there and they might just say you know what, we're good. We're good. We don't want to overpay to help a team that doesn't need the help. And you're gonna have to sell that to the clubhouse because they want to see more moves. Yeah, Luis Severino talking about Blake Snell, the Mets in that clubhouse, they believe they have a chance to win it all this year and they want to see the front office put some of the cards in. They, the people who are the most apt to want prospects treated, the guys who are the furthest from prospect huggers are the major league players that are already in the big leagues trying to win right now. Send those guys out, get us help. But the cost is too much. You could see David Stern's addressing the media and saying you know what, we looked at the market, we weighed everything and ultimately we had to make the right decisions for this franchise in a long term in the short term. We did everything we could to improve this roster. We feel great about getting Ryan Stanek and reliever acts, whoever that is. And we'll talk about that a little more in the next segment. We feel great about, you know, adding Phil Mayton and some of the pitching we're going to get back. We haven't had Kodai saying all year, we didn't want to overreact to that injury and Jesse Winker was a big addition for us in that lineup to really improve what is our biggest strength right now which is our starting lineup. You can envision that. And I don't know if he'd be wrong in saying any of it. So that's where we want to close the show today. I'm going to talk about what's left. Are the men's done adding? Is there no more moves to come? Or is it just some small end moves? We'll go through that in just a minute. First though, another word from our sponsors. Today's episode is brought to you by prize picks. Prize picks is the most exciting and easiest way to play daily fantasy sports. Unlike other apps on prize picks, it's just you against the numbers. All you do is pick more or less on two to six player stat projections. You watch the winnings roll in. Get on the daily action with your friends and become part of the prize picks community today. You can now win up to 100 times your money on prize picks with as little as four correct picks. So you can turn $10 into $1,000. If you're looking for promotions, prize picks has got you covered every week from lowering slight player stat projections on Tuesdays. That's today, which will help your lineup hit or getting your entry fees back if you have a losing lineup on Fridays. Down on the prize picks app today and use the code locked on a MLB for a first deposit match up to $100. That's code locked on a MLB on prize picks or a first deposit match up to $100. Pick more pick less. It's that easy with prize picks. - Delicious meets nutritious and the snack that packs a real protein punch. Wonderful pistachios, one the highest protein nuts out there. Miller Thomas of Lockdown Diamondbacks here. And I love these pistachios because each one ounce serving has six grams of protein, giving you over 10% of your daily value. So whether your pistachio puris who loves cracking open every night or you prefer the convenience of no shell pistachios, wonderful pistachios has got you covered. Grab wonderful pistachios and elevate your snacking game today. Visit wonderful pistachios.com to learn more. (upbeat music) - If you want to stay up to date with all the latest in the world of sports, check out Lockdown Sports Today streaming 24/7 on YouTube. All right, so what are the Mets going to do ahead of this trade deadline? I want to talk about the Giants first and foremost because Blake Snell is the most interesting candidate that's left, we've been talking about this for days. If the Mets are going to make a big swing, Blake Snell might be the piece that fits. And the reason why I think it still does make some sense is because that would be the trade acquisition that you make that is all in. That's the guy that comes to your team and gives you a chance to not only hopefully run away with a wildcard spot because Blake Snell is a great second half pitcher. He just had his best start of the season, which struck out 15, which was a career high. He looks like prime Blake Snell, the guy that won the sign last year pitching to a 1-2 O-E-R-A over 23 starts. So you get that guy in your rotation. Now you have a legitimate ace when you get to October where you have Snell and then Severino as your number two, Manaya Cantana, maybe your three, four guys like Budo, Peterson sliding to the bullpen potentially, that helps you out. And then there's still that wildcard of Kodai second coming back, not to mention if they want to rely on their top pitching prospects if Christian Scott is clear to Brandon Sproek comes during the team. Then that's all of a sudden I have a lot of pitching and Snell really sets everybody in line. So he's the piece that I still look at and say, all right, if you had to trade up the significant