Re-grading the 3 big NY Mets trades for center fielders David Stearns has made

A trade for a center fielder, whether one for the starting lineup or some depth, has seemed to be an annual tradition for recent New York Mets teams. The ironic part of it is they’ve also traded away plenty of center field prospects. From the more high-profile Pete Crow-Armstrong to Jake Mangum, there were options coming up through the system who could have had an impact during the David Stearns era.

He’s hardly the only front office executive to make a painful trade for a center fielder. Remember Keon Broxton? 

Two years deep into his tenure with the Mets, Stearns has yet to find a full-time answer at the position. Three different trades to fill the spot, here’s how they first graded and how we’re feeling now.

3) Jose Siri

When the Mets first acquired Jose Siri in November of 2024, there was reason for optimism. He could run. He could field. He could hit 20 home runs. The excitement of what he brought to the Mets as a part-time player was palpable. Even with a huge strikeout rate expected, it felt like a decent enough trade. All it cost them was Eric Orze, a relief pitcher in his mid-20s who didn’t record a single out in his MLB debut months earlier.

We felt good about the deal. It had to grade well.

Initial Grade: B

We don’t get good SAT scores just by signing up, do we? We have to answer some questions about math, english, and spell our names correctly. Siri didn’t seem to do any of that right. Struggles early on and then a near season-long injury had him mostly irrelevant for the Mets until September when he returned to be just as forgettable.

He finished the year batting .063/.167/.125 with 17 strikeouts in 32 at-bats. An unfathomable strikeout rate and lack of production on both sides of the ball, there’s no other way to grade this trade but to grab your thickest red market and draw three lines.

Updated Grade: F