Buy or Sell: New York Mets

July 31 is rapidly approaching. Buy or Sell lets each team know where they stand on the trade market with the deadline right around the corner.

There was a time not too long ago where the Mets and their fans had a small notion towards selling ... that the team was stuck in mediocrity for too long to have a realistic chance of contending in the N.L. East.

One nine game win streak later, that small notion is out the window.

The truth of the matter is that it would be tough for the Mets to buy or sell. Tough to sell because the Mets are an older roster full of players that are either untouchable (in the case of David Wright, Jose Reyes, or Johan Santana among others) or old/damaged or expensive goods (like Carlos Delgado). And it will be hard for them to buy because most of the good minor league talent went to Minnesota for Santana.
This would mean that a guy like Matt Holliday would pretty much be out the window for the Mets who, if they have a need, would be a hard hitting corner outfielder to help compensate for injuries to Moises Alou (most likely out for the season) and Ryan Church (out for who knows how long). The Pirates are willing to part with guys like Jason Bay and Xavier Nady, but the price tag for both would most likely eliminate the Mets from contention.

The same would probably hold true for Adam Dunn, who is a free agent after this season. Used to be that you could hope to get a guy in his walk year cheaper, since he's going to test the free agent market anyway. But with teams placing more value in draft picks, players in their walk year aren't going to necessarily come cheap (CC Sabathia is all the proof you need there), so Dunn will hold a hefty price tag.

Even Raul Ibanez, who the Mets have been linked to, is being shopped at a relatively high price. Just look at what the Mariners are asking from Arizona in exchange for Ibanez. If Seattle can reasonably expect a guy like Max Scherzer for Ibanez, the Mets are pretty much out of the running, seeing that they wouldn't include their best prospect (Fernando Martinez) in exchange for Santana.

And the Diamondbacks, who even after trading for Dan Haren have a little more in their farm system than the Mets, being in the market for an outfielder as well as the Mets isn't going to help Omar Minaya, since the price may go up exponentially. So when it's all said and done the Mets may have no choice but to stand pat with the likes of Fernando Tatis and Endy Chavez at the corners, and hope like heck that Church and Angel Pagan return healthy and happy for the stretch drive.