Mets questions answered about Luis Robert Jr, trades, the future of Francisco Lindor | Mets Mailbag
On this edition of Mets Mailbag, SNY's Michelle Margaux is joined by SNY MLB Insider Chelsea Janes to take on fan questions about the rehab of Luis Robert Jr., what the Mets could and should do at the trade deadline, regrets for David Stearns, and the future for Francisco Lindor.
Video Transcript
Is Luis Robert Jr. done for the season?
We have not seen him.
Yeah, I, I asked him that today actually.
Welcome to Mets Mailbag, the show where we answer your questions.
I'm your host Michelle Margone.
Today I'm joined by SNY MLB insider Chelsea Janes.
Hello, Chelsea.
Hello.
Welcome to my humble abode on the floor outside the- You're- press conference room at Citi Field You know, nobody would've known if you didn't say anything.
It's just a white wall behind you.
Well, I didn't want them to think I was in jail, so No, nobody thinks that.
Just a reminder, before we get started, every week you can go to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to look for a post from SNY's account asking to submit your questions to the show.
If you're watching on YouTube, you can also drop your questions in the comment section below.
By the way, Chelsea, the reason that no one would think that is 'cause you are, like, the biggest rule follower on the planet, so there would be nothing you could do to possibly get yourself in jail.
Knock on wood.
You need Yeah, knock on wood.
I will help bail you out.
The first question, it's kind of ironic because this player did speak to the media today.
Flowbo Boys on Facebook said, "Is Luis Robert Jr. done for the season?"
We have not seen him.
Yeah, I, I asked him that today actually.
he hadn't talked in a while, and saw him in the corner, and I was like, "Hey, can you talk about this?"
So we didn't get much clarity from it.
You know, I'm not I can't say for sure that he's not done for the season after what he said.
He says he thinks he'll be back, but he started doing baseball activities, which is new.
He said the back pain that he's experiencing is finally loosening up.
It seems like the treatment didn't work at first, and now it's working, and he's gonna run on the field this week.
But, you know, running on the field is a long way from taking the field, so Carlos Mendoza didn't seem to know when it'll be.
I think they're just kinda in a holding pattern.
So I would say he thinks that he will be back, but even he couldn't say, "Here's when, here's how."
It seemed like it was gonna be, you know, something where you kinda cross your fingers and hope the symptoms go away.
Eric Bergen on Facebook said, "Who is the first player to be traded given we will be sellers?"
Eric, not an optimist, but- I think it's a fair, it's, it's an assumption they'll probably have to make at some point.
Yeah, I was thinking about this.
I think my answer is David Peterson, because I think that could happen before you make a bigger decision, right?
I think you could trade somebody like him who's clearly just struggling here to find it, and maybe even get something helpful back, get a big leaguer back somewhere.
and it could benefit both of you.
I mean, they don't really have great pitching depth, but I think for now that's a move I could see making before you decide we're fully sellers.
I think once you decide that, then, you know, R- Raley, Minter, Peralta, then you start looking at those names.
But I'm gonna, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it'll be Peterson, and that that could happen whether they sell or not.
And that's all pitchers.
Yeah.
Andrew Kim on X said, "What signs are you seeing for hope to salvage at least a 500 season from this team other than the return of Francisco Lindor?"
It's a good question.
It's a great question.
You know, in, in all honesty, I think they're dwindling, right?
I mean, I think the road is getting harder and harder.
Polanco continuing to be out, you know, I think him coming back would've helped.
You know, Robert obviously n- not anywhere close.
Lindor is the big one, but you're not getting pitching help that you can see anytime soon.
I mean, Clay Holmes is after the All-Star break.
So, you know, I think that the real signs are, you know, Christian Scott pitching better.
The bullpen's been really good, especially the back end.
You know, the offense looks at least capable now, which it didn't at first.
But it's, it's an uphill climb now.
It's a team that's gonna have to find a run from within, and do it without a lot of people that were intended to be big parts of that.
So, you know, I think it's the it's possible.
It's, it's definitely still within reach, but I would say signs for hope are becoming fewer and far between unfortunately.
But, look, I mean, if the Knicks can do what they did last night, it's, it's totally possible.
If the Knicks can do it.
yeah, it is a catch-22 though, because you name all these guys that might get traded and they're all in the bullpen.
And so when you say- Yeah bullpen's been a bright spot, well, you know, sometimes you have to have value in order to get value in return.
Yeah.
Chris Mele on Facebook, "Any chance that they put Lindor or Soto on the market by the end of this calendar year?"
