David Stearns Reveals What Other Clubs Were Persistently Asking Mets For at Deadline

According to Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns, other teams were persistent with this ask ahead of the trade deadline.

Feb 15, 2024; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns talks with media at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports / Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports

The trade deadline came and went, and the New York Mets made a flurry of moves.

Although president of baseball operations David Stearns did not pull off any big splash deals, the Mets look like a better team now that they added some reinforcements.

Stearns and the Mets stuck to their plan of not selling the farm, while also improving the club around the margins such as in the rotation, bullpen and outfield. Check, check and check.

But according to Stearns, that didn't stop other teams from persistently asking about the availability of several top Mets' prospects.

David Stearns says that all of the Mets' top prospects were asked about "multiple times" in trade talks pic.twitter.com/tXdVDfBkNQ

— SNY (@SNYtv) July 30, 2024

"Every single one of our top prospects were asked about multiple times," Stearns told reporters on Tuesday following the 6 p.m. EST deadline.

As Stearns revealed, there were some challenging decisions that had to be made. In the end, the Mets opted to hang onto all of their top minor leaguers.

The Mets were still able to upgrade their bullpen, acquiring Phil Maton, Ryne Stanek, Huascar Brazoban and Tyler Zubner, without giving up too much in exchange for these arms. They also landed a solid starting pitcher in righty Paul Blackburn to shore up their rotation depth.

The only ranked prospects in their farm system that the Mets wound up shipping out were righty starters' Tyler Stuart (No. 17) and Kade Morris (No. 25). Stuart was sent to the Washington Nationals for left-handed hitting outfielder Jesse Winker and Morris was dealt to the Oakland Athletics for Blackburn.

The Mets have made it clear time and again that 2024 is a transition year. That being said, they expect to make the postseason and they're sitting in the second NL Wild Card spot only a half game back of the Atlanta Braves for the top position.

Stearns had a solid first deadline as the top baseball decision maker for the Mets, and he did not mortgage the future in the process.