Voice of the 'Fan

The Mets have been plagued by injuries throughout this season, such that they've already conceded the NL East to Washington, and the wild card is almost certainly a pipe dream at this point, too. As the trade deadline approached, GM Sandy Alderson made a trio of deals, none of which send signals of hope to Met Nation.

July 27: Lucas Duda is dealt to Tampa Bay for a minor league pitcher. Duda gets to go back to New York anyway, since the Rays are playing the Yankees, and shows the Bombers what they're missing.

July 28: The Mets acquire relief pitcher A. J. Ramos from Miami for minor leaguers. Ramos makes his debut with the Mets two days later in Seattle, and gives up 2 runs & 2 hits in the 8th inning of a 9-1 loss. Ramos' best days were already behind him headed into this season, and the Mets already had a former closer in Fernando Salas that they could go to when.....

July 31: Closer du jour Addison Reed is traded to Boston for three minor league pitchers. Reed moves back into a set-up role, since Craig Kimbrel is the closer in Boston. Reed had 19 saves in 21 chances filling in for Jeurys Familia.

Why trade Duda? The plan would be to bring first baseman Dominic Smith up from Las Vegas. Otherwise, the Mets don't have an experienced first baseman on the roster. Jay Bruce, who filled in when Duda was on the DL earlier this year, filled in again Friday in a win over Seattle, as it was clear that Smith would not be called up until after the trade deadline.

The same can be said for shortstop Amed Rosario, who reportedly will join the Mets in Denver for the start of their series with the Colorado Rockies. That moves Jose Reyes back to the bench, with Neil Walker off the DL and back at second, and Asdrubal Cabrera at third. The ultimate goal of the trades was to replenish the farm system, and the Mets did that. Veterans like Cabrera, Bruce, and Curtis Granderson now must go through waivers before being traded, if the Mets can find any takers at all.

Reed will be a free agent after the season, so there's the chance he could return in 2018, as trading him, IMPO, was a mistake, the latest in a long line of personnel errors made by team management since perhaps the dawn of time (Met time, that is). If he does return, I'd not be surprised if he finds a new manager and/or pitching coach waiting for him, as this might be the end for Terry Collins and/or Dan Warthen. I suspect that the media will be pressuring Alderson and the Wilpons to cut bait on them, too, before the year's out.

So what else could go wrong for the Mets in the final 2 months of the season? Plenty. Fate is crazy like that.