The Cubs had two players that obviously would have helped the Mets at the deadline — Willson Contreras and David Robertson — but Cubs management is said to have grown so frustrated by the Mets’ unwillingness to give up anything of value they stopped calling them and concentrated their efforts on two or three other teams more willing to discuss solid or better prospects. Contreras (who ultimately wasn’t moved anywhere) would have been a plus, and Mets people were said to be willing to utilize him at catcher despite some mixed reviews there. The Mets’ story is of course the opposite, that the Cubs asked for a lot (one of their top three prospects). 

Robertson would have been a nice extra setup man to go with Adam Ottavino, but Phillies baseball president Dave Dombrowski is one decision maker willing to surrender prospects. Dombrowski got Robertson for right-handed pitcher Ben Brown, who’d been ranked only 27th in the Phillies’ system but is primed to move way up. While the Mets didn’t trade for stars or big impact guys, sources say they did offer the player they have ranked as No. 6 in their organization. 

Still, it’s possible the Mets may have overreacted to their obviously deep regret giving up Pete Crow-Armstrong to the Cubs for Javier Baez. “Electric,” one rival exec called Crow-Armstrong. Multiple teams did think the Mets were very cautious, curious since they are a win-now team with several 30-something stars who are free agents this year or next. Ultimately, they made mostly marginal deals that didn’t seriously impact the top of their prospect rankings (though Daniel Vogelbach has an .830 OPS plus in N.Y.), and never found a right-handed DH via trade. 

Rivals say the Mets mostly offered third-tier prospects. Two players they were said to dangle were pitcher Jose Butto and outfielder Khalil Lee. One question is why not offer Mark Vientos, whose No. 5 ranking in the organization made him valuable at a time some Mets themselves question his overall value due to his position issue? 

Mets people were right, though, that it isn’t easy to make dramatic improvements at the deadline, and few teams did make those kind of deals. The Mariners, with Luis Castillo, are the most obvious exception.