Mets trade with the Brewers is going from petty larceny to grand theft

The New York Mets didn’t even wait until Thanksgiving to make their first player for player trade this offseason. Jose Siri was picked up from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Eric Orze. This might have started a different sort of pattern for the team. Last offseason featured only a single trade. Fine wine doesn’t age as well as it has.

It was on December 20 when David Stearns sealed the deal with his former employer, the Milwaukee Brewers, and added a pair of players to the Mets roster. Pitcher Adrian Houser and outfielder Tyrone Taylor went to New York in exchange for Coleman Crow.

Houser was a big bust for the Mets but Taylor won his way into the hearts of the fans. Eventually taking over what essentially became a starting gig in center field, he set multiple career highs in his part-time role. His 22 doubles and 11 stolen bases weren’t ignored. It helped to make this trade a good one. Based on how things went for the Brewers, it might be a flawless victory.

The Mets can raise the victory flag on what has become the Tyrone Taylor trade

Coleman Crow didn't direct Fast Times at Ridgemont High nor did he ever actually pitch a game for the Mets organization. He was picked up in June from the Los Angeles Angels in the Eduardo Escobar deal while hurt. Missing all of 2024 due to his Tommy John Surgery recovery, the lousy results in the Arizona Fall League only add to how high the victory flag flies in Queens.

Excluding Crow from the 40-man roster isn’t so outlandish. Drafted in the 28th round back in 2019, his placement as a semi-legitimate prospect is extraordinary already. Through 214.1 innings in the minors, Crow has gone 15-6 with a 4.33 ERA. All of those appearances have come as a member of the Angels organization with just 9 frames in the AFL for the Brewers and nothing for the Mets.

Crow has yet to pitch above Double-A so getting selected in the Rule 5 Draft this December seems unlikely. Unlike some of the players the Mets have left unprotected, Crow’s questionable health and unspectacular results should have the other 29 teams passing on him.

Last year while Crow was still with the Mets, protecting him in the Rule 5 Draft made a little more sense as a team could have easily swiped him away and hid him for the season on the IL. No one did claim him. He has given teams more of a reason not to this time around.

As for Taylor, it’s business as usual. Likely on his way to playing a lot of center field next year in some sort of tandem alongside Siri, he’s the one guy from this trade playing to expectations.