Mets Monday Morning GM: Best and worst transaction of the offseason so far

The 2021 MLB season is young and we don’t fully know what will come of these New York Mets. What we think right now about some of the offseason transactions may eventually become our coldest takes yet.

Through the early-going, more than a month now in the past, there are some favorable results from the moves made by the front office. Not all of the free agent signings, trades, or waiver claims have gone their way but I think we have enough of a sample to declare an early best and worst transaction.

I’m not putting either in stone yet. One bad game or a hot week could completely change the direction of any player’s season. However, it is worth noting how well some of these moves have gone and how turned around others look.

Mets best transaction of the offseason: Signing Trevor May

There were a few places I could go with this one, but the addition of Trevor May, which no one seemed to see coming, is the best so far. May has helped solidify a bullpen in need of some repair. Sans Seth Lugo for the first few weeks of the year, we all know the Mets needed this.

Through 12.1 innings, May is 2-1 with a 1.46 ERA. I have little doubt he has taken over a large chunk of the innings that would have otherwise gone to Lugo.

As a non-closer, I did question whether or not the Mets overspent on May. Acknowledging it’s the cost of good relief help, I conceded, he was worth the price. Seeing his early performance, it’s clear he was a much-needed addition.

An honorable mention goes out to Taijuan Walker. Without him, the Mets would have a two-man rotation at the moment. I think I went with May instead because of my personal expectations. I didn’t think May would be this fantastic and had a lot more faith in Walker. Pick either one. It’s great to have them both.

Mets worst transaction of the offseason: Trading for Joey Lucchesi

I don’t care what the Mets gave up to get Joey Lucchesi, it hasn’t worked out so far. It’s not all on him either. The Mets schedule, a few postponed games, and a few questionable decisions on how they would use him have led to this being the early worst transaction of the offseason.

April schedules tend to have more off-days than not so the Mets were able to role without Lucchesi starting games. When the schedule caught up with them, Lucchesi wasn’t stretched out enough to go more than a handful of innings. The inconsistent starting seems to have worn him, giving Lucchesi a 1-2 record and 7.71 ERA after 14 innings of work.

I’m beginning to wonder how much the Mets even like Lucchesi. Even though he was in a spring competition against David Peterson for a rotation spot, the club hasn’t treated him favorably. Glad they have him, the Mets wisely didn’t put a whole lot of unwarranted faith.

We can see this by just how many other starters they brought in this winter to give the club depth. Only Lucchesi has gotten those opportunities thus far. In his most recent appearance this past Saturday, they went with their idea of using an opener and allowing Lucchesi to enter in the third inning. It worked out better than many of his actual starts. I expect to see this strategy implemented at least once more.

I’m guessing a few Mets fans out there expected to see James McCann as the worst. As poorly as he has played at times, I think many had overrated him a little bit coming into this year. Plus, there weren’t many other options for them.

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Which transactions win your best and worst award of this young season?