Mets Monday Morning GM: 3 reasons fans might be unimpressed with David Stearns

2) The Mets didn’t pull off enough heists in trades or free agency

The trade the Mets pulled off with the Milwaukee Brewers is the kind of genius move we should expect someone like Stearns to make. Coleman Crow, an injured pitcher, was sent to the Brewers for Tyrone Taylor and Adrian Houser. Taylor is a controllable outfielder with good defensive skills and some pop in his bat. Houser is a more than acceptable number five starter with the capability to be slightly more.

Beyond this thievery, the Mets didn’t really pull off any other major heist.

There wasn’t a low-key free agent move made by the team that looks bound to be a steal. They paid Luis Severino and Sean Manaea market value for pitchers coming off of not-so-great seasons. The Shintaro Fujinami hype could work out for the best. However, struggles with two teams and in both a starter and reliever role last year shouldn’t have us retiring his number quite yet.

Stearns excelled most with the smaller moves and it’ll probably be what impresses us most. Actively adding on the waiver wire and trading those players away for cash considerations was wise yet mostly insignificant in the grand scheme of things. All it really does is build up a good repertoire with other organizations—some of which may have an internal change by the time the Mets can reap any benefit.