Mets Monday Morning GM: 3 lessons the team can learn from last offseason’s misfires

Where did New York Mets President of Baseball Operations David Stearns shine brightest? It definitely wasn’t in the 2023-2024 offseason. Other than the success provided by Sean Manaea and Luis Severino, he seemed to be at his best with in-season moves. Promotions that worked out incredibly well during the regular season and some wise trades are what helped turn the Mets around.

There are always lessons to be learned from failures in the past. The Mets certainly had their misfires. Avoiding some of these mistakes can get them off to a better start in 2025.

1) The Mets don’t need to create a situation where they have too much roster redundancy

The Mets really wanted a strong defensive team in 2024. The odd thing about it is through the first few weeks of the season they weren’t that great with the glove. It held them back offensively. Zack Short and Joey Wendle? They were never necessary together.

It wasn’t just those two versatile infielders who gave the impression the Mets put too many eggs into one basket. Harrison Bader and Tyrone Taylor essentially swapped roles by the time the season was over with. There was never much of a need to have both together. While an acceptable attempt to give themselves two good defensive players on the roster, it handicapped them at times because this was a team that employed J.D. Martinez. For a good length of time, Martinez was joined on the roster by DJ Stewart who is essentially a DH himself. Jesse Winker is nothing special with a glove either and the Mets wisely moved Stewart to the minors in favor of him.

The way this roster was built seemed more focused on types of players rather than checking off all of the necessary boxes. The only speed they had on the bench came from Taylor. Then there was the bullpen where things were questionable from the start.

3) Find guys who want to be here, fit the locker room, etc.

This is the tough one. How do you really tell this? No amount of number crunching can confirm if a player truly wants to be with the team or not. This developed naturally. We saw how appreciative Jose Iglesias was to be on the major league roster. Quite the opposite occurred with others who seemed to let their poor performance get the best of them.

The Mets were a little too casual when it came to finding players who fit into the locker room. Here’s an easy excuse for them: they didn’t have an identity. Because it took until around June 1 for the Mets to become who they truly were in 2024, this is less of a critique and more of a suggestion based on the way everything turned out.

Stearns didn’t completely ignore this element. Bader was a high energy player whose friendship with Pete Alonso helped welcome him. They later added Winker for a more offensive-focused version.

Looking back at this season, the Mets didn’t really have much of a personality for the first two months. Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo were the clear leaders and yet when they spoke it seemed more low key. There wasn’t the same fire they spoke with once the Mets started to win.

Momentum from one season to the next is a fallacy. However, a newly created culture around the Mets with many of the same players coming back is something to build on.

When the Mets signed Max Scherzer before the 2022 season, many pointed to that deal as making the Mets “legitimate.” Nearly three years since he signed his deal, we know that wasn’t the case. Changing the perception of the Mets organization this year is what has helped far more. This isn’t just a team players sign with to get paid. Baseball was fun in Queens. The fan support was undeniable. The allure of wearing orange and blue became real.