NY Mets Monday Morning GM: 5 unpopular David Stearns decisions that went badly

5) Trading for Cedric Mullins

Fans, for the most part, had some mixed feelings about last summer’s trade for Cedric Mullins. He wasn’t Harrison Bader who was in the middle of a stellar season with the Minnesota Twins. He wasn’t Luis Robert Jr. who had the incredible upside we’re still hunting for this offseason. Mullins was a fallen star at the position whose defense and offense weren’t necessarily all that much better than what Tyrone Taylor was doing.

Mullins turned out to meet the lowest of expectations. He hit .182 and was so bad at times the Mets couldn’t help but give opportunities to Jose Siri and Taylor despite their own weaknesses. It was Siri who was eventually DFA’d over Mullins. A case could have been made for Mullins to follow him; if only there was an alternative waiting.

The trade for Mullins didn’t necessarily come at a high cost, allowing fans some flexibility to accept it for what it was. There was no Drew Gilbert, Blade Tidwell, or Jose Butto surrendered like there was for Tyler Rogers. Mullins came at the cost of three prospects who appear poised to maybe get some big league innings in relief somewhere along the line.

The image of Mullins watching an injured Washington Nationals left fielder on the ground rather than run to second base will forever be the lasting one for his two months with the Mets.