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

3) The Mets lacked creativity when it comes to the bigger moves

No rabbits were pulled out of a Mets cap this offseason. Stearns didn’t invent a new way of circumnavigating the luxury tax penalties like the Los Angeles Dodgers did with Shohei Ohtani. It was a very straightforward offseason. The big payoff will come if all of those hard-throwing relievers can find their command.

Creativity (and Steve Cohen’s wallet) is what saved the Mets. Willingness to pay portions of the contracts traded away at last year’s deadline, specifically with Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, helped achieve the goal of bettering the farm system. Somewhat limited by those salaries on other rosters (injured lists, too), Stearns was limited creatively. What is this, Hollywood?

We have to believe Stearns has a little black book of creative ideas he’d like to implore next year when the team has more money to spend. Targets such as Juan Soto may need it.

For the most part, it was a very “blah” offseason for the Mets who did get better but maybe that’s only because they finished last year with Carlos Carrasco and Daniel Vogelbach on the roster.

Willing to take some chances this offseason, there is room for things to work out well. The trouble is the Mets took a lot of short-term risks. The 2024 season could use a miracle.