PHILADELPHIA _ A day before the Mets' 6-2 victory Sunday afternoon, Neil Walker shouted across the clubhouse, making his opinion known about a proposed rule change to the team's long-standing fantasy football league.
General manager Sandy Alderson said he has handled the dismantling of the roster as "dispassionately as possible," taking his lead from players, who have been trained to remember that the game is in fact a business.
Walker knew he might be traded. Still, he did not act like a man on the move, a display of the kind of practiced cool that comes only with time. But one day later, Walker was suiting up for the Brewers, and the Mets plugged along without yet another veteran who had helped set the agenda in the clubhouse. Such is the transition phase that the Mets have entered during the final weeks of this season.
While the start of the Subway Series on Monday night may provide a little extra intrigue, Terry Collins didn't bother manufacturing false enthusiasm for the annual meeting of crosstown rivals. Said Collins: "They're games we've got to go play."
A roster that had been crafted to contend for the pennant has been reduced to a mishmash of players on the opposite ends of the spectrum, hardly what the Mets envisioned out of spring training. On one side are Dominic Smith and Amed Rosario, prospects getting their first taste of the big leagues. On the other are Asdrubal Cabrera and Curtis Granderson. Like Walker, both have established themselves as leaders in a clubhouse that once teemed with experience.
"It's very important when you're playing for postseason that you have guys who know what it's about," Collins said. "Neil Walker had that experience in Pittsburgh. He was a winning player, he was a leader on the field, off the field. Loved to play, loved to play hard. He was a really key factor last year until he hurt his back. He came back this year with something to prove. He was a real pleasure to have here."
But soon, the veteran core that Walker had helped to anchor could be whittled away even more. Granderson and Cabrera are also in the final weeks of their deals, meaning they are prime candidates to be moved, joining Jay Bruce, Lucas Duda and Addison Reed before them.
Granderson bolstered his stock Sunday, when he went 3-for-5 with a two-run homer. He knocked in three runs and scored three times, continuing what has been a strong campaign after an atrocious April. Of course, as the Mets (53-62) play out the remainder of their inconsequential season, the focus has shifted more and more toward developing the young talent expected to help with the turnaround.
Michael Conforto hammered a two-run shot, his third homer in the four-game set, which coincided with his move from leadoff to the middle of the order. He has 26 homers, 12 since the All-Star break.
On-the-job training continued for right-hander Chris Flexen (2-1), who held the Phillies to two runs in five innings. Flexen's fourth start since being promoted from Double-A Binghamton featured four walks and a career-high five strikeouts. A baserunning blunder by Odubel Herrera helped Flexen escape a bases-loaded jam in the fifth. Paul Sewald and Chase Bradford, both of whom began the year in the minors, each tossed a scoreless inning.
With that, the Mets took three of four ahead of the matchup against the Yankees, which surely will take on a different feel. Trading Walker left the Mets' roster with an average age of 27.8, the sixth youngest in the big leagues. Experience is no longer a given, and for Rosario, Smith, Bradford and Sewald, this four-game Subway Series will be their first. Collins called the introduction an "important" step.
"You're going to get a lot out of it," he said. "You'll learn a lot."
