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

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.