PHILADELPHIA — The math is not complicated. The Mets sit 16 games under .500, 10 back of a Wild Card spot, and the Aug. 3 trade deadline is two weeks away. A sell-off is not a possibility; it is a probability with a decimal point.
A.J. Minter knows this. He also knows something that gnaws at him more than any standings page: he signed in New York to pitch in October, and he has barely pitched at all.
“The sad part is it feels like I didn’t do my job,” Minter told NJ.com on Sunday in Philadelphia. “My job was to come here, be healthy and help this team win. I didn’t do both. It’s a sense of wishing it could be different.”
Minter suffered a season-ending lat injury in April 2024 that required surgery. He spent the summer on the injured list watching the Mets collapse out of contention. He was still rehabbing when the 2025 season opened — New York promptly lost 12 straight — and did not make his debut until late May, by which point the club was already 11 games under .500.
“I fully expected when I signed here to compete and to go to the postseason every year,” Minter said. “Me being injured, I was part of the reason for it, so it’s definitely tough.”
Here is where the narrative and the data diverge. The Mets’ bullpen has been one of the few functional units on a broken roster — a 4.00 ERA that ranks respectably, anchored by three relievers having genuine seasons. Brooks Raley owns a 2.02 ERA across 40 appearances. Luke Weaver ran off 25 consecutive outings without allowing an earned run. Minter himself has a 1.80 ERA in 20 innings, the best mark of the trio.
That is the cruel part for Minter. The piece of the team he was brought to strengthen has held up. Everything around it caved.
“What makes us so good — with Luke going on the run he did, and same thing that me and Brooks, who has been having a great year — is the camaraderie down there,” Minter said. “It’s the roles that we have with no egos. What makes me have a good season is Brooks having a good season. He pushes me. Same thing with Weave and everyone else down there. We’re feeding off each other.”
That camaraderie is on a clock. Minter and Raley are on expiring deals. Moving them by Aug. 3 would be less a strategic choice than an organizational obligation. There is a real scenario in which all three — Minter, Raley, Weaver — are gone within the fortnight, the bullpen stripped for parts.
Minter has reframed the deadline accordingly. His job description has shifted from holding leads to maximizing return.
“If I do get traded, my job is to help bring back as much talent as I can back here,” he said. “That’s the least I can do. I want to go out there, keep shoving and hopefully I can give them a nice little prospect back.”
It is the kind of thing a veteran says when the standings have already written the ending. Minter is 1.80 ERA good right now, and that number will matter more to a contender than it ever could to a team 16 under. The Mets will cash that in. Minter’s regret is that it never added up to what he signed up for.