NY Mets Monday Morning GM: 5 popular David Stearns decisions that went terribly wrong

Two weeks ago, we started our Monday off with unpopular David Stearns decisions that went the way we expected. A dark cloud came over Citi Field. The POBO suddenly had egg on his face. Last week, it was the reverse. We took a look at some of the more unpopular choices by Stearns during his time with the New York Mets that actually worked out better than expected.

This week? We look at some of the more popular decisions that didn’t work out so amazingly well.

Stearns is currently under fire by fans and has surely already made some mistakes in the 2025-2026 offseason. He’ll have to regain faith from a number of fans. In the past, these popular decisions made by the Mets (Stearns being the representative) didn’t end up going so smoothly.

1) Trading for Ryan Helsley

There wasn’t a trade deadline move made by Stearns for the Mets more well-received than the one for Ryan Helsley. A stud closer who’d now be a setup man in front of Edwin Diaz? The Mets were stacked in the bullpen. The possibilities were endless. They could even use Diaz in the 8th inning if needed and ask Helsley to get the final 3 outs. Hells Bells was going to be the new Narcos.

Well, things didn’t go so well. From the jump, Helsley showed signs of not being himself. He was in the midst of an irregularly poor season with the St. Louis Cardinals. Believing they could “fix” him in some ways, the Mets were punished with a 7.20 ERA in Helsley’s 20 innings of work.

It wasn’t just a problem with too many walks, too many hits, or too many home runs allowed. Helsley struggled in all regards. His strikeout totals fell, adding to the disheartening reality of how badly this popular trade was going to age.

With trades like this that didn’t seem to even cost the Mets such a high-profile prospect, it’s hard to slap Stearns on the wrist too hard. It was a good move. We all loved it. It just went terribly wrong.