Re-grading all 7 NY Mets trade deadline moves from last year

Tyler Zuber - First Grade B-, New Grade D-

Sneaky. Clever. Unforeseen. There were a lot of ways to describe the Mets trade for Tyler Zuber. It was kind of like the Jay for Shook deal. The Mets swapped minor leaguer Paul Gervase in exchange for Zuber and it just so happened to occur around the trade deadline. It was the second deal the Mets made with the Rays, following the earlier acquisition of Maton.

It didn’t end up factoring into the 2024 season as neither player involved pitched in the majors. Zuber was way too awful in Triple-A. A 12.38 ERA then and a 6.11 ERA in 2025 for Syracuse eventually led to the Mets DFA’ing him.

Apparently, it was a bigger reach than it looked for the Mets to ever believe Zuber could contribute in the majors. Just a single 2-inning appearance for them in 2025 was enough for them to realize the error in judgment. He gave up 2 runs against the Phillies in his one and only opportunity.

This trade goes from a B- down to a D-. Why isn’t it an F? Gervase hasn’t threatened to become a truly good big league reliever just yet. We give Stearns credit for adding to the depth even if it ended up flaming out without mercy.

We’re one good year from Gervase in the big leagues for this to become an F forever.