3 lessons David Stearns can learn from Chaim Bloom's Red Sox failure and not repeat

Imagine if the New York Mets hired Chaim Bloom. There's no guarantee it would have ended as quickly as it did in Boston. However, it's clear he didn't have a magic potion. His baseball brilliance was fallible after all. 

In case you didn’t have cell phone coverage at your orthopedist’s office featuring a sub-2 minute meeting with the actual doctor like myself, Bloom was fired by the Boston Red Sox on Thursday. The timing works out well for the Mets who were able to nab their guy, David Stearns, before yet another contender for him emerged. The pain if the Mets had waited and the Red Sox pulled Stearns in instead would have been worse than the pain my orthopedist insists requires an MRI to diagnose. Apparently, doctors don’t have magic potions either.

The Bloom tenure in Boston turned out to be a major disappointment for Red Sox fans. To avoid the same feelings in Flushing, Stearns should avoid the same sand traps. Let’s look at them and some equivalent moves he might make to match.

NY Mets can't let trade their Mookie Betts or let their Xander Bogaerts leave in free agency

One of Stearns' first orders of business is to plan out where Pete Alonso fits in. Personally, I grab a permanent marker and write his name into the cleanup spot. He shouldn't go anywhere.

Giving him the Mookie Betts treatment or allowing him to walk as Xander Bogaerts did is the wrong move to make. Alonso isn't quite Betts in terms of talent but he's their closest thing to it nearing an expiring contract.

Stearns wouldn't be doing his job if all he did was listen to the fans. He should field calls on a possible Alonso trade. He'd be insane not to.

When push comes to shove, it's hard to see the Mets getting a sizable enough hail in return for Alonso. Worse is letting him leave for nothing at all.

If Alonso ends up in another team’s uniform, it feels like money is the reason why. He can’t be that unreasonable behind the scenes, can he? Don’t do what Bloom did and let too many fan favorites leave.

NY Mets should be cautious of pitchers with injury histories 

James Paxton was one of the more curious additions to the Red Sox roster by Bloom. They took a flier on him and have paid the price. Although he has some success this year, much of his time with the Red Sox has been spent on the IL. He missed all of 2022. He has been an absolute mess in recent weeks when Boston had a chance to deal him at the trade deadline and get something in return.

No dice.

Paxton had already shown signs of being an injury risk. He made 5 starts for the New York Yankees in 2020 and only one more for the Seattle Mariners in 2021. It would almost be excusable for the Red Sox to get away with it if not for Chris Sale already being on their roster with a similar track record of getting sidelined.

Stearns could make similar moves for the Mets. Signing a free agent like Luis Severino falls into a similar category. Yes, he was excellent at one point. Even when healthy in more recent years, Severino has shown flashes of his old self.

Still haunted by the duo of Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha from 2020, the Mets aren’t really in a position to take a flier on someone. Let those with no intentions of playing in the playoffs do so. The Mets need the best players they can get, not the best bargains.

Be smart by not trying to show everyone how smart you can be.