Final grades for all 4 NY Mets trade deadline deals for 2025

It’s all settled now. The MLB trade deadline is over and we can reconnect with our husbands, wives, children, and the handyman waiting near the door for the last month owed a payment. The focus of the baseball world has been on what each team would do at the trade deadline. Like a return home from vacation, the immediate aftermath has many of us wondering, what’s next for the New York Mets?

The team resumes on-field action on Friday versus the San Francisco Giants. A new look bullpen plus an improved lineup should have us feeling more confident about where the team is at.

How’d they do? Let’s hand out some grades.

1) Gregory Soto

Gregory Soto wasn’t a favorite on many people’s trade deadline wish lists. A 3.96 ERA for the Baltimore Orioles this season, he’s the type of pitcher who’ll blow away the opponent for three late outs or walk ‘em loaded before tossing a wild pitch. Poor command at times has held him back from becoming a truly effective big league reliever.

Nevertheless, he was a necessary addition to the Mets as their second lefty in the bullpen. Behind Brooks Raley, he’s actually quite perfect. Soto has held lefty hitters at bay this year. Not franchise altering or even the best available lefty on the market, he seems to fit the pool of pitchers the Mets actually needed.

To get Soto, the Mets gave up Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster. Only Aracena was a ranked prospect with Foster being a good yet overlooked relief pitcher in Double-A. Each feels expendable if the mission is to win a championship in 2025.

The Mets began their trade deadline mayhem by landing Soto. A positive feeling simply because it had been their longest and most obvious need, it makes the honor roll

Grade: B

2) Tyler Rogers

Initially, this felt like a “how dare you pay that much” type of move. It was a shock to see such familiar names sent away to the San Francisco Giants for Tyler Rogers. Drew Gilbert was one of the best Mets prospects only two years ago. Blade Tidwell spent time as their best pitching prospect briefly and had a chance to at least be a contributing bullpen arm in the near future. Speaking of contributing, the Mets also sacrificed Jose Butto in the deal as well.

Did the Mets get better? Absolutely. Rogers has been an underrated bullpen piece in the San Francisco bullpen for several years. The cost was high, but necessary if they were going to be the ones to come away with Rogers in relief.

While the feeling with the Soto trade was a “so what?” on the return the Orioles had, this one left many feeling some doubts. It included both quality and quantity, the former that fans will debate until the end of time. If you’ve been paying attention to world events, we may still have a few hours left.

This was a solid addition. However, Rogers wasn’t a steal by any means. The Mets paid a fair price. Now we just have to hope it goes the way it often has for Rogers in his career.

Grade: C+

3) Ryan Helsley

Somehow, this trade made the Rogers deal feel even better. With Rogers as a setup man for Edwin Diaz, the bullpen situation gets better. Him falling back and making Ryan Helsley the true 8th inning guy and 9th inning alternative ups the excitement even more so.

The Mets traded Jesus Baez, Nate Dohm, and Frank Ellisalt to acquire the former St. Louis Cardinals closer. Baez was easily the best prospect of the bunch with Dohm blending into the middle of the pack on their prospect rankings. Poor Ellisalt is someone completely off the radar of most fans. I’ll proudly raise my hand and admit that other than Baez, I completely forgot who the Mets traded away in this deal.

This is the kind of well-crafted trade Mets fans were hoping to see from David Stearns. Nothing huge was given up. Every player is immediately replaceable in the farm system. The team has cycled through as many third basemen as humanly possible, putting Baez out of the picture for a future job.

A move to help slap back at the Philadelphia Phillies for their acquisition of Jhoan Duran from the Minnesota Twins, it feels like a more than reasonable price. It doesn’t matter if Helsley is out the door in a few months. This turns the Mets bullpen from good to great.

Grade: A-

4) Cedric Mullins

The Mets landed their center fielder after a day of fighting with the Chicago White Sox to land Luis Robert Jr. It ended up being Cedric Mullins who went to the Mets. The team gave up Anthony Nunez, Raimon Gomez, and Chandler Marsh.

Three pitchers with high strikeout capabilities in exchange for a guy who can and will help them right now isn’t such a bad deal for either team. Although Mullins is a rental, he was a much-needed addition with the White Sox holding Robert hostage.

The Mets didn’t need to give up any of their higher profile prospects, but rather players with some upside. Likely three pitchers who’ll only ever be relievers in the minor leagues anyway, it doesn’t seem like the cost was at such an extreme that the Mets should be ridiculed or chastised.

Mullins wasn’t the preferred choice of everyone. Blame the White Sox for asking for the moon in exchange for a high-salaried player who only recently began to hit over .200.

The move pushes Tyrone Taylor back into the preferred role of being a bench player. It allows Jeff McNeil to settle in at second base. The Mets feel a whole lot more balanced with more potential one through nine in the lineup and even off the bench.

Grade: B

Other teams did bigger things, at a higher asking price. The Mets managed to keep all of their best prospects while bettering their chances. They failed to add a starting pitcher. Their lineup is better with Cedric Mullins and the bullpen now looks elite. The plan seems to be winning games 4-3 and hoping the bullpen stays healthy.

Overall Trade Deadline Grade: A-