5 Mets players David Stearns would have traded if the team was punting in 2024

3) Jose Quintana

Jose Quintana was a much-discussed trade candidate as early as last year’s trade deadline. Rumors and simple speculation suggested he’d be one of the more likely Mets players traded in the offseason. It made sense at the time with the Mets allegedly being open to trading anyone not under contract beyond 2023. Instead of trading those players, the Mets added to the pile of pending free agents.

At $13 million and coming off of a pretty good year albeit cut in half due to an injury sustained in spring training, Quintana would have had decent value in a trade. He must be more reliable than the slew of free agents who signed for around the same or slightly more this winter. And for those teams who missed out on completing the middle of their rotation, Quintana could have been a good buy.

For a million different reasons, the Mets didn’t swap Quintana for some youth. Trading him would have been the ultimate hint as to what their offseason plans were. The moment they signed Luis Severino, it helped assure us they were going to at least attempt to win. At least to start the season, Quintana will be there for the ride.