What happened: At 35-49 and reeling from the dismissal of manager Carlos Mendoza, the Mets are positioning to sell at the Aug. 3 trade deadline. President of baseball operations David Stearns has acknowledged the team's standing even while stating the focus remains on winning. The club opens a seven-game road trip in Toronto facing decisions about how deep a sell-off to pursue.

Why it matters: New York sits 9.5 games back of the final National League Wild Card spot and has dropped eight of its last 10, a hole that would require roughly a 50-28 finish to climb out of. A retool that felt unthinkable at the start of the season now shapes the franchise's path toward 2027. The central question is separating long-term building blocks from movable veterans.

What to watch: Watch the impending free agents most likely to move: Freddy Peralta, Luis Robert Jr., A.J. Minter, Brooks Raley and Tyrone Taylor. Robert's return from a back injury could determine his trade value, while a market with 22 teams in contention shapes the return on the bullpen arms.