Oof.
so two things.
I think on the market is an interesting term.
Like, I think if somebody called about Francisco Lindor they would answer the phone, because I think you have to.
I don't expect anyone to call about Juan Soto, because that means you'd have to pay Juan Soto, and I just don't see it.
So I would say I think Lindor could, if they sell, end up on the market in that, yeah, you pick up the phone and if somebody offers you something that makes sense, you think about it.
But I don't expect them to solicit offers for him unless everything really falls apart and they decide, "You know, we've gotta tear this down," which I think is still possible, but I don't see it as likely.
I don't think that you necessarily, even if you are rebuilding, trade the franchise shortstop who you've, you know, had under contract for several years and who really wants to be a key part of success here.
I don't necessarily think that becomes a priority, but I don't think it's impossible.
Okay, that's very well said.
Michael Introvaya on Facebook, "We all say the Mets are just five to six games out of wild card.
Even if the Mets make the playoffs, they don't have a team that can make a deep run.
So why not just dismantle and start over?"
Well, if the Knicks can do it Yeah.
I mean, I'll just say this, like I, I think everyone can make a deep run, if they get hot at the right time, and that's the problem and the blessing of this era of baseball, right?
It's like if you get in, anything can happen.
Even with the Dodgers, who's out there, anything can happen.
So to me, yeah, maybe you look at this team and say, "This is team is not built, to make a deep run," but you can't necessarily rule one out, you know, if they get there.
So that's the first thing.
I do think that if you get to- July and you're kind of way out of it, and it's not gonna happen, then the argument to dismantle becomes really compelling.
Because this, this team is not built for, you know, success year after year right now.
It's not built for that.
This was kind of an interesting little bridge year where they brought in some pieces, like Polanco and Simeon I think falls in that barrel.
Bichette I think even falls in that barrel, where it's like, let's be competitive this year while we wait for all this work we've done in our minor league system to pay off on the pitching side and the position player side.
You're seeing it on the position player side in Ewing and Benge, but you know, it's gonna take a little bit, and you might wanna start with a cleaner slate.
I mean, the payroll's crazy.
You know, you do have assets you can trade.
So I think they're getting to a point where that does make the most sense, but I will say I think the threshold will be very high for dismantling this team.
High meaning you're way, way out of it.
Because everyone knows you just have to get hot at the right time.
You get Holmes back, Peralta figures it out, Polanco comes back, and then all of a sudden you're talking about something very different, and you can kind of talk yourself into things.
And I don't think David Stearns and Steve Cohen wanna punt on another year when they've You know, it hasn't been great for the last few.
I think they wanna take a chance to win if they can.
Speaking of all these prospects, specifically on offense, William Lawson on X said, "When will Ryan Clifford be called up?"
So I looked up his numbers in AAA Syracuse.
He's hitting 217 with 14 home runs, but his strikeouts are, are really the problem for him.
Yeah, he just, he strikes out a lot.
He's gonna be that guy, right?
He's gonna be high powered.
I think he's got 14 homers, like you said.
But so that's really enticing, right?
But he's hitting 220.
His OBP's not great.
You know, I think basically he's not knocking down the door.
I mean, Jared Young has an eight something OPS, so it's not like you are desperate to find someone who can play first base.
He's doing a good job.
He's producing there.
and I think also the Mets have been spoiled this year, which I wouldn't have said on many, you know, aspects of their season, but just in the fact that Benge and Ewing have been so good so fast.
That's not gonna be true for everyone, especially a swing and miss guy.
So I could see it happening this year, especially if Polanco doesn't come back, they move on from Vientos, if Jerry Young cools down.
And frankly, if the season gets away from them, then yeah, maybe you give him some run.
But he's not playing well enough to make you find a spot for him right now, and where they are, they need him to get this right, so rushing him just makes, doesn't make a lot of sense.
And I, and I don't think you'll see him, you know, barring catastrophe, which I think is very possible for this team, until, you know, much later in the summer or fall.
Yeah, it's just a- also hard to imagine him having success in the big leagues with those numbers in AAA.
Bobby DeAngelis on Facebook, "For Stearns, now having more than a third of the season to reflect, what would he have done differently to maybe have better results than this season's last place floundering?"
Yeah, so the last time he was asked this, he said he's not gonna do a postmortem on his team yet.
And I think, you know, he would still say it's too early to do that.
But the few things he has acknowledged are, A, maybe they need to reconsider how they evaluate risk.
