Even with the Mets playing some of their best baseball all year, David Stearns had been reluctant to move on from some of the organization’s young talent to improve the club ahead of last season’s trade deadline.
But now that they’ve gone out and landed superstar outfielder Juan Soto on a historic and franchise-altering 15-year deal in free agency, it appears that philosophy has quickly been changed.
Stearns told reporters on Tuesday night at the Winter Meetings that he’d be open to moving on from some of the Mets’ top prospects if the right deal were to present itself this winter.
“I think we have to be,” he said. “In the right deal, we have to look to see whether there are players who immediately make us better or have control and things like that. So I wouldn’t close the door on it at all.
“You’re never looking to trade your top prospects. We like the top of our system quite a bit, we think it’s a good group. Many of them can potentially help us quickly at the big-league level, so I can’t say we’re looking to do it but I’m not going to close the door on it.”
On that front, Stearns said that starting pitching has been a very hot commodity in talks around the trade market throughout the Winter Meetings, and he expects multiple arms to be on the move in the coming weeks.
One of the most popular available is White Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet.
Crochet made his first career All-Star appearance after pitching to a stellar 3.58 ERA and 1.06 WHIP while striking out 209 batters and walking just 33 during his first full season in the starting rotation.
The Mets are said to be among the “most aggressive suitors” for the southpaw and they match up very well, as Chicago is reportedly seeking close to major-league-ready up-the-middle talent in return in any potential trade.
Youngsters such as Luisangel Acuna, Jett Williams, Drew Gilbert, Brett Baty, and Ronny Mauricio could potentially be of interest.
While it would be a tough pill to swallow for the Mets to part ways with any of them, it certainly sounds like the 25-year-old Crochet is the type of young and controllable asset it would take for Stearns to get something done.