NEW YORK -- The Mets' season has been a colossal disappointment, but president of baseball operations David Stearns said Tuesday that he and owner Steve Cohen will continue to practice patience in hopes of the team rebounding in time to compete for a postseason berth with less than six weeks remaining until the trade deadline.
"I think we're going to continue to give this team time to prove that we can get back in this in a very legitimate sense," Stearns said.
At 34-43, the Mets entered Tuesday in last place in the National League East, 14 games out of first place, and six games behind the final NL Wild Card spot.
Stearns acknowledged that Cohen is frustrated with his $375 million roster's results, but he views the Aug. 3 trade deadline as the "cut off" to decide whether to push for the playoffs or shift their focus to 2027.
"I think Steve wants us to be certainly better than we are," Stearns said. "He's frustrated. We're all frustrated. Steve expects us to do better than this. I expect us to do better than this. He, like me, is going to withhold judgment on any sort of trade deadline strategy until we have to make a decision closer to that time."
The Mets expect to receive a boost later this week when five-time All-Star shortstop Francisco Lindor returns from the injured list. Lindor, 32, has been out with a left calf strain since April 22. He is scheduled to play in a rehab game for Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday before the team decides whether to activate him. Lindor could return Wednesday, when the Mets host the Chicago Cubs for a doubleheader, or Thursday for the series finale after getting a day off.
Lindor was batting .226 with two home runs and a .669 OPS in 24 games -- numbers torpedoed by starting the season 5-for-37 through 10 games.
"We've got a sense of urgency throughout our team right now," Stearns said. "We also can't put everything on Francisco to come back at a time when he hasn't been playing baseball very much and expect him to put us on his back."
Lindor would seemingly assume his role as the team's everyday shortstop, though Stearns would not say whether the team could lighten his workload early with days off or the occasional start at designated hitter. That would move Bo Bichette back to third base and Brett Baty into a utility role as planned for the season.
The Mets signed Bichette, a shortstop in his seven seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays, to a three-year, $126 million contract to play third base for the first time in his career and deliver his customary All-Star level offensive production. Instead, he struggled mightily at the plate early, carrying an OPS as low as .531 on May 17. Since then, however, He's batting .304 with six home runs and an .848 OPS in 31 games.
"My guess is he put some pressure on himself," Stearns said. "He got off to a rough start. Wanted to help us. We as a team weren't scoring a lot of runs. There was probably some pressing there, which is very natural for a player on a big contract."
The turnaround coincides with the Mets' improved offensive output, which coincides with the starting rotation's deterioration in recent weeks. Starting pitching was the catalyst for the Mets' slow-motion collapse last season, from holding the best record in the majors in mid-June to out of the postseason on the last day of the regular season. To improve the group, Stearns acquired Freddy Peralta from the Milwaukee Brewers for two well-regarded prospects to pair with Nolan McLean atop the rotation.
But Peralta has a 4.84 ERA after giving up 10 runs across 2â…” innings Saturday against the Philadelphia Phillies and the rotation is a problem again. Injuries have been a factor -- Clay Holmes, one of the NL's top starting pitchers to begin the season, breaking his fibula on a comebacker in mid-May was particularly devastating. But underperformance has been the driver. Mets starters entered Tuesday ranked 28th in the majors in walk rate, which has fueled a 4.74 ERA that ranks 27th.
"I think you'd be fair to point that out similarly last year when we had struggles," Stearns said. "It is absolutely something we're talking about internally. We've got to more consistently throw strikes."
With Peralta, McLean and Sean Manaea -- a recent addition to the rotation with a 3.00 ERA over his last 27 innings -- seemingly locked into their spots, the back of the rotation remains in flux.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said David Peterson could return to a bulk role Friday after giving up five runs in four innings in his start Sunday against the Phillies. Kodai Senga, Tuesday's slated starter, allowed four runs over four innings last week in his first outing since late April and has a 9.00 ERA on the season. Either one could be replaced this weekend when, according to Mendoza, Christian Scott comes off the injured list to start.
"We do need to see production there," Stearns said. "We need to figure out a way to get outs later into games and competitive positions. And so it is, I'd call it, a turn-by-turn evaluation of where we're going to go start to start."
