Ranking the 3 Mets trades with the Brewers made by David Stearns from Milwaukee

1) The Mets trade for Billy McKinney to save an ailing outfield

The story of the first few months of 2021 was how hurt all of the Mets players were. The shortened 2020 season seemed to have an effect on many. The Mets were willing to do whatever they could to fill the outfield with a warm body. One of the better solutions came when the Mets traded for Billy McKinney on May 26.

 McKinney would actually have one of his better major league stints for the Mets in the 39 games he appeared. A .220/.304/.473 slash line doesn’t seem like much. Going from Cameron Maybin and Khalil Lee who gave them nothing offensively, it was welcomed with great pleasure. Playing mostly in right field during the absence of Michael Conforto, McKinney was able to fill the gap until the Mets starters got healthy and he was designated for assignment then traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in July.

In order to pick up McKinney to try to save their outfield, the Mets sent 17-year-old lefty pitcher Pedro Quintana to the Brewers. Quintana had yet to appear for the Mets in a game professionally. In fact, he only made his debut for the Brewers in 2023 with 11.2 innings in the Dominican Summer League. A “lottery ticket” addition for Milwaukee, this could very well turn out much the same as some of the trades the Mets would make at the 2023 trade deadline. 

Quintana turned 20 at the beginning of March. On one extreme, he’s a future star. On the other, he’ll be a forgotten player including in a trade that only had consequences for a few weeks. In either case, the Mets weren’t able to pull any wool over Stearns’ face in the three trades they made with Milwaukee. At best, this one can be considered throwing the Mets a bone.