3 NY Mets players proving David Stearns is no King Midas

New York Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns led the team to an 89-win season, where they fell just two wins short of making the World Series in 2024. In his second year as their POBO, the Mets sit in a fierce division race with the Philadelphia Phillies. Stearns deserves a lot of credit for his team building, turning many under-the-radar free agents into gold, like Jose Iglesias, Sean Manaea, and Luis Severino last year, along with Griffin Canning (prior to his injury) and Clay Holmes this season. But Stearns isn’t perfect. Not every single one of his pick-ups has been great. In some cases, some of his acquisitions have been complete busts, like in the case of these three.

1) Frankie Montas

Frankie Montas was one of the Mets’ first signings of last offseason. The Mets paid a premium to acquire the veteran right-hander, inking him to a two-year deal worth $34 million. Montas was not coming off a strong 2024 either. He pitched 150.2 innings for the Milwaukee Brewers and Cincinnati Reds, working to just a 4.84 ERA, 4.71 FIP, and 1.37 WHIP. While his 22.3% strikeout rate was slightly better than league average, he also handed out walks to 10.1% of his batters faced, and had a 1.43 HR/9. 

Buyer’s remorse likely began to set in before Spring Training even began. Montas was sidelined with a lat strain in the middle of February. He was initially projected to miss 6-8 weeks, but Montas would open 2025 on the injured list and would get moved to the 60-day IL at the start of May. It would not be until late May that Montas would finally start his rehab process. He would make his Mets debut on June 24, about a month after his rehab began, but the numbers he has put up since his IL activation aren’t good, to say the least.

It has only been seven starts and 33.2 IP, but Montas has a 6.68 ERA, 5.07 FIP, and 1.55 WHIP. His 6.6% walk rate is strong, but that’s about the only positive from his season thus far. Montas has only struck out 19.1% of opponents and has a HR/9 of 1.87. His 10.7% barrel rate is a career-high. The only possible silver linings to draw from this is that Montas has a 4.28 SIERA, 4.32 xFIP, and a quality 105 Stuff+, so there is potential for more in the tank.

But Montas turns 33 next March, and 2021 marks the only season he has ever pitched at least 100 innings with an above-average ERA+. He is owed $17 million more next season, and the Mets probably could have wished they had used that money money on a more productive player, or saved it and and still had an open starting rotation spot for a top prospect, like Brandon Sproat, Nolan McLean, or Jonah Tong.