NEW YORK — With conversation active across the sport this weekend, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said Friday that he has to be “open-minded” and will “not close any paths down.”That said, when asked specifically about the possibility of trading franchise shortstop Francisco Lindor, Stearns said: “I’m not going to rule out any specific player on anything. I don’t think that’s wise for me to do. What I will say is, we’ve got a group of young players, and we’ve got some potential future Hall of Famers that we view as our core. And we expect them to be our core.”Lindor is the biggest name among those rumored to be available for New York at the trade deadline. A trade of the shortstop, who is owed $160 million for the five seasons after 2026, remains unlikely for several reasons.Players slated to hit free agency this winter — starters Freddy Peralta and Clay Holmes, relievers Brooks Raley and A.J. Minter and outfielder Tyrone Taylor — are likely to be moved. The key question facing Stearns ahead of the Aug. 3 deadline is whether to trade players with team control beyond 2026.Lindor, catchers Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens and relievers Luke Weaver and Huascar Brazobán are among the other players New York could move between now and then.When Holmes and interim manager Andy Green spoke on Tuesday, the pitcher assessed the previous night’s rehab start for Triple-A Syracuse.“The first thing he said to me was: ‘I feel like I could be doing that in the big leagues right now,'” Green recounted.Holmes threw 51 pitches over 2 1/3 innings that night, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks. Before the Mets faced the Dodgers on Friday at Citi Field, the veteran right-hander continued to reflect.“It was just good to be in a game and feel the competition,” said Holmes, who has been out since mid-May with a broken leg. “It’s been a while, so just being back and throwing all my pitches was a lot of fun.”“He looked exactly like you wanted him to,” Green said."Bernie Williams is a real one in the smooth-jazz world."Green said the plan is to build Holmes’ pitch count back to a normal starter’s workload. While the Mets haven’t committed to another minor-league rehab start for Holmes yet, Green said that’s “typically” what a team would do for a pitcher rehabbing like this.