NY Mets Monday Morning GM: 2 decisions trending in the right direction, 1 collapsing

Every decision made by the New York Mets will be put under a microscope once we know the stunning conclusion to the 2025 season. Did they load up enough in the offseason? Were their trade deadline moves good enough?

It’s hard to find positives with the team right now. They’re fresh from losing 8 straight, only to eke out a win over the Texas Rangers on Sunday in extra innings. Their most recent win prior had Edwin Diaz barely getting them through the ninth versus the Cincinnati Reds on a Friday night.

A lot of decisions have been made regarding this team with a few more on the way. Sean Manaea is moving to the bullpen. Kodai Senga has been sent down to work on things. Francisco Alvarez decided to fight through the pain rather than give us a high dose of Hayden Senger. Inconclusive, these other decisions have a longer shelf life for us to see a positive trend with two and an upcoming collapse for another.

Calling up Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat was clearly the right call

Hats off to Nolan McLean and Brandon Sproat who, other than maybe David Peterson, have been the team’s best starting pitchers. It’s not exactly as if they’re going up against Cy Young, Walter Johnson, and Tom Seaver. The Mets starting staff has been miserable. Nevertheless, we should credit David Stearns for giving into the most obvious decision of all he needed to make.

Fans have put their ideas of what a potential Mets postseason rotation could look like. But if it was starting today, these two would belong. Neither has thrown a dud yet with Sproat almost getting overlooked for how good he has been because McLean's debut has looked as impressive as anyone in the league.

So much for Jose Siri saving center field

One of the more easy to scrutinize positions on the field this year for the Mets has been center field. The plan of platooning Jose Siri and Tyrone Taylor to begin the year never really came to be as Siri was out for most of the year. Now it’s Taylor’s turn on the sidelines. In the meantime, Carlos Mendoza has been asked to figure out which of the flawed players at the position should get starts.

Cedric Mullins hasn’t won over any fans. Jeff McNeil’s misplay on defense against the Philadelphia Phillies reminded us he’s better at other positions. Siri, unfortunately, hasn’t been able to provide the Mets with much energy or production. Just 1 for 9 with 7 strikeouts since his IL return, he now has 15 Ks in 29 at-bats. We knew he’d strike out a lot. This rate is unfathomably awful.

Maybe keeping Ryne Stanek won’t end so badly

Unbelievably, Ryne Stanek has been one of the better Mets relievers over the last week. He has even found himself in position to earn the win in 2 of the team’s 4 victories in September.. In his last 3 games spanning 7 days, he has allowed one earned run in 4.1 innings. Finishing off the Texas Rangers on Sunday could be a turning point for the veteran reliever whom many wanted to see cut before they even got to September.

Comparing Stanek to other Mets relievers over such a small sample size isn’t necessarily an honor of any kind. It’s like comparing a torn labrum to a stuffy nose. An optimist might remember that Stanek was terrific for the Mets in the playoffs last year. They need that excellence to arrive now and linger for as long as possible.