Mets GM insists team is not rebuilding despite selling at deadline

Even though the New York Mets have started to sell off veterans in what has quickly become a lost season, general manager Billy Eppler wants fans to know this is not the start of a rebuild.

“It’s not a rebuild. It’s not a fire sale. It’s not a liquidation," said Eppler on Sunday, via the Athletic's Tim Britton. "It’s a repurposing of Steve’s [Cohen] investment in the team.”

The Mets have already traded relief pitcher David Robertson and starting pitcher Max Scherzer for prospects and are reportedly listening on several other veterans, including Sunday's starter Justin Verlander. 

Calling it a "repurposing of Steve's assets" is some pretty strong corporate speak from Eppler. 

What makes his "not a rebuild" comments so hard to believe is that he also said that expectations for the 2024 team are not going to be as high as they were going into the past two seasons.

That seems to suggest that the roster isn't going to look as good on paper as it did going into this season and that more significant changes could be on the horizon.

The Mets entered 2023 with the highest payroll in baseball and serious World Series expectations after a 101-win campaign a year ago. They have badly fallen short of those expectations for several reasons, including injuries and a lot of big-money players underperforming. 

But if you are selling veteran players for prospects and you are already acknowledging that expectations for the 2024 season probably are not going to be as high as they were this year, what else do you call it? It might not be a full-scale teardown, but there is definitely some sort of a shift going on here when it comes to the short-term and long-term expectations. 

The next couple of days and the trades that do — and do not — get made will really help shed some light on where things are going.