Obviously, the injury risks they took this off season have played out very badly.
you know, banking on guys who have not been healthy for most of their careers has resulted in guys who were not healthy when they got here.
so that's probably one.
outside of that, I think he I don't know if he would say this.
I'm saying it.
I think they misjudged the amount of turnover that they had and how that would affect them, right?
Like, even today, David Peterson was talking about, you know, a lot of turnover in the clubhouse, a lot of turnover in the coaching staff as being part of the equation for, like, why things haven't clicked.
And I, I don't think people have to be bad at their jobs for that to be true.
I think that these coaches are working their butts off, but it's like you don't know this guy, right?
You don't know what worked for him the last time this happened when he couldn't get out of this slump.
You don't know the cues.
You're trying, you know, but you're still figuring it out, and it hasn't been that long.
So I think they probably underestimated the impact the extent of the turnover would have.
And that, combined with everything else, made it really hard for them to dig out of this hole.
But again, I, we really haven't heard Stearns say he regrets anything and, you know, he probably won't till it's over.
Maybe not even then.
But I think betting on guys who were hurt before is, is one, one thing you probably won't see again.
You already don't see it on the pitching side with them, right?
Like, they're never willing to go deep in big ex- you know, contracts with starting pitchers.
But they were willing to do it on the position side, and I would bet that changes, in the future.
Everything you've said is, is so perfectly I mean, and it just encompassed everything so perfectly.
Stop.
and it is interesting, like what?
Sorry.
Louder.
it, it is so perfectly said, and I think, you know, one thing that I try to do when I'm in the clubhouse is really take the temperature, from the, the guys that have been there, and it, none of them say anything negative about any of the coaching staff.
And you're right.
No.
Like, th- that doesn't mean they're doing a bad job, but it's different.
Jeremy Hefner is gonna be very different than Justin Willard, like, pitching coach.
So it i- it's very, very interesting to hear you kind of, sum up what David Peterson was saying because I think there's a lot of truth to it, and I don't think Like, those are the intangibles that people don't see or don't really realize when they haven't been inside a clubhouse.
all right, last question.
We're gonna have some fun here because, you know- this has been, this has been a short show, but it's been a negative show.
Tony Rossi on X, "If you were in the Mets lineup, what would your walk-up song be?"
I don't know the answer to this for you.
Oof.
And I really wanna know.
I've only known it forever.
I reevaluate it weekly.
yeah, I So my answer, you'll appreciate this.
there's this song by Avicii called Blessed, and I, there's like, when the, there's, like, a drop that hits at, like, 30 seconds.
Again, I don't know the exact timestamp.
Which I do.
Can I pull it up?
and that No, no, no, no, no.
But that is what I would do in my first at bat.
I could get into my second, third, and fourth.
I could tell you what I'd do if I was coming out of the bullpen.
I definitely, like, just need more friends and hobbies basically, but that's, that's, I think, my main answer.
It's a little niche, but I thought you would appreciate it.
No, no, it's, it's perfect.
And, you know, it's right in line with what I would say, so I love that.
Although, I don't know, I'm not sure if I would change, like, bullpen versus in the box.
Like, I don't, I think- You, you don't know what you would do?
You really don't?
No, no, I'm saying, like, if I was coming in.
Oh, okay.
Unless I was a closer, and then I needed something, like, really legendary and, like, really Like, I want one of those entrances Well, who was it?
oh my gosh, the Mariners closer.
Why am I forgetting his name?
Munoz, I think his last name is.
Yeah.
like, he had a pretty good entrance.
I'm pretty sure Duran when he was with the Twins.
Like, that, like, that, those entrances are really cool.
Obviously, Edwin Diaz, you know, sore subject.
you know, Hells Bells.
Like, like, those type of entrances I would put myself.
I would need them to keep the lights on though, 'cause otherwise I would trip.
I think about that all the time.
Like- turning off the lights right before you run in front of 40,000 people is torturous, so.
I mean, hasn't happened yet.
But again, I haven't thought about it at all.
No, no, clearly, first time.
that was a great answer though, and I'm so glad- Thank you that Tony Rossi on X asked that.
We need more of those kind of questions right now, guys.
We need- Totally we need some fun.
well, Chelsea, I appreciate you taking time out of your very busy day in jail to, uh- do Mets Mailbag with us.
Thank you so much for watching, Mets fans, this edition of Mets Mailbag.
Like we said before, we're gonna be with you every week of the Mets' 2026 season to answer your questions.
Submit your questions for next week's episode on SNY's Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram account, or drop them in the YouTube comments below this episode.
For Chelsea Janes, I'm Michelle Marco, and we will see you next week.
