Mets and 3 other MLB front offices under the most pressure approaching the trade deadline
Bullet point summary by AI
- Major MLB front offices face extreme pressure as the season hits the one-quarter mark. The Giants, Mets, Braves, and Phillies are the primary teams in focus.
- Buster Posey must fix the Giants’ poor start after big signings. Meanwhile, the Mets’ high payroll and last-place standing put David Stearns under a microscope.
- Front office decisions before the deadline will define these franchises. Success hinges on making aggressive moves to secure a 2025 postseason berth.
There is still plenty of regular season left, so there’s no point in overreacting. But at this point, we have a generally good idea of what teams are. And who expected that 42 games into the season that the Atlanta Braves would have the best record in baseball while the New York Mets and Colorado Rockies have almost identical records?
If you said yes, no, you didn’t.
Let’s dive into five front offices under the most pressure at the ¼ mark of the year.
San Francisco Giants
The Giants swung big in signing Willy Adames and Matt Chapman and especially by trading for Rafael Devers last season. To show for it they are 18-26 and in fourth place in the National League West.
Buster Posey is not in danger of getting fired. He’s perhaps the most unfireable executive in baseball, a franchise icon responsible for bringing the Giants three World Series. But he needs this to work, and he currently has zero plans to trade any of his star players in hopes of competing this season. He’ll need results, and fast, to prevent the franchise from falling out of the postseason hunt before the All-Star break.
I also don’t believe that Tony Vitello is on the hot seat. Has he been perfect? No. There have been mistakes. But any talk of firing Vitello feels premature. Let’s give him a chance before trying to run him back to college.
New York Mets
David Stearns and Carlos Mendoza have to be feeling the pressure more than anyone in baseball.
Steve Cohen invested significant resources in the team, with the team’s payroll ranking second in baseball. The Mets are 18-25 and in last place in the National League East and the fanbase is in an uproar over the statuses of both Stearns and Mendoza.
Stearns feels safe. Cohen coveted Stearns, believing he was the top candidate for the job, and waited over a year to hire him after he stepped down with the Brewers. He’s not going to fire him at the first sign of trouble. Mendoza’s future, meanwhile, feels more uneven and if the Mets do make a change, they should have no shortage of interest from high-end candidates considering the market size and talent on the roster.
Atlanta Braves
No, Walt Weiss and Alex Anthopoulos are not on the hot seat. Not even close, as the Braves have the best record in baseball.
Atlanta feels like a World Series-caliber team. Their offense is strong. Their bullpen is elite. Their rotation has held up despite a plethora of injuries. And getting an impact starter feels crucial for the team to maximize their World Series chances. Anthopoulos hit the jackpot landing Chris Sale in a trade with the Boston Red Sox. It’s unrealistic to expect any trade to have similar results. But getting the right starter could make the difference in the Braves making it to the World Series.
Philadelphia Phillies
If you’d have asked me this a few weeks ago, I’d have said the organization was absolutely under pressure. But how things have changed.
The Phillies look like a different team under Don Mattingly. They appear primed to make noise in the National League after a rough start, but they’re far from perfect. They need another impact bat to go alongside Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner. Dave Dombrowski is known for making big moves at the deadline. The only question is, with a weak farm system, who exactly do they have to trade?
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