3 nightmare scenarios for the NY Mets at 2025 trade deadline

3) The Mets let the best relievers go elsewhere and settle with “smart” choices that aren’t enough

For all of the praise Stearns got at last year’s trade deadline, many of the moves were pretty bad for the regular season. They made smart rather than reckless moves which we can thank him for in the future. In the immediacy of the trade deadline, seeing many of the best change uniforms while your team adds mid-level guys can feel like a punch to the gut.

It does seem that many believe the Mets are shopping one level down from the top relievers who could be on the move. We can understand why. Any available dominant closer is going to cost a fortune in prospect capital. That’s not how Stearns has operated, particularly with the Mets. He has operated by snagging Phil Maton in a cash dump deal or acquiring Ryne Stanek from a contender looking to sell a higher cost reliever letting them down.

The idea of a major one-two punch in the bullpen in front of Edwin Diaz is something Mets fans have longed for. The closest we ever got was in 2023 when David Robertson was supposed to have those duties alongside Adam Ottavino who had an incredible 2022 season in Flushing. Diaz’s preseason injury derailed that plan before it ever happened.

Jhoan Duran (does he come with the entrance music?) or Emmanuel Clase aren’t guaranteed to move and given how in demand they’d be, we can only imagine how many quality young players would have to be flushed out of the Mets’ farm system in order to acquire either one.

There are still good relievers for the Mets to go after. Danny Coulombe, Griffin Jax, Gregory Soto, etc. would be nice additions. But if a team like the Philadelphia Phillies pulls off something incredible, like adding a major closer to their roster, it’s going to leave us feeling unsatisfied.