The New York Daily News (via MLB Trade Rumors) reports that the New York Mets will place relievers Francisco Rodriguez, Jason Isringhausen and Tim Byrdak on the trading block.

"They are really trying to move Isringhausen, and also Byrdak and K-Rod (before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline)," one of the sources said. "Those guys have pitched well, and they could help somebody."

The Mets still could call themselves contenders, but it's a bit of a stretch - they're 10-1/2 games behind the Phillies, and would have to go nuts down the stretch to become a factor in the wild card race. They're probably right to think that their general plan should be to sell, rather than to buy, at the MLB trade deadline.

The problem is that while Rodriguez, Isringhausen and Byrdak have all been good, they haven't been great, and not-great relievers tend not to fetch much. On top of that, Rodriguez has a gigantic buyout for 2012 that's going to make the last few months of 2011 really expensive for any team that trades for him, unless the Mets pay a lot of it themselves. There's also the possibility that Rodriguez could finish 55 games next year, causing his gigantic $17.5 million 2012 option to vest automatically. And it's hard to see any team going wild about the possibility of acquiring journeymen like Isringhausen or Byrdak, as respectably as they've pitched this year.

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