prospects, if you are going to have to trade the recent Hella Kounya to get a starting pitcher, why trade a Kounya and some filler prospects to get La Tel, or to get Cal Quandral? Well, I wouldn't do that, okay? At that point, just stick with Jose Budo. But if you're going to have to trade a prospect that good and you can maybe get a Blake Snell, well, that changes my mind. Now granted, you're going to have to give up a significant second piece. And I've talked about this a lot already and I wrote about it in the article today and I also sent out a tweet about it, or a couple at least, talking about the idea of the package being bladed well in La Tel Quandral to get you a Blake Snell. The Giants would have to be overwhelmed to make a trade. That is their public stance. Why is that? They're four games back in the wildcard race. They currently have Logan Webb, their all star starter as their ace. Now they have Blake Snell in the fold pitching well and Robbie Ray just came back rehabbing off Tommy John. That's a one, two, three that is better than I think any other team in the wildcard race outside of maybe the Braves, but I still haven't seen the update on Ronaldo Lopez. And even then, so Chris Sale, Max Freed Ronaldo Lopez, about even to what the Giants potentially have, Alex Cobb could come back as well. The Giants have a really good rotation on their hands and they don't necessarily have the best lineup, but they can make things work. Now they made a big trade though. They traded Jorge Solaire to the Atlanta Braves. Now this is just the Braves saying, you know what, we're gonna try to recreate 2021. The Coon is out, let's claim Eddie Rosario when he becomes available at him back into the fold and let's go get Jorge Solaire. It's a very interesting trade because they're absorbing a very big contract. Solaire has not been great on the season. You look at his numbers overall, 749 OPS 12 home runs 40 RBIs. Now you look at his stats over the last two months and Juni at 284, 361 on base, 484 slug. July is hitting 275, 389 slug 48, excuse me. 389 on base, 488 slug, six home runs. And since the All-Star break in 11 games in 359. So there's that. And they're acquiring him to play some left field, I guess. That's the one interesting component or go back into right. Solaire has become more of a DH. They have Marcelo Zuna who's been crushing it as a DH. He's under contract next year. I don't know how they're going to manage that situation with both of those guys. I guess the thought maybe is maybe Miss Acuna for some time next year. So Solaire provides you some insurance and right. And maybe they don't care about the defense, but they needed another bat in their lineup. And they get one who provides them with a lot of thump. That's going to make the Braves a lot better. That makes the Giants worse, but the Giants get off of a lot of money. So are they sellers? There's still paying themselves as not necessarily buyers, but a team that would have to be very overwhelmed to trade Snell that still wants to make a push this year. I think that could be some posturing. And maybe Snell is on the table for real because there's not that many teams that can get in the mix. Looking at the Dodgers potentially, you're looking at maybe the Phillies if they want to get crazy. The Orioles have still been rumored to be looking for another starter. Maybe they view it as, all right, one-time rental will pay that price tag for Snell. And then in the off season, if we have to restart Corbin Burns and Snell ends up hitting the market fine by us, that's another team that could see potentially getting into the fray. The Yankees outside chance that they want to do it. Although it seems like they're going to get Jack Flaherty. There's not a lot of teams that are going to be willing to pay that salary, but it's still going to cost that prospect return. So I don't know if David Stern is going to make that trade. If there is a trade that blows us away, if we're going to do a podcast tomorrow and trust me, if the Snell trade happens, if anything else, I will give you an emergency episode of the show. I will be doing a live stream for just baseball from four to five tomorrow. So you can check that out, post that on my social. So I'll be tied up for that hour or something happens. I'll be talking about it there. And then as soon as I'm done, I'll hop on lockdown meds. But the bottom line though, as far as what, would excite us on the deadline day? I think that's the biggest move that can happen. Tanner Scott's going to cost a lot. I don't know what other relief pitchers are out there that will make that big of a dent that would get us excited. Kyle Finnegan is maybe one extra year of control means he might cost more, but extra year of control means you have him for next season. So that's an interesting name that is still out there. If I had to put my money on it though, trade deadlines, I'm recording now. It's, wow, it's already two o'clock in the