Mets Can't Afford to Be 2023 Deadline Sellers Amid Pete Alonso, MLB Trade Rumors

The New York Mets are not fully committed to being 2023 deadline sellers, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

Nor should they be.

It would be an understatement the size of Pete Alonso's forearms to suggest that the Mets are not one of the most underwhelming teams of the season.

The star slugger and first baseman is one player the team has no plans of making available, regardless of whether it makes any deadline deals. "Polar Bear Pete" has struggled since tallying 26 home runs prior to the All-Star break and has not been the same hitter since taking a pitch off the wrist that left him sidelined earlier in the season.

Still, he is the popular face of the franchise so it makes sense that the team would not be in any hurry to ship him out of town.

The team won 101 games a season ago, was a legitimate World Series contender, added AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander and Kodai Senga, and re-signed key contributors Brandon Nimmo and Edwin Diaz.

An injury to the latter, suffered while celebrating during the World Baseball Classic, started the season on an ominous foot. Things did not improve from there as the team slogged through the first half of the season, losing games they should have won and never stringing together enough victories to build any sort of momentum.

But that does not mean owner Steve Cohen and the Mets front office should start a fire sale that sends veterans and stars elsewhere in return for young prospects, a move that would essentially admit failure and signal a rebuild.

Not less than a year removed from the club's best season since it won the NL pennant in 2015.

There is no denying that the team has under-performed across the board. The hitters that were so instrumental a season ago have gone cold (Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil) or have struggled with consistency (Starling Marte, Daniel Vogelbach).

The starting rotation has been mid, at best, and given up entirely too many long balls. That is hardly what one expects with future Hall of Famers Verlander and Max Scherzer at the top and high-priced free agents Senga and Jose Quintana behind them.

Then there is a bullpen that has failed to hold leads, most recently in a narrow 11-10 win against the Chicago White Sox that saw the Mets give up a seven-run advantage.

Still, the Cohen has made it clear via his moves in free agency that he wants to win and he wants to do it now.

Selling off veteran players who were key in last year's campaign but are currently mired in slumps, for prospects that the team may not benefit from in the near future, is a risky proposition, especially if they heat up elsewhere.

In addition, unloading Verlander or Scherzer would not only leave the team to eat some of their massive contracts, but also leave an already thin rotation without a certifiable ace.

Arguably the best pitcher on the team this season, reliever David Robertson, would probably draw interest from potential trade suitors but he has been forced into closer duty with Diaz sidelined, leaving the Mets with no obvious replacement should they trade him.

Sports fandom can be reactionary and impulsive. It is second nature for disappointment to manifest itself in the form of cries to blow the team up and rebuild or, at the very least, ship out struggling players in hopes of a diamond in the rough in return.

It is part of what goes into supporting one's favorite team and while the frustration among Mets fans has to be palpable as the season advances the likelihood of a return to the postseason dwindles, the question becomes whether the Mets can conceivably get better quicker by shipping their stars out for prospects and role players.

If the answer is even debatable, which it is, the team must resist the urge to be significant sellers at the deadline.

Otherwise, it risks finding itself faced with bigger, potentially long-term issues than a disappointing season.