Spiraling Padres reaffirm Mets' approach at trade deadline

Steve Cohen and the New York Mets don't have to endure another sleepless night over their trade-deadline fire sale thanks to an old foe.

The Mets and Padres entered this season with World Series aspirations after San Diego ousted New York in the 2022 NL wild-card round. Following a plethora of offseason acquisitions — headlined by pitcher Justin Verlander to the Mets and shorstop Xander Bogaerts to the Padres — both clubs seemed destined to replicate their regular-season success from the prior year. 

Yet as the MLB trade deadline fast approached, the Mets and Padres were among the most disappointing teams of the season. On July 27, San Diego sat at 49-54, five games under .500 and 6.5 games out of the wild card. New York lurked close behind with a 48-54 record — seven games out from the playoffs. 

Despite bearing near-identical records, the Mets and Padres took polar opposite approaches in the days to come.

New York traded closer David Robertson on July 28, kick-starting a fire sale in which the Mets dealt co-aces Verlander and Max Scherzer, as well as veteran outfielders Mark Canha and Tommy Pham, along with pitcher Dominic Leone. San Diego opted to buy instead of sell, acquiring pitcher Rich Hill and first baseman Ji Man Choi from the Pirates, slugger Garrett Cooper and pitcher Sean Reynolds from the Marlins, and reliever Scott Barlow from the Royals.

While the teams' approaches to the trade deadline were different, the early results have been quite similar. The Mets lost their first six games following their decision to clean house, while the Padres are currently in the midst of a four-game losing streak.

Following the Padres' 6-1 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday, star outfielder Juan Soto ripped his team for seemingly giving up.

"We've got to go out there grind every day. Grind every at-bat," Soto said, per the San Diego Union-Tribune. "It's been really inconsistent. Some days we do, some days we don't. We gotta do it every day. Days like this series, we just give up. Like literally, we just give up instead of keep grinding, keep pushing."

The Mets had no shame in giving up on this season in exchange for a brighter future. By paying a large portion of departing players' contracts, New York was able to recoup several promising young prospects — many of whom now rank in the organization's top 10. 

The Padres, on the other hand, doubled down in hopes of repeating their postseason success from a year ago. At 55-60, San Diego currently sits 4.5 games back from the final NL wild-card spot. 

If the Padres fall short of the playoffs, many around the league will question their decision to go for it all. Trading away several big-name players would've allowed the organization to replenish its farm system, which was heavily depleted at last year's trade deadline when San Diego acquired Soto from the Washington Nationals.

As for the Mets, Cohen and co. can happily sit back and watch the new seeds they planted in their farm system grow.