Reese Kaplan -- What Happens When the POBO Chooses Badly?

Pitch Profiler                     @pitchprofiler

Nolan McLean with a tough start, but leaves with the Mets up and their playoff hopes still alive

Given the many less than stellar people the Mets have had in their front office the acquisition of David Stearns felt like they had made a major step forward.  During his first year as the President of Baseball Operations the Mets finished the regular season with a winning record of 81-76.  Five games over .500 is not going to win a pennant but it was parallel to the team he inherited after the 2023 season that also ended with an identical 81-76 record.  Thus far they are 81 -76 again with 4 games left to play.  Are we seeing a pattern?

During this offseason the Mets were very much in the headlines for their public solicitation of Juan Soto.  We all saw the many stories, the competitors and despite the unbelievable number it took to land the young superstar everyone celebrated that the Mets were turning themselves into a real team with a very strong core of players.

Unfortunately, that transaction may stand out as Stearns’ sole highlight for the year.  Really?  With a wildcard playoff spot within grasp you’d think his many personnel moves would have made a major positive impact.  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Let’s take a look.

• Paul Blackburn was a somewhat strange transaction when it took place in 2024 and he did nothing to justify it since coming to New York.  Granted, he has had health issues, but his pitching was bad enough that he earned a DFA.
• Ryan Helsley was a top-of-the-crop closer for the St. Louis Cardinals.  His acquisition on paper seemed like a smart move but until his last 4-5 appearances he has been not mediocre but awful.  Given that he’s a rental and will become a free agent at year’s end, this move has been a spectacular failure.
• Clay Holmes was brought in to transition from quality reliever to solid starter.  For the most part it seemed like a good move but as the year wore on perhaps it was the extra innings on his arm.  Lately he’s been adequate at best as his ERA rose from below 3.00 during the early part of the year to 3.69 as they play their final week of the regular season.  A 70 inning pitcher has thus far thrown 158 with more to follow.  The wear and tear may be at play here but considering how bad the rest of the starting pitching has been he’s already a decent acquisition.
• Sean Manaea started the year injured and when he returned he went quickly from solid starter to “Oh no!”  He was banished to the pen recently but it’s been announced he and Clay Holmes are reversing their combined efforts for one of the upcoming games.  If he can emulate the 2024 version then the signing was a good one.  If not then it wasn’t.
• A.J. Minter pitched like the outstanding reliever he had always been before an injury ended his season prematurely.  This was a solid deal but didn’t work out as had been hoped. 
• Frankie Montas was the ultimate “Huh?” kind of reaction when his signing was announced.  He has not been a solid pitcher throughout his career.  Yet for some reason Stearns felt it was wise to offer up $34 million for two years and he pitched even worse than many anticipated.  Now he’s gone for 2026 due to surgery.
• Cedric Mullins was a one-time surprising home run hitter with great base running ability and stellar defense in center field.  With both Jose Siri and Tyrone Taylor ailing it seemed that finding a center fielder was a smart move but not necessarily this one.  Mullins was a cheap solution but also coming off consecutive years batting just .233 and .234.  With the Mets he’s at just .218.  He will be gone as a free agent at year’s end.
• Tyler Rogers had a few brief hiccups upon his arrival to the Mets but he righted his ship and is pitching to a 2.16 ERA for the Mets which is actually worse than the 1.80 he was throwing for the Giants.  This trade was indeed a good one. 
• Jose Siri was just DFA’d by Stearns after missing most of the year healing from a broken tibia.  Like Mullins, he was a guy who struggled to be over the Mendoza line and could only be praised for his defense, speed and occasional home run power.
• Gregory Soto was another puzzling acquisition in July.  He hasn’t been a good pitcher since making the All Star team for the second time in 2022.  In the three years since then he’s been backsliding badly.  With the Mets he’s pitching to a 4.15 ERA and sporting a WHIP of nearly 1.6 runners per inning pitched.  Thankfully he is also a free agent at year’s end.
• Jesse Winker returning was a mixed reaction by fans.  Yes, his passion for the game was a good thing but his health kept him off the field more than he was on it.  For the year he has a single home run in 70 ABs and a .229 batting average.  He too is a free agent at year’s end.
• Then there are the myriad of AAAA players for the field and for the mound that have not added up to anything positive.

So if you go through this list you get big applause for Juan Soto, modest praise for Tyler Rogers and Clay Holmes, then a whole lot of nothing from the others.  While I respect the ability David Stearns has, whether or not he’s constructing the roster properly is still very much a question that’s up in the air.