morning. So we got what? That's 16 hours till the deadline. I might as well track real quick here and make sure nothing happened as I'm recording. But you look at the possibilities. And to me, it's either a more minor trade like a let tell like a quantial to improve that rotation. If the price comes down enough for the prospects this way and that deal, or it's Andrew Chafen, it's finding whatever relief pitchers out there, not our lever with control, probably a rental that a team is looking to get something of value for and they're shopping them, they're shopping them, they're shopping them at the 11th hour, then that's doing a couple of deals right before the deadline. And they improve that bullpen a little bit and they slide Buddha into the rotation and they roll. I am okay with the thought process of, we are not gonna overreact to the code I'm saying, get injury and overpay for a starting pitcher. If that is the way the Mets are viewing this, I get it. I do, but other than that, I think that this is a team that just doesn't have another big move to make. And the last one I'll leave you with, it's just a possibility 'cause I don't think I've spoken into a microphone and it is something that's just out there because the Mets are a team that operates with the wallet. There has been a lot made lately about the twins who the Mets are playing right now. And the idea that the twins are looking to shed salary. Here is the latest I'm seeing right now, I'm gonna be trade rumors. It's talking about the payroll that sits at $127.8 million and that they cut about $30 million this off season. And it says that exchanging some salaries, getting rid of some players since the twins have listened from other teams about such controlled players as Closer, Joan Duran, where obvious trade candidates like Penning Frieden's Max Kepler and Manuel Margot, the idea that they might trade some salary here because I guess ownership wants them to cut something here. Duran would be an interesting one, okay, because it's gonna cost a lot to get him, but he would really improve your bullpen. So that would be one where maybe the Mets can get in. The other one I just wanna speak it into a microphone in case it happens, it might have happened to the Mets, but I just wanna say it. Pablo Lopez makes a lot of money after this season. And he hasn't had a great year. Have the twins salary on him enough and has ownership salary on the idea of paying him $20 plus million after this season. And they would look to trade Pablo Lopez and you can have him go from one dugout to the other. It makes it a lot easier when you're making these trades of the deadline if you're playing that team. And Pablo Lopez could slide on the Mets rotation. That would be something that would be very intriguing because the underlying numbers are still good on Pablo Lopez. He pitched like an ace last year and he would slide right up to the top of your rotation, even with his struggles this season. And big guy you can count on the stretch. If there's an out of left field blockbuster to me, it's Pablo Lopez. I don't know why the twins would do it. I don't know why they're trying to shed salary. Some of these owners are ridiculous. You have a good team. You can win this year. Currently at this present moment, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis are healthy together. That is like an eclipse, take advantage of it. But I just wanted to say, don't be shocked or stunned if Lopez ends up getting moved because they're crying poor right now. Anyway, that's gonna be all for today's edition of locked on Mets. Hopefully there's another edition today as the Mets might make a big trade and a hop on an emergency podcast. I appreciate all of you for tuning into the show today. Make sure you follow rate and review wherever you get your podcast. Big shout out to the audience. I saw today the lockdown Mets is currently a top 10 baseball podcast. Typically, we hover somewhere in the top 20. So to see it in top 10 today, really cool. Thank you all for tuning in throughout this trade deadline. If you're watching on YouTube, please hit that subscribe button. Goals to get to 10,000 subs by the end of the season. I appreciate all of you continue to subscribe. You wanna be locked on Mets insider, find the link in the episode description. You wanna follow me on social. You can do it so @pinklestind. Ryan, fellow show of locked on Mets. Thank you for making locked on Mets. You're first listening to your first watch every day. After your second watch, head over to YouTube and check out the first ever 24/7 streaming channel. That covers everything in world of sports. Talking about locked on sports today with our local experts from each team and our lead what experts from each league. If I locked on sports today streaming 24/7 on YouTube and Amazon Fire TV. - A prime member. You can listen to this locked on podcast ad-free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today. (upbeat music)
