Revisiting Mets' Disastrous 2025 Trade Deadline Performance One Year Later

[Michael Reed]

Image courtesy of © Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images

The New York Mets were clearly in a win-now position around the trade deadline last season, and David Stearns’ trade acquisitions were indicative of that. However, one year later, we can comfortably say his plan didn't work out.

In the midst of another failed season by this organization, it feels right to look back at what went wrong last season, particularly the 2025 deadline from hell. The Mets needing starting pitching and not acquiring any was the beginning of the end for this team, and the four acquisitions they did make almost certainly made the team a lot worse.

To start off the deadline, Stearns acquired Gregory Soto from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for pitching prospects Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster. Soto was brought over to pitch against lefties; a simple enough task, right? Wrong. Soto’s ERA in September was a 7.94, not nearly good enough for the Mets, who were trying to make a playoff push. Soto was usually used as a set-up man for the team, and yet, in the eighth inning he managed a 4.94 ERA with a 1.48 WHIP.

Since then, Soto signed in the offseason with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Soto currently manages a 3.30 xERA and 1.11 WHIP in 35 IP. Neither one of Aracena or Foster has cracked the Orioles' top 30 prospects yet, with the latter pitching six games this season in the majors (9.00 ERA).

Next, Stearns traded three major-league-caliber players in Drew Gilbert, Jose Butto and Blade Tidwell to the San Francisco Giants for Tyler Rogers. In 27 innings pitched for the Mets, Rogers turned out all right. He pitched to a 2.30 ERA and was a useful arm in the bullpen. His strikeout rate did plummet from 20.2% with the Giants to 9.0% with the Mets, though.

None of the outgoing players have fully broken out at the major-league level but they have been mostly solid. Tidwell is currently in Triple-A but did sport 3.00 ERA in the big leagues with a 136 ERA+. Butto was only able to pitch three games before heading to the 60-day IL. To begin the season, Drew Gilbert was an electric factory for the team but has since calmed down. Stearns intended to re-sign Rogers but he chose the Blue Jays this offseason, with whom he currently owns a 1.82 ERA.

The Mets' biggest deadline splash was a trade for star closer Ryan Helsley, parting with top-10 prospect Jesus Baez, along with pitching prospects Nate Dohm and Frank Elissalt. When people talk about the 2025 deadline, the failure of Ryan Helsley will be the first thought in mind. In 22 games with the Mets, he mustered up a 7.20 ERA with 58 ERA+ and a 5.19 FIP. For most of his tenure in Queens, Helsley struggled with finding the strike zone and tipping pitches. His 100 mph fastball ended up being one of the worst in baseball, producing -15 Fastball Run Value.

Jesus Baez is currently destroying Double-A pitching to the tune of a .353 average. Dohm is the Cardinals' No. 30 prospect but currently sports an 8.21 ERA in High-A. Elissalt is currently on the 60-day IL.

Helsley signed with the Orioles at the beginning of the offseason on a two-year deal and, to the Mets' dismay, he has become a respectable closer again.

Stearns’ final acquisition was trading for Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins, parting with prospects Anthony Nunez, Raimon Gomez, and Chandler Marsh. The Mets needed a true center fielder last season, as Jeff McNeil and Tyrone Taylor saw the lion share of at-bats there and neither hit well. However, Mullins struggled during his stint in New York, slashing just .182/.284/.281 in 42 appearances.

Nunez has struggled recently but was dominant to start the year. Gomez sports a 27.00 ERA in eight games in A+ ball. Marsh owns a 4.40 ERA in High-A.

Mullins, like the rest of these players, decided not to re-sign with the Mets and instead joined forces with the Tampa Bay Rays. He has not been great either this year, posting a career-low 74 wRC+.

To put it plainly, the Mets missed the playoffs last year in part due to their atrocious deadline performance. A majority of the prospects are not panning out, none of the acquired players are still on the team, and the Mets are still struggling. Some might call this a lose-lose-lose situation.

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[Cowtipper]

Disastrous? David Stearns isn't just extremely intelligent, he is also very wise. He made these trades to show us that some things in life are more important than winning baseball games.

David Stearns, he's so great  😍

[The Hot Corner]

I admit that I liked the addition of Helsley and Rogers.  I thought they would bolster our pen for the stretch run.  I believed a backend of Diaz, Helsley, Rogers, and Raley would be "lights out" game over type of late inning crew.  I was rather indifferent to the Soto deal.

Unfortunately, Helsley blew up and became a head case worrying over tipping pitchers rather than actually making good pitches.  I think Helsley was another example of a closer that can't pitch in non-save situations.  Worse yet, Helsley couldn't pitch in virtually any situation during his time with the Mets.  Rogers was good and I would have liked to see the Mets retain him.  Soto was underwhelming and couldn't throw strikes reliably.  Cedric Mullins was a misguided attempt to catch lightning in a bottle a few years too late.  He was once good, but his time had passed.