Mets Monday Morning GM: 3 best smaller market moves of the offseason

2) The Mets filled two roster spots with a savvy trade

How can you not appreciate the one major trade by the Mets this offseason? Stearns, using whatever relationship he still had with the Brewers, sent them prospect Coleman Crow in exchange for pitcher Adrian Houser and outfielder Tyrone Taylor. This isn’t exactly picking up Gary Carter. However, for the Mets to fill two vacant roster spots with a quality fifth starter and outfielder with some impressive tools with the only cost being a guy who might not pitch at all this year, we have to score this as a win.

Exactly how small market is this? The Mets took advantage of the smaller spending Brewers in this case. Eager to shed some salary, this deal seemed mostly about them getting anything at all in return for two pretty important additions to the roster. It’s pretty impressive that Stearns was able to do so for only a single player let alone one who isn’t ranked too highly and will have a continued rehab ahead of him.

The Mets could have easily spent more money on a fifth starter than they will on Houser. The two sides agreed to a deal worth slightly over $5 million this season. Taylor, in his first year of arbitration eligibility, will take home a little more than $2 million. He can outplay the value of this contract. Add in additional years of control on Taylor and this seems like a no-brainer deal for the Mets.