NY Mets Monday Morning GM: 3 trades that prove we can trust David Stearns

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Like any relationship, the one between fan and front office executive takes time to build trust. In year one with the New York Mets as the President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns has made several in-season roster moves to gain ours.

Stearns has been the type of decision-maker who’ll pull the trigger quickly on a struggling player and send him to the waiver wire. We’ve seen it mostly with the bullpen. Some have done well once leaving the Mets. Others have proven the Mets were right to get rid of them.

Strictly looking at the in-season trades, these have helped us gain trust for the POBO. Active from start to finish, he has cleverly acquired some important pieces in an attempt to create a contender.

1) The trade for Jesse Winker

Jesse Winker came to the Mets days before the MLB trade deadline. In a one-for-one swap with the Washington Nationals that sent promising prospect Tyler Stuart out of the Mets farm system and bound for D.C., it was a fair deal. The Mets got a potential everyday player who filled a void they felt was missing: a left-handed stick with some pop.

Winker has played well for the Mets. His walk-off home run against the Baltimore Orioles helped them win a game and revealed what we already figured would be the case with him. Winker has the kind of winning attitude other Mets showcase. The liveliness of Francisco Lindor, Pete Alonso, and Harrison Bader among others has given the Mets a fun personality in 2024. Positive energy and an “Us Against the World” persona has assisted the team in remaining relevant.

Coming into Monday, Winker is 25 for 75. After starting off small with a whole bunch of singles, his recent extra-base hits have come in a timely manner. A little lost in the shuffle was the double in the finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He was pinch run for on what ended up as the game-winning run.

2) The trade for Luis Torrens

Luis Torrens has cooled off from the incredible start he had with the Mets. Now batting .253/.312/.404, he remains a big improvement over the other backup catchers the Mets have employed this year. Omar Narvaez and Tomas Nido don’t compare to the kind of offensive threat Torrens has been whenever he gets into the lineup.

Just as important has been Torrens’ ability to keep runners honest. There have been 7 stolen bases against him while 12 runners have been caught. This was the inescapable weakness of the Mets early on. Even Francisco Alvarez was unable to catch a runner before landing on the IL in late April. Forget about Narvaez ever having much of a shot.

This trade was made especially clever because of how little the Mets gave up: cash. Swiped away from the New York Yankees who desperately needed a catch who could throw out runners and provide the lineup with some potency earlier this year, this may very well go down as the best trade from a Mets standpoint made with their Big Apple brother.

Adding Winker wasn’t a genius move in any regard because he had been playing well in the majors. Torrens was rotting away in the minor leagues. Stearns trusted himself and everyone else who believed Torrens was a solution. He has been rewarded for it.

3) The trade for Phil Maton

Maybe not quite as impactful as the addition of Winker because he is “only a reliever,” we have to be incredibly pleased with what the Mets have gotten from Phil Maton. The veteran reliever came to the Mets in early July in exchange for cash. This was another case of the Mets outsmarting the competition. Maton wasn’t having a spectacular year with the Tampa Bay Rays. However, some pre-scouting into what types of adjustments he could make helped them turn his season around in the best way possible.

Maton went from a 4.58 ERA in 35.1 innings down to the 1.86 it has been through 19.1 innings as a member of the Mets. On a pitching staff guilty of walking too many batters, his 2.3 walks per 9 is the mint in the mouth of the breath of fresh air.

Making this more rewarding is the team option on Maton for next season. While not yet a lock to get picked up, Maton seems worth $7.75 million for next season.

If the Mets are able to achieve the goal of making it to the postseason, they’ll feel confident with Maton in the bullpen. He has been an exceptional player in three separate trips to the playoffs. In 21.2 total innings, his 0.83 ERA is exactly what you want in late innings during October crunch time.

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1) The trade for Jesse Winker

2) The trade for Luis Torrens

3) The trade for Phil Maton

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