The MLB 2026 season is halfway done, and the New York Mets are ranked last in the NL East with a 34-44 record. But Mets chief baseball operations David Stearns believes there’s still time to rebound. Discussions about trading players have been simmering for a long time. Stearns is trying to bide time by waiting for a turnaround, but not everyone is convinced.

“The clock is ticking,” Martin said, in light of Stearns’ remarks about Steve Cohen looking to get better results out of this roster.

“I think Steve wants us to, certainly, be 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 be better than this. He, like me, is gonna withhold judgment on a trade deadline strategy until we have to make a decision closer to that time”

They are currently seven games behind the final NL Wild Card spot. Francisco Lindor’s return could be thought of as a saving grace, but the team’s poor pitching and growing list of injuries is too heavy to be lifted by him singlehandedly.

After April, the Mets were standing at an MLB-worst 10-21 through 31 games. Fans were expecting a hard-line approach from Stearns towards the coaching staff. However, he said that the team “[does not] view this as a manager problem,” and that it doesn’t “intend to make a change.”

But the results clearly say that the situation has only aggravated since then.

The Mets are currently 8-11 in June. The team still stays in the bottom five in terms of average (.231) and runs (317). New additions like Bo Bichette are yet to get back their rhythms, who has hit only .251 so far. The league is halfway done, and the Mets are still at the bottom. Naturally, there is some serious doubt about when this comeback will be orchestrated.

Before hitting the IL, Lindor was only hitting .226 with 2 homers. That makes it highly unlikely that he would be at his best now. Still, we wonder if Stearns meant to bet on his existing roster till the end rather than going for some trade deadline targets. New York already had a rough offseason, leaving up names like Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker, and the Mets repeating the same at the deadline is highly likely.

In the disastrous loss to the Chicago Cubs yesterday, every single infielder made an error. The state of the team’s performance pushed fans to chant Pete Alonso’s name. Even if the star baseman had magically returned, there’s little hope of this team breaking free of this losing slump. The loss to the Cubs was the 12th Mets game to go under .500.

The Mets’ pitching, though, has no chance to survive till October without some trade help.

The Mets’ pitching staff needs urgent replenishment

Despite his confidence in the overall roster, even Stearns couldn’t help but acknowledge the Mets’ pitching struggle.

“We clearly have been inconsistent in that facet of the game,” he said. “We’ve been inconsistent at various times in all segments of the team. It’s why we have the record we have.”

The rotation consistently falls short of providing five innings, which rapidly depletes the bullpen. Result? The lack of depth has created a trickle-down effect, limiting how frequently relievers can be used. Naturally, this has led to bloated ERAs across the staff.

The Mets are even forced to demote Kodai Senga to the bullpen. After posting a dreadful 10.08 ERA and a 0-6 record through seven starts, Senga was moved to the bullpen. He struggled heavily with walks and home runs, never finding his footing after returning from lumbar spine inflammation. Other key pitchers, including Sean Manaea and David Peterson, have struggled to deliver the steady, reliable performances the team expected, contributing to a prolonged stretch of sloppy games and blowouts.

With names like Tarik Skubal rumored to be a trade piece by the deadline, the Mets could have a reliable veteran at the start. However, they had some marquee names in the offseason and still let them go. More than the players, Stearns might have one last chance to prove his worth by this deadline.