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

2) Cedric Mullins

The big talking point on the day of the MLB trade deadline was whether the Mets would add a center fielder and if so, who? Luis Robert Jr. rumors ran so rampant you’d swear we were one Bob Nightengale report away from readers tearing a hamstring just by absorbing the latest update that led nowhere. Cedric Mullins was always a logical match for the Mets given his impending free agency, the disastrous results for the Baltimore Orioles, and what he could bring to the table at an affordable trade cost.

Because it was the last of their four trade deadline moves, we might have felt a little better about this complementary piece than we should have. He was someone to give us a break from Tyrone Taylor (who was struggling at the time). Maybe a change of scenery could spark something new. It did cost the Mets three prospects which felt a little hefty. However, with all of them being lower in the minor leagues, it was a risk worth taking.

Initial Grade: B-

Probably not the Mets trade deadline deal we’ll roast the most in future years, this deal still gets a worse grade than initially believed. Mullins played so badly that all of a sudden the same fans who wanted Taylor out of the starting lineup were craving for him to play more. Once hurt, the Mets gave us a large dose of Mullins and Siri for a short period. Neither worked.

Maybe only Ryan Helsley did less to help the Mets win games after getting traded here. The fundies weren’t even good by Mullins who misplayed balls and got caught standing between first base and second base on a live ball. He didn’t have the kind of intensity the locker room needed.

Updated Grade: D+

1) Tyrone Taylor (and Adrian Houser)

This is a slightly more complicated trade because it involved another player who failed to make it through the year. In fact, if we go back to how we honestly felt about this trade with the Milwaukee Brewers, there was as much, if not more, reason to think Adrian Houser would be the better Mets player.

It didn’t turn out that way. Tyrone Taylor became the far better player acquired in this deal that cost them minor league pitcher Coleman Crow. Oft-injured with plenty of uncertainties, swapping one low-ranking pitching prospect for a pair of major leaguers always made sense.

Initial Grade: A-

How do we feel now? Houser’s struggles as a starter in 2024 and later his low ceiling as a reliever had the Mets cutting him mid-year. Taylor remained with the club and, once again, helped them in their time of need as a regular center fielder. His defense is topnotch. The offense, while regularly inconsistent, is acceptable only because of how perfect he does the little things.

This trade deserves the same grade as it originally should have received, just not for the reasons we thought. Until Crow does something at the major league level, this is an A- worthy trade by the Mets.

Updated Grade: A- but not for why we thought