00:00Yeah, Mets Magic was on full display Tuesday night.
00:03They came back from down four to get the dub against the Orioles.
00:06It's their biggest comeback of the season.
00:08Michael Barron of Just Mets is on to talk the state of Mets baseball
00:12heading into the All-Star break and the trade deadline.
00:15Michael, thanks for hopping on with this man.
00:17And the title, I forgot to say he's an awesome guy as well, man.
00:22Your headline, let's get straight into this,
00:24because the headline to your newsletter I was reading earlier,
00:28the article says, or the headline says,
00:31money came up money as the Mets earned their biggest comeback win in 2025.
00:37Steve Cohen called Lindor, Alonzo, Soto, and Diaz the Fab Four.
00:41They all played a big role in the comeback win.
00:44But billion-dollar question here, though, Mike.
00:46Is this Fab Four enough to lead this team to a World Series appearance?
00:53I don't think there's any question they need help at the bottom of the lineup.
00:56The six through nine, no matter how Carlos Mendoza slices it on a daily basis,
01:02always seems to be an abyss.
01:04They have four positions at a sub-660 OPS, and they just need help.
01:11Mark Vientos hasn't helped the situation because he's underperformed,
01:15coming off a big year last year.
01:17And I think that's really what's created the hole for them.
01:20But they're also not getting anything out of center field,
01:24and obviously the catching situation has been a struggle since day one.
01:27So I think they're going to have to go out at the trade deadline and find –
01:33I think they need to find an impact bat,
01:35but that doesn't mean that's necessarily going to happen.
01:38David Stearns last year improved on the margins, and it seemed to help.
01:42But I still think they need to get a well-rounded player
01:46for one of the two positions in the field, that being third base or center field.
01:51All right.
01:52Before we get into talking about the trade deadline and the impact bat,
01:55a guy whose bat had an impact last night was Juan Soto.
02:00He hit – in the 10th inning, he drove in that go-ahead run that we saw.
02:06NL player of the month in June,
02:08and now he comes up big in a high-pressure moment after being snubbed off the All-Star roster.
02:14So two-part question.
02:15One, in your opinion, was he snubbed?
02:17And two, do you think that disrespect kind of woke up the beast?
02:24Well, I think he definitely deserves to be an All-Star.
02:27And I think when I saw the results come out the other night,
02:30my first thought was that's just a total snub, right?
02:33But, you know, the first two months of his season where he was slumping
02:37or really just – he was struggling to get on track, I think that didn't help.
02:41And it reminded me of what Francisco Lindor went through last year
02:44when by the time All-Star came around, he looked like an All-Star.
02:47But the first two months may have hindered his ability to be on the team.
02:51But, you know, did this – did that wake him up?
02:54I mean, he has almost a 1,200 OPS over the last month or so of play.
02:59And he looks like the Juan Soto the Mets signed.
03:02And, you know, he's been must-watch TV pretty much for that entire span.
03:08And yesterday he was a huge part of that rally, you know,
03:11between his game-winning RBI in the 10th inning.
03:14You know, he helped get things started in the 8th inning for them.
03:17And this is the guy they signed.
03:19I don't know that not being on the All-Star team, you know, changes, you know,
03:23changes his credentials or, you know, reduces his value.
03:27I mean, and he could still very well be there depending on whether or not
03:30he's an injury replacement or something like that.
03:32So – but he's just amazing.
03:36And I'm just glad he's on the Mets at this point.
03:39All right, let's talk about the trade deadline now
03:41because Clay Holmes struggled over five innings
03:44and he got roughed up in the 5th when he allowed four runs.
03:47But the Mets bullpen kind of stepped in and allowed just one run
03:51over the final five innings of the game.
03:53I know the starting rotation is waiting to get some of these guys back healthy.
03:57But should bringing in another starter be the main focus of the trade deadline
04:04or impact bat, which is more important?
04:08It's a good question because I think things started to spiral for this club
04:13when the starting pitching went south, when Kodai Senga got hurt about a month ago.
04:18And that's when things just got out of – just tailspin for them.
04:21And it all starts on the mound because how many crooked numbers –
04:25how many games with crooked numbers have they had, including last night,
04:28which they overcame.
04:30But when you give up crooked numbers, it's hard to –
04:33the offensive approach changes.
04:35Every at-bat becomes a high-pressure situation.
04:39And so it's different than when you're playing ahead.
04:41So I do think they need to prioritize the pitching staff,
04:45whether that's a big arm in the bullpen or the starting rotation.
04:49I think Mitch Keller should be the top target for them.
04:52He seems to check all the boxes for them.
04:54It's a contract they can absorb.
04:56And that's just one example.
04:57The Mets are always in a position to take on money,
05:01whereas other teams may be reluctant to do that.
05:03So it seems like a good fit on paper.
05:05But they also need – and David Stearns has talked about this a lot.
05:08They need to find a left-hander reliever for the bullpen.
05:11They've missed A.J. Minter in a big way.
05:14And that's where I think they're going to go in the bullpen.
05:19But at the same time, I just mentioned the 6-9 in the lineup
05:23and having four positions with a sub-6-6 COPS.
05:26And you saw it yesterday.
05:27It was a trial getting through that part of the lineup.
05:30So I think the needs are equal.
05:32I think that's how I would term it.
05:34I don't think one need outweighs the other.
05:36I think they need both.
05:37I think they need a bat.
05:38I think they need pitching.
05:40All right.
05:41As we get closer to the All-Star break,
05:43after the Mets had a horrible stretch on the back half of the month of June,
05:47they're now tied with the Phillies for first place in the NL East.
05:51We've seen this team hit all kinds of highs and lows.
05:54So what would be your midseason grade for the Mets so far and why?
06:00I'd say they're an A.
06:02They're in first place.
06:04They're among the best teams in baseball,
06:05and they've been among the best teams in one of the best teams in baseball the entire year,
06:09despite the June swoon that they just went through.
06:13I think, you know, Clay Holmes has been a pleasant surprise despite his, you know,
06:18he's had some regression presumably because of the innings that he's reached.
06:22Edwin Diaz has been obviously amazing since the end of April.
06:26And, you know, the one through four in the lineup, you know, that's really hard to replicate, too.
06:31Like, they're one of three teams that have four players with 50 RBIs, you know, that have 50 or more RBIs.
06:39So, you know, I think the team gets an A.
06:42You know, that doesn't mean there aren't holes.
06:43There aren't things they need to improve upon, but I have every bit of faith they will.
06:47And I also think that getting some of these starting pitchers back into the rotation
06:51is going to help improve their pitching as well, in addition to whatever they do ahead of July 31st.
06:57All right, Michael Barron, thanks for hopping on with me, man.
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