Grading The Mets 2024 Trade Deadline

Even before the start of the season, the 2024 New York Mets seemed destined to be trade deadline sellers. This belief became even stronger after the Mets had an unbelievably bad May, looking nowhere like a playoff team. However following a brilliant stretch of play between June and July, the Mets put themselves in a position where they deserved to be buyers. The question became, how much are you willing to go in on a season that was by all accounts meant to be a stepping stone for 2025? I find myself struggling to decide what the Mets best course of action for this deadline would or could have been. Given how crazy the market had become for pitching, and the complete lack of bats on the market New York could have gotten a load of prospects for Quintana, Severino, Manaea, Alonso, Taylor, and Bader. On the other hand, this Mets offense is so brilliant at the moment and is so deserving of a shot at a legitimate postseason run, why not be willing to part ways with some top prospects in order to bring in a true ace and really bolster the bullpen? In the end, The Mets ended up going the exact route Stearns had laid out on multiple occasions, finding small ways to get better without sacrificing the future.

The Mets in total ended up bringing in

• Phil Maton

• Jesse Winker

• Ryne Stanek

• Paul Blackburn

• Huascar Brazoban

• Tyler Zuber

And of their top 30 prospects only gave up 3 of them, none of which were within their top 15. My biggest gripe with the prospects given up was losing two pitching prospects in Stuart and Morris, but when you look at the prospect packages that other teams were pulling in, David Stearns did a phenomenal job bringing in solid talent for low prices. Huascar Brazoban is a strong relief pitcher who is under team control until 2029, and the Mets only needed to give Miami Wilfredo Lara to get the job done. When you compare that to what the Arizona Diamondbacks gave up for AJ Puk, it’s an absolute steal. Jesse Winker is a massive outfield upgrade that gives the Mets an unbelievably deep lineup, and a huge threat against righties. They only had to give up #17 prospect Tyler Stuart and now have arguably the best lineup top to bottom in the National League. Paul Blackburn is not a starter that will absolutely wow you, but when you look at how nuts this year’s market was for pitchers plus the upgrade he should be over Tylor Megil, it’s another under-the-radar Stearns trade that could be extremely helpful for the Mets moving forward. Combine that with the fact Blackburn is under contract until 2026, you have one less hole to fill in the offseason and get a guy who does have a lot of potential coming to New York. Blackburn pitches to contact and is coming to a team with significantly better infield defense than the Athletics, something that could improve his numbers down the stretch this season. Stanek, Maton and Suber give the Mets a load of bullpen options, especially with Garret and Sean Reid Foley set to return sometime soon, and Megil or Peterson likely to be moved to the bullpen with Blackburn coming in.

My biggest “What if” of the deadline is Jack Flaherty, someone I expected to have a large market and bring in a strong package, especially with the pitching market this deadline. However in the end the Dodgers got him for a very underwhelming package, and with Brett Baty available as a trade chip, a large amount of shortstop prospects at their disposal and a need for a real top-of-the-rotation guy, I’m a little disappointed that the Mets don’t appear to have been in this conversation. The Astros and Orioles really blew up the whole pitching market with flat out ridiculous deals for Kikuchi and Rogers, and I appreciate that Stearns didn’t overpay on this market out of hype surrounding the team. I did however believe that he was going to wait teams out till the near end of the deadline in order to put pressure on some sellers for one more starter. At the end of the day, that’s exactly what the Dodgers did and I wouldn’t be shocked if the Tigers had received a significantly better offer from another team and overplayed their hand. The Dodgers were able to get the Tigers in a position where they recognized they needed to move Flaherty, and all of a sudden had lost all of their leverage. I was hoping the Mets would do this for Crochet or Flaherty, but with the White Sox not being able to figure out what they were doing and the Tigers seemingly looking to deal with the Dodgers or Yankees (and still not getting a good return for Flaherty) a top of the rotation starter was not something Stearns and company were able to bring in.

Overall when you look at what other teams were giving up, how many freaking prospects the Marlins were able to pile up in every deal except Brazoban, and what the Mets stated mission had been from the start, they did a very solid job. I would have liked that real impact starting pitcher, but this team shouldn’t have a problem taking a wildcard spot with the staff they currently have. I fear that they won’t have the rotation to compete deep into October, however with the offense that they have, anything is possible.

My Mets Trade Deadline Grade: B+