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00:03how we doing everybody this is Tyler Ward here that is the amazing Dexter Henry and we're back
00:07at it with our latest straight out flushing New York Mets related podcast here for the New York
00:11Post sports YouTube channel and today Dexter and I have a conversation that we've been waiting
00:15patiently to come out with over the past week and a half or really months depending on the
00:20Mets fan you're talking to and that's to break down thoroughly the top 10 worst moves that Mets
00:25president David Stearns has made thus far at the helm so Dexter's going to share his picks I'm going
00:30to share mine we're going to come together and make our top 10 ranking and we want to hear from
00:34you Mets fans in the comments down below how much you agree or disagree did we miss a pick that
00:38maybe
00:39you want in there please let us know and of course shout out to each and every one of you
00:43now Dex
00:43let's waste no time in this one but I gotta ask you as always how are you doing today my
00:47friend
00:48I'm doing good man I'm doing good I mean we're gonna have to talk about something negative here
00:51which is you know bad moves have been made by David Stearns not saying that all of David Stearns
00:56moves are the bad but I'm doing good man how you doing I'm doing good happy to be back in
01:00studio
01:01obviously so it was a great time with you we're gonna be hitting it up at Citi Field a lot
01:04more
01:04here in the second half hopefully there's entertaining baseball there has been the past 48 hours believe
01:09it or not in Hotlanta at the scattered teeth so we'll see what the Mets can do moving forward but
01:14let's get into a little bit more of the bad before potentially maybe some more of the good so Dex
01:19lead it off here what are and your random order your 10 worst moves by David Stearns okay so this
01:25is random order that I have here but we will make it together we're gonna get this top 10 together
01:30uh no order okay acquiring Adrian Hauser right that that didn't work well for the Mets uh I'm also
01:37gonna say trading Jet Williams Brandon Sprout for Freddy Peralta and Tobias Myers I know that's very recent
01:41but that is also not panned out very well for the Mets uh trading for Tyler Rogers last year who
01:49isn't here with the Mets and you didn't stay long so you traded Jose Buto, Blade Tedwell and Drew
01:53Gilbert for Tyler Rogers hasn't worked that well we thought the trade deadline was gonna be great
01:57last year that ended up not being the case this has to be for me to be in the top
02:0210 it didn't
02:02bother me as much but letting Pete Alonzo walk without an offer that was tough for Mets fans here too
02:08maybe even worse letting Edwin Diaz walk the best closer in the game that also has to be a tough
02:14one
02:15there trading for Luis Robert Jr. he hasn't played much not good there this is one that I know I
02:23feel
02:23it's gonna be on your list too already trading for Ryan Helsley remember him Mets fans from last year
02:28Hells Bells thought he was gonna come in and do the thing that did not happen for the Mets at
02:33all
02:33here's another recent one might be too soon signing Jorge Polanco hasn't been on the field hasn't
02:41produced that seems like a swing and a miss by David Stearns also got to add something from the
02:45trade deadline last year thought this guy would hit for the Mets Cedric Mullins that didn't work out
02:50as well and then my last one this is the 10th one signing Frankie Montas Wardy's boy
03:06all the worst people imaginable to be my boy shout out Frankie he said nobody okay let's get in my
03:11random top 10 here um do we have any overlap we do have overlap but there was a couple that
03:16you
03:17brought up that are good and the first one I'll say is it's Adrian Hauser you know I didn't have
03:21Hauser on my list initially because I did this all off the dome I didn't do a homework I remember
03:25all
03:25these moves thoroughly but Hauser is one that definitely went in and out the dome because he
03:30was only with us for basically half a season right um I will say though a lot of the players
03:34that we're
03:34going to get into there's overlap with only performing for half a season or even being
03:38available for a quarter of a season so without further ado let's get right into this and let's
03:43begin with a bane okay for my top 10 and no random order and in a random order we're going
03:48to begin
03:48with the Mets hiring Carlos Mendoza as their manager so we're beginning with Mendy here and it's going to
03:55continue on then we of course have letting Pete Alonzo walk by not properly replacing him even
04:00somewhat you know it would be a different conversation if they brought in someone that's
04:04been relatively productive but they it's been night and day versus having someone available versus having
04:08someone not then we have of course banking this goes on hand with the other on Polanco as a certainty
04:14when it comes to his health stats as well as obviously his production and that also goes in
04:19with Robert I kind of lump them together because they're having very similar seasons both of them
04:23haven't really been available and both were guys ahead of the year David Stearns was looking at and
04:27thought that they could really be impactful players for this lineup on an everyday basis
04:30signing Frankie Montas enough said trading for Paul Blackburn who as we know only played a cup of
04:36coffee here because he had a spinal fluid leak something you don't hear too often Jose Siri remember
04:41him was supposed to be the Harrison Bader replacement was supposed to be an upgrade yeah he didn't play at
04:46all Ryan Helsley you know just decided I'm gonna get the yips and tip my pitches as soon as I
04:50land in
04:51Flushing Queens we also have trading for Freddy Peralta because while I don't hate Freddy Freddy has
04:56not worked out to this point and depending on what the Mets can get for him in return we'll make
05:00this
05:00further a worse or maybe a little bit not as bad of a mood for Stearns and last but not
05:05least I have
05:06acquiring reacquiring reacquiring felt like a million times Dickie love lady okay so to go back to you
05:14Dex how can we converge this into one here with your top 10 let me say this first of all
05:19there were some
05:20good ones you had in there including that this is your boy Mr. Lovelace of course we go way back
05:28way back that's your boy that's a really good one because everyone was tired of seeing him and so
05:34I hadn't thought about that but I think you got to put that one in in the top 10 um
05:41Jose Siri is
05:43another one I did not think about in terms of being the Harrison Bader replacement I hadn't considered that
05:48one I kind of liked that because the Mets were trying to solve things at center field and right
05:52still well now they feel better about it but at that time did not feel like they felt good about
05:58it those were two that you mentioned that really jumped out to me that I was like okay I didn't
06:02see that I also liked how you talked about the fact of not just letting Pete Alonzo walk even though
06:08I mentioned Jorge Polanco maybe we combine that together but there's a way of like you didn't have the
06:13adequate replacement which is the thing that I know you always go on your word is proactive
06:18that's one of those moves where it feels like they weren't proactive agreed and the big thing with
06:22Alonzo you know many of my followers know this I've said this on our platform in the past how
06:26I wasn't completely opposed to Pete being part of with I actually understood it in a lot of ways
06:31just knowing that the Mets wanted to tear down their current core it hasn't won regardless if Alonzo's
06:37been at fault for that or not having to change a voice and direction in that clubhouse with a change
06:41and culture I was very for it like a lot of other Mets fans naturally because again you know 2025
06:46was
06:47what it was without the 2024 run we really have nothing to clean on to with that core group over
06:51six seven or eight years so as much as I loved Pete I understood that it wasn't the most outlandish
06:57thing to part ways with him this is David Stern's team now I had a level of optimism to see
07:02okay you
07:03have your Mets on this more than ever before what can you do here and unfortunately what he did was
07:08provide the worst team that money can buy so and that is not really it's not nothing's an exaggeration
07:14that's what's frustrating about everything that I'm saying here these are these are comments that
07:17you would typically hear on specific you know sports radio we know what we're referencing here
07:21where you know these comments will be said weekly when a team really isn't performing bad you know
07:26it'll be about like the Yankees even though there's still like 10 or 20 games above 500 but for the
07:30Mets this is justified right everything that's been going wrong with them has been absolutely what
07:36you're seeing to a tee okay so you asked me how should we go about this so here's my question
07:41for you is there a move out of what you had in your 10 that you feel strongly about that
07:47you feel
07:48absolutely should be a number what do you think is the worst move because I think I have my one
07:52so what do you think is the worst move what do you say it's it's really really difficult because you
07:58can make arguments for them all in different ways I think I think obviously Frankie Montas is up
08:05there because of the money allowing allowing Severino to walk that's your number one I take it
08:09yeah we can go with that as your number one because I think that's the most that's the most
08:14clear-cut one in the sense of what you were trying to add what you purposely decide to allow to
08:20walk
08:20away when he was waiting for you and then you go ahead and that was a clear factor into why
08:26the
08:27Mets had the rotation failure they did last year agreed on all that the other thing I would add to
08:31that
08:32is could you please show me the person because I haven't seen him show me the person that actually
08:37thought when that move was made that signing was made of Frankie Montas that was like you know what
08:42that's good I think that's going to work out I'm not saying I know everything you've talked about good
08:46moves and bad moves and we've been wrong and we've been wrong because we're we're trying to do what
08:51Stearns is doing right you're you're evaluating the numbers you're evaluating the eye test you're
08:55you're paying attention to the adjustments that they make mid-season that Frankie did that year
09:00after like a full 30 start season facing the Mets in the playoffs mind you I honestly think that
09:05maybe if Montas didn't get traded the Brewers maybe Stearns doesn't go after him in the end
09:09because he was probably listening to Matt Arnold his buddy in the front office there and everyone
09:13else and said oh you know what enough of you guys are telling me that he would be a nice
09:16pickup you
09:17know I think that there was too much of those ties going on there was too much risk there for
09:21me
09:21oh for sure as has been his entire tenure which I also want to say and I know we're going
09:26to rank
09:26these worst moves it's not easy to judge that and evaluate that as you're saying and you were
09:31trying to make the best moves there are going to be some risks when you're making signings or trades
09:36but you're trying to also minimize the risk I felt like that one was screaming in the face of everyone
09:41like no don't do this right and so for me it's so egregious that it's at the it's at the
09:47top of the
09:47list now I think there's an argument you can make from my list and I don't remember if you had
09:51this on
09:52letting Edwin Diaz go was that yeah that was one that I did not have cracking my top 10 because
09:58you know I don't think that Stern's got completely outdueled in negotiations there I think Freeman did
10:03a better job from everything that we know but there was also level of Diaz that didn't want to be
10:07here
10:08as long as he knew he was getting something that was worth his while from the daughters like it's
10:12hard to say no to LA I think it's just more about LA being LA than it is about David
10:16Stern's
10:17shortcomings in that situation on top of it all Diaz has been out for like most of the first half
10:21of this
10:21year with injuries so it's like how much of an x-factor would he have been for the New York
10:24Mets
10:25at least right now he would not have been that's assuming that he would have also gotten injured
10:30here probably because it was like Warren's hair injury that's why my thing with that is not that
10:35I disagree with what you're saying totally but my thing is and we heard this with Steve Cohen on the
10:40show last week he had to get involved in those negotiations this is true and I think if Steve Cohen
10:45was
10:45like look you got to get this you got to get this done you got to keep the best closer
10:49in the game
10:50here now would it have mattered this season to your point probably not but I just don't think
10:56you let the best closer in the game walk away I didn't like that no I agree I was a
11:00little shocked
11:01to make your top 10 um because there's so many bad things to choose from like especially which is
11:07depressing the people yeah and also I think a lot of it is recency bias it's not like Diaz has
11:11been
11:12best closer in baseball so far this year if he wasn't healthy I think we have a different conversation
11:16on our hands at the moment um but you know in hand with that and also knowing that like when
11:19Steve
11:20did mention that you know let's not forget that I don't know if it's as much of Steve you know
11:25basically you know getting himself involved where he thought that David was falling short as I think
11:31it might have been more so just his normal practice because we're players that Steve has built a
11:35relationship with he's been notorious when once they eat the free agent market to invite them over to his
11:40place have a dinner have a one-on-one that kind of thing and really just see what he can
11:45do with
11:45his control and his one-on-one personal relationships with the players if he can sway them
11:50he's done that with some including Edwin to extend him obviously that we saw on that 100 plus million
11:55dollar extension and it didn't work with others like Javi Baez who wasn't here long but the Mets
12:00still catered to him and tried to of course bring him back and he obviously went to Detroit so just
12:06saying for Steve you know he's not going to do that with every player but with players that he's
12:10already kind of built a rapport with it's not shocking to hear that what was okay so Frankie
12:16Montas was number one on my list what was number one on your list I would probably put Frankie there
12:20I think that's logical I thank you is it was some of mine are interchangeable from like one to three
12:24or one to four okay so what else was what else did you feel like was in your top three
12:28or four oh I
12:28mean I right now I absolutely has to be letting Pete Alonso walk without properly replacing him I mean
12:34I think he needs that needs to be in the conversation because like this is such a glitch like the
12:38availability is the big thing you know like for as much as we can fault Pete's shortcomings
12:42defensively or obviously when he goes in his ruts offensively you know he's still on pace to be very
12:48much the guy that he has been in his career and he's showing that in a change of scenery that
12:52he
12:52can still be that guy so I think knowing that he can stay on the field and knowing that the
12:56Mets not
12:56only replaced him with someone who has not been able to stay on the field from the inception of the
13:01season but also knowing that David Stearns really have the gall to bet on a guy who's had no major
13:07league
13:07reps at first base and thinking that he could be actually a serious option there he had 70 percent
13:12of his reps at DH last season Dex like that still infuriates me that he went into this thinking that
13:17this is a logical route I understood the optimistic point of view but you see how we're kind of betting
13:23on optimism with everything with all the moves he's making that's the risk we're talking yeah the risk
13:28is outweighing the reward too often now ding ding ding agree so okay so I think this should be number
13:33two okay and the reason I feel that way is because I was I absolutely in writing down my 10
13:38was like
13:38the Polanco move has to be in the top three but I like the way that you framed it let's
13:44pair it
13:44together yeah I love the way you framed it which was you can be angry and mad and think that
13:50it was
13:50a bad move to let Pete Alonzo walk I like you was a little more fine with that yeah we
13:55both were I
13:55know I think we both think very much the same way I'm fine with that if I know that there
14:00is a plan
14:00right and plans sometimes folks plans don't work we understand that but what we're saying is you
14:07can't bank on lack of a sample size not a strong sample size for Polanco in playing first base and
14:16so
14:16when that happens and that fails now you're in the situation where the Mets are now so I'm going with
14:21this for number two um okay where we how we feel about Luis Robert Jr. so health health is an
14:31interesting thing when we're talking about Robert's a little bit more difficult because it wasn't like
14:35he was playing terrible you know his defense was falling short we saw but that went in hand because
14:40he was dealing with his injury you know like when we saw Robert healthy this year I think we were
14:45all
14:45happy with what we saw you know for for at least those first couple weeks of the year he's only
14:49he's only been playing you know about a month's worth of games so far for the Mets not even
14:53so I he's one that's difficult for me to evaluate because I also think that one way or another this
15:00opened the door for AJ Ewing to finally be given this opportunity you know maybe it had a schedule
15:05to some so I don't view the Robert situation as much like oh my god this is a lock this
15:11needs to be in
15:11my top five or top eight kind of thing it's lower for me I think it's much lower it's it
15:16might be
15:17like nine or ten for me yeah we'll get to that and say let's let's let's let's let's push that
15:20down sure because I'm with you on that let's let's you and I felt the same I remember talking
15:26about this last year the deadline deals yeah I felt great about all of them I hate I I was
15:34not a fan
15:35of the Cedric Mullins move oh so you were that I was not I I knew he was not looking
15:40good heading
15:40into that I had major concern that what happened basically with Helsley and with some others was
15:47going to happen with him where he's going from a small market to a big market and it just Robert
15:51was the guy I I really wanted at the deadline last year and the Mets were smart to not make
15:56that move
15:57then just because they would have gave up more assets the price is too high but there wasn't really
16:02a good consolation prize if you weren't Lenny Robert for the Mets there was rumblings on Stephen
16:07Quam but that wasn't going to happen and you know and and Mo and Mullins just looked like a guy
16:12that
16:12like saw a ghost as soon as he got in Queens like it wasn't I wasn't overly shocked he wasn't
16:16having
16:17a good season so what's the worst move for you was it getting Mullins who you had concerns about
16:24or Ryan Helsley it's Ryan Helsley okay so I so does Ryan Helsley move up to three are we fine
16:30with
16:30putting Ryan Helsley three I can't put Ryan Helsley at three because you want to who I really need at
16:34three okay let's go let's go all right and this one you're not going to agree with so you don't
16:38think I'm going to agree no because we're going to have a debate on it all right it's Carlos Mendoza
16:44and and here's the thing I don't okay we are going to debate on this that's a little harsh
16:49because he did get two wins away from the World Series he did he did but he did but but
16:57even even
16:57with that being the truth and being the case so Carlos Mendoza is not your boy he's not my I
17:02I
17:03actually I like Mendy a lot that's a tough thing too like it's not a personal thing against him at
17:07all
17:08I just let me let me explain briefly yes David Stearns had multiple options for manager when he
17:14was doing the managerial process of course Craig Council was the big name that many including the
17:19Mets were really cleaned on to especially given David's ties to Craig during their time
17:23and Milwaukee together now Craig didn't seem like he wanted to hit that type of market and it made
17:28sense that he didn't have to go far from Milwaukee to Chicago where the media still isn't the same
17:32level of pressure at least not in baseball right now you can make arguments about different sports
17:37and he became the highest paid manager major league baseball so like big deal but you go with
17:43Carlos Mendoza who yes the track record wasn't terrible I didn't hate the move when it happened I was
17:47excited because you're optimistic about something new you know it's the new shiny toy right what are you
17:51going to do with it but my concerns really is just more so on just the lack of ability to
17:56adjust
17:56like it did not take long for us to notice that Carlos Mendoza struggled as a new first-time manager
18:03to make proper adjustments when things were going to arrive in season just like David Stearns falling
18:08short on making in-season adjustments and I do not fault at all Mendoza where David Stearns messed up
18:16with building and constructing a poor roster so I understand that that's probably why you think it's as
18:21harsh as it is that is part of my but for me I view both things one goes in hand
18:26with the other I
18:27this is a collective effort of a failure for the team and when you go over a counter year straight
18:32of being the worst team in major league baseball I'm sorry like to suggest that that is not going
18:37to fall on all at all on the manager's shoulders right when you have some personalities and talents
18:44on this roster in the clubhouse and weren't able to maybe bring them or mesh them greater together
18:48than what you did it's not that Mendoza did anything inherently wrong but just things that
18:53he missed the mark on as a manager it's crazy because I'm glad we have this conversation because
18:58I don't think we've actually ever talked about this but with that being said because I can hear
19:03your argument for that right you want him high you want this because just think about it if the Mets
19:08didn't hire Carlos Mendoza would they be in a much different scenario right now to ask you
19:12do you really believe that if they had whatever this looks like to you you can toss this out to
19:18everybody let us know what you think in the chat do you think if they had it I'm doing air
19:23quotes here
19:23if you're listening better manager do you think that significantly reduces the way we even look at
19:30this list like maybe we have less options to choose from in terms of the worst moves that David
19:35Stearns has made do you really do you believe that I don't say really like you like it's crazy
19:39to a degree it's it's hard to gauge the ones that are just injury backed right because it how much
19:45does a manager have control there right I think I think of this year with Jorge Polanco for example
19:50we have reports on March 29th of this year that he was having the Achilles issues right and it took
19:56them mid-April to put him on the injury list retroactive still two plus weeks in the season when
20:02he clearly was not okay from the inception of the year how much of that falls on a marriage
20:07year old decision or is that solely just them listening to health professionals and then them
20:11coming together as a collective coaching staff and saying you know what Jorge we're going to take
20:14this kind of day by day with you you know you're new on the team even though that they should
20:18have
20:18the foresight and understanding that Polanco has been an injury plagued player throughout his career
20:22and he's always struggled when he's had to play through injury and that to me falls more on
20:27Stearns that falls on Stearns and I think that also falls on Mendoza for what he had his hands on
20:32because he should be cognizant and wary that that is not something that they should push
20:36and whoever was this one is spearheading that they pushed it you know I don't know how much he did
20:43or did not push it it's it's it's a gray area I agree yeah yeah it is tough I'm fine
20:48with listen I
20:50know there's going to be people in the comments that could be like I'm maybe some people want
20:53Mendy at one right or if that I'm fine with giving him a three I would not put him that
20:58high
20:58but I'm fine with what do you what do you be willing to have him in your top five at
21:02least
21:03yeah you have to okay do you want wait I'm willing I can make some concessions here you
21:07want to drop him in five or you want to keep him at three okay all right but here's why
21:11and I want
21:11to say because I will take some points of what you said why I think he's at least be top
21:16five
21:16wherever you want to put three to five whatever you can some people gonna I was I wasn't doing this
21:22to be clear some people as much if you want to prop up 2024 which is not something you and
21:27I have
21:27said to you can bank on you can't also discuss being the worst team in baseball for the last
21:32calendar year with the expectations that come up playing in New York with the expectations that
21:37were set by the ownership and the front office and some of the talent on the roster like having
21:41Juan Soto and Francisco and door not that they alone are going to win you games every single day
21:45obviously wasting their pride exactly yes taking words out my mouth and you also have
21:51one of the largest payroll in baseball correct and you are putting a bad product out for the
21:58fans so everybody's culpable in this right as we've talked about this at nausea before but I'm
22:03that's why I'm fine with it because you have to take the totality of what Carlos Mendoza did and
22:08who hired Carlos Mendoza correct there you go all right we'll keep it three Helsley
22:16Helsley we could Helsley we should put out for because Helsley's he was so bad Helsley's role
22:20in the team was supposed to be far more significant than Cedric Mullins see I think that's fair I agree
22:25he was supposed to be our shutdown bad mofo in the eighth inning to set up bad win and he
22:31was just bad
22:32and when you were listen I'm sure for you too when you're done with a player and you watch me
22:37like
22:38man I got no confidence this guy coming in yeah of course it's it was bad because I think we
22:42all
22:43were watching was like yeah I expect him to give up a bomb here I expect him to give up
22:46like back
22:46to back doubles I attended two of like his scrolls outings believe it or not a miracle I have no
22:51clue
22:52how insane but yeah Helsley F4 I think makes enough logical sense especially because the Mets give up
23:00a prospect it's the only prospect that David Stearns has given up to this point that I'm bothered by
23:04I didn't like it then I hate it now it's Jesus Baez quick thing on him for those that don't
23:09know
23:09Jesus Baez has been raking he just moved up to double-a for the Cardinals affiliate he has five
23:13home runs in his past like 11 games for them since being moved up he was the hardest hitter in
23:17the
23:17Mets minor leagues not named Ryan Clifford so there was a lot when it came to exit velocities very good
23:24defender that was working on his infield game a lot and Baez looks like someone that could get to
23:28major league level in the next counter year so you just throwing that out there for Ryan Helsley that
23:34was a whole lot of nothing could burn we don't know yeah how about it it's looking good Ryan
23:39Helsley was not good for the Mets at all whatsoever that was a huge swing in the Mets now to
23:44be fully
23:45transparent as I said I love the move at the time oh I was amped Dex I mean like you
23:51see it on paper
23:52and you're like oh this is sick you got the Submariner and Rogers you got the lefty and Soto even
23:57though
23:57you don't love them you're like okay that's at least better than kind of what we had due to injuries
24:01and rarely coming back and then you brought in Ryan Helsley you're removed from having the most
24:05saves in the National League what could go wrong right well that this is where David Stearns fall
24:11short and that's why Helsley's in the top five because the lack of proper evaluation with small
24:14market players and how they can handle the big market have you not seen that trend consistently
24:19with David Stearns becoming president he himself has had these struggles with handling this market
24:24as has been the case with the players that he's bringing in all from the NL Central as well I
24:28think he
24:29needs to start to realize that there's a theme here that a lot of these guys can't adjust the
24:33way we need them to for New York I do think this is not defending David Stearns I do think
24:38it's hard
24:38to identify those guys I do think you have to identify those guys and this is why David Stearns
24:44sometimes has got the moniker shout out to my friend Daniel McCartan at WFAN small market Stearns
24:48right he is he going to be able to get this done in the big market and you saw now
24:52we're talking about
24:52multiple guys last year that came here to New York and the lights look to be a little bit too
24:58bright
24:58right right about that with Cedric Mullins Ryan Helsley it when it was over it was over and it
25:04looked like that okay so we got four I like how we're like how we're doing this so far
25:10where are we putting because there was something you mentioned too that I liked I you know what I
25:16think we should do for five let me hear because he was someone that we really thought was going to
25:21be a significant value for the Mets and that's Jose Siri so I mean I was wondering should we go
25:26the center field when they were trying to figure that I think we should because like that was a
25:30point of emphasis where David felt kind of you know like oh look at me you know I'm getting a
25:34Harrison Bader but better you know for like half the contract you know a nice little trade at the
25:39time with the Rays and Siri was known as being not a head case but you know a charismatic player
25:43to say
25:44the least in Tampa you know caused at times a little bit division or just led to a suspension or
25:48two
25:48um and very free swinger definitely like feast or famine but the defense of the base range what
25:54was so sexy about him kind of similar to Robert where even if Robert didn't have the bat it's
25:58like he's a multi-tool talent that you can maximize yeah and how ironic how back-to-back years we
26:03see
26:03David Strings go out of his way to trade for similar oak players one has a higher ceiling than the
26:08other
26:08and both of which have fallen completely short of that because they haven't been able to stay on the
26:12field um Siri's been having a good season thus far for the Angels when he's been playing from what
26:16I've seen um but yeah just an absolute failure and then banking on Tyron Taylor as much as the
26:21Mets had to last year was so to their detriment I and it just went onward from there you know
26:25just
26:25not instead of bringing and clear upgrades it was just guys that were basically at best moving you
26:31lateral and hopes that everything went right everything went right that could be something
26:37better than that but that's the theme here yes a lot of hoping that everything everything went
26:41now granted everything is hope right we hoped that this show would go right but we we prepared
26:48we had a list for you we had a list of our 10 and then we decided to work together
26:52right we didn't
26:54just do this on hope and stick it all together and hope it works out that's the theme here is
26:59I'm
26:59looking at all the moves you're saying all the moves I'm saying and there just didn't seem to ever
27:04be a plan for center field or you're going I hate to use this term sometimes but bargain basement
27:10shopping is what it feels it's true you know it's it's frustrating to say because I've been
27:15obviously someone who's defended David a lot over the past you know year and a half really since he
27:19become president some of it's been justified and a lot of it in hindsight it hasn't been justified
27:23you know it sucks because it makes people like you and I who are so passionate about what we do
27:27you
27:27know just look like schmucks and I call myself it as is but just it really does suck when you're
27:32really trying to go to bat for either you know a president a manager or a player and they just
27:37consistently let you down you're like I'm trying hard here but now now we've reached a point and
27:41we got to break down everything that's wrong with David Stearns you know there's really no other way
27:45to look at it yeah um all right so we're halfway through this list so I think now as we
27:49get to
27:49number six a player that you mentioned that I didn't mention that absolutely should be on this
27:53list because yeah because the Mets the Mets banked on him as as a potential certainty in their
27:58rotation too for like a whole first half of a season when there were signs a month prior to
28:03finally cutting him off to go ahead and do it you the lack of proactivity Dexter okay but that's why
28:10I like where he is in Syria on this list so I'm fine I like him here at six because
28:16it's guys that
28:18you thought were going to be really good to help you that just didn't and also didn't seem like you
28:23had a backup plan in either situation because you tried to go for some low value and it just
28:28didn't work and if memory serves me correct it probably isn't it's easy but if we go back to
28:33the 2024 season with Hauser around 4th of July it was an 11 o'clock game for the New York
28:38Mets
28:38the Mets lost I believe one or so nothing the reason why is because Adrian Hauser gave up a lawn
28:43ball
28:43to Jesse Winker yep and I if I'm not mistaking that was I believe Adrian's last game as a Met
28:49or close to
28:49and then not long after the Mets ended up trading for Jesse so it was kind of hilarious timing of
28:55it all shout out Jesse we love him um but yeah Hauser's just one of those guys that didn't work
28:59out here he looked really really good not long after he went to the White Sox had a really good
29:04run with them now he's been a bit wishy-washy because I think he's on the San Francisco Giants
29:09now that's where everything kind of goes to die like the Mets here um yeah I was like you said
29:12about
29:12the Mets yeah yeah it's not I'm not even sliding them because there's nothing better happening here
29:17I can tell you that much um but yeah that's a good pick for six I think um at seven
29:22now um who
29:23who are you thinking Dex so for me here this is gonna have a lot and I don't think you
29:28had this
29:29on your list this was always gonna be in the lower tier for me if we are gonna go with
29:33this here it
29:34could be even lower it might not even make this list how did you feel about the Brandon Nimmo trade
29:39because a lot of people are going to feel a kind of way about it I remember the day it
29:43happened broke
29:43the news was here in studio and I didn't break the news but part of the breaking news was doing
29:47a
29:47live show and I know you were doing one as well and there was a mixed reaction from the fan
29:53base
29:53among about that I you said earlier in this conversation you were fine with them moving on
29:58from the core yep this was one of them now it's hard to not look at it yes you got
30:03off of some of the
30:04money of Brandon Nimmo in the years that you have and you went to Marcus Simeon who let's keep it
30:10a
30:10buck people has not been good okay and he's out still about a month about out a month and you
30:16also
30:16thought he would bring a lot of the leadership Wardy and I talked about this in the last episode
30:20that you assumed you would be getting with him that has not happened here so when you just look
30:25at it purely as like okay you saved the money but you're not getting him on the field uh the
30:31that has not been good the leadership doesn't seem like it's really translated into a couple into
30:36the clubhouse at all whatsoever you kind of have to say it's not the worst trade ever I don't want
30:42to say that but it ain't great agreed it isn't great and you can make the argument to have it
30:48in
30:49your top 10 um there's two schools of thought here there's a school thought of a you did the trade
30:55with Simeon and this is a lopsided trade if we're just basing on player to player value it's true I
31:02mean
31:02M.O. currently is batting just below 10 percent above league average as a header right now you
31:06know he's got eight home runs 35 plus runs scored he's been having a solid he's having it kind of
31:11a
31:11normal brand in M.O. season for the most part but the defense is continuing to get lackluster he's
31:16becoming more of a dh profile and that goes on with the second school thought which is that
31:20yeah the trade in the one for one wasn't necessarily ideal but that's out of all the things that's been
31:26wrong for the New York Mets this year trading Brandon M.O. is far from one of them with the
31:31exception of
31:31maybe what he brings to the clubhouse you know maybe that is something that's definitely lost
31:35because we know how charismatic of an individual Brandon is the most selfless human being like I
31:40miss that more than anything about Brandon M.O. not being the New York Mets because it feels like a
31:44part of the Mets soul has been lost since then they don't have that that aura that Brandon brought that
31:50was just so infectious to be around you know no matter who you were on the team or around the
31:54club the
31:55fans etc but with AJ Ewing and Carson Bench having the breakups that they're having right that's
32:00lessening the blow a lot I think when we evaluate this deal I think you're right the the harsh
32:07criticism I think of this deal and I think you looked at it fine you can't just solely look at
32:11it in the player comp the finances matter too the problem is you save some money to try to give
32:18yourself some more flexibility down the road which is something I supported but then you've made all
32:22these other moves some of which have come before higher on this list that showed that you weren't
32:28proactive this year right about um obviously letting Pete Alonzo walk and then not having an
32:34adequate replacement which was number two for us on this list when you make a move like moving off
32:39of Nemo and then you have a move like that that's where it hurts because you needed to hit on
32:44other
32:45things this previous offseason so that you could look at a move like that and say oh it's not that
32:49bad now whether we want to put this at seven or not I could probably drop this a little bit
32:54lower
32:54it doesn't bother me as much I do think it's somewhere in the seven to ten range are you fine
32:59with it at seven or would you drop it a little bit lower and go with somebody else something else
33:03higher I'm fine with it at seven yeah that's fine we could rock with it at seven all right I
33:08know we
33:08said that Luis Robert Jr. is probably somewhere lower because of the health injury if he even makes
33:14this list at all uh I don't know if Robert can make this list because one thing that just dawned
33:19on
33:19me I don't know if I mentioned earlier it doesn't need to be in our top 10 because it's too
33:23late now
33:23but I I did have on my list re-signing Shamanaya that was another thing to bear in mind just
33:29because
33:30that hasn't worked out so well but but you liked the signing at the time I did like the signing
33:34of
33:34but I also liked a lot of the moves that David Strings did at the time so hands up you
33:39can you
33:39can like just take me side by side to the videos of all my reactions over the past two off
33:44seasons
33:44of like freaking out oh I love this this is great yada yada yada oh my god but that's fine
33:49we'll keep him
33:50out of the top 10 because he hasn't been nearly close to the worst move you know what we both
33:57mentioned this and I feel like this we might have to bump Brandon Nimmo down we didn't we haven't
34:02mentioned Freddy Peralta yet we haven't mentioned Freddy we didn't even mention Paul Blackburn who
34:05was literally non-existent after the Mets traded for him this one makes it difficult because there's
34:10a lot of moves where David just completely missed the markup Peralta's got a leapfrog trading
34:15Brandon Nimmo 100% at minimum now I don't even think I don't even think Nimmo needs to be on
34:20the
34:20top 10 that's more of a you thing that is a me thing just because it's not like that that's
34:25really
34:25hurting the Mets in any way right now how about we put Nimmo at 10 okay we'll put Nimmo to
34:3010
34:30we'll put Peralta at 7 8 should be Blackburn because the Mets remember the context of this
34:352024 needed to get at least one more starter we say this every year one or two more starters
34:41what do you do it feels like it's X it really does okay and then you go in and you
34:47bring in
34:47mr. spinal fluid leak Paul Blackburn right he couple starts for you cooked not looking good
34:54when he comes but not looking really any better than an Adrian housing for you you're trying to
34:58make it work you're trying to throw him in the Trevor Williams role you're just trying to see
35:01reliever starter something sticks it doesn't then he goes to Yanks and has success you know what I mean
35:06and it is what it is but the point though is that Paul Blackburn a failure regardless of the
35:11Mets not giving up a haul for that for what they were needing him to be though down that stretch
35:16it completely pixie dust he was out of here in two seconds you know um so yeah I would think
35:21I
35:22think Paul in that range of eight makes sense now nine nine's a tough one because we have a lot
35:27of
35:27different ones we can choose from I kind of if we're gonna put Nimmo at 10 I think nine one
35:33that
35:33you said that raised my eyebrow and I was like no you know what uh what he's right on this
35:40one
35:40saying it with me it's got to be your boy it's got to be right it's got to be Richard
35:45Lovelace
35:46it's got to be Dickey Lovelace here's the thing I'm not saying it's the worst move in the world
35:50we just saw him too much we we saw he gave up in a run almost every single outing like
35:55the math
35:56math was not mapping when what were we doing what some of this might go on Mendoza some of this
36:01is
36:01also on Stearns nobody needed to see him out there anymore the Dexter what I'm I'm I'm getting a
36:09headache just at the thought of the opening series this year and him being in a tied ball game you
36:13know like and him being in these high leverage situations the first week of the season like
36:17actually you know what makes me mad about that that was over as you remember the opening series I
36:21had my Achilles surgery and I had to watch that I know it was brutal brutal the I was the
36:29only game
36:29I attended that series was the good one thankfully the best game the Mets have had the season opening
36:33day yeah great day before I went under the knife I got to I got it