David Stearns Explains Mets’ Trade Deadline Strategy With Clear Message on October Expectations

The New York Mets didn’t let the deadline pass them by quietly. Instead, they were arguably one of the most active clubs at the deadline. They made four deals to add three relievers and one center fielder. Their final move came on Thursday as they landed Cedric Mullins from the Baltimore Orioles. Before that, their bullpen overhaul had already begun when they first acquired left-hander Gregory Soto—the first of two trades with the Orioles.

Well, Soto 2.0’s addition was just the beginning of a targeted bullpen overhaul. Just the day before the deadline expired, the Mets sent three of their players to the San Francisco Giants for right-hander Tyler Rogers. Across 53 games this season, Rogers has held a 1.80 ERA.

Then, a few hours later, the Mets locked in another deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. They sent three prospects for the Cardinals’ elite closer, Ryan Helsley. He has held a 3.00 ERA with 41 strikeouts across 36 innings, and Helsley was one of the most coveted closers at this deadline.

The Mets had put a lot of thought into each deal. After the deadline day passed, the President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns, discussed what the team was looking for. “You know, in any deadline, you’re trying to both improve the team to do so in a way that doesn’t strip too much of your future value. And so look at what’s out there in totality, and so with this deadline, we really felt like attacking the bullpen, shoring up our roster and our pen from the back forward made sense. And we’re really pleased with what we were able to come away with,” he said.

The club’s primary focus was building a sturdier bridge and constructing a cleaner path to Edwin Diaz. Let’s just say that vision is accomplished. The Mets now have Soto, Helsley, and Rogers—all three make the best trio of rental relievers.

After all, Stearns isn’t just concerned about the regular season; he’s eyeing the bigger picture: “We think that once we’re there, we’ve got a bullpen and a team as a whole that has a chance to advance and go pretty far [in the Postseason].” Stearns saw this deadline as an opportunity to prep for October. He grabbed it and made the most of it. However, along the way, the Mets missed out on some of their other interests at this deadline.

The Mets took some bigger swings that didn’t pan out

The Mets were in the winners’ category ahead of the deadline. They gave their bullpen a makeover and added Cedric Mullins to their outfield. Truly great moves, but there were some even bigger swings that didn’t end up panning out.

As per Ken Rosenthal from The Athletic, the club also had brief trade discussions with the Oakland Athletics for their closer, Mason Miller. However, the closer ended up being shipped to the San Diego Padres. Apparently, Miller was very expensive, as the Padres traded four of their top 20 prospects. That included the No. 3 prospect (all baseball), shortstop Leo De Vries, and right-hander Braden Nett, who was their No. 3 prospect.

All the clubs, including the Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Yankees, and the Mets, were interested in Miller. But in the end, it was the Padres GM, A.J. Preller, who met the asking price. Moreover, the Mets were also one of the clubs that reached out to Byron Buxton’s agent about the outfielder.

But this time, it was probably his no-trade clause that didn’t let the deal materialize. And at the end, they pivoted and landed on Soto 2.0, Helsley, and Rogers. On the brighter side, the Mets did not lose grip on their top prospects such as Jett Williams, Brandon Sproat, Jonah Tong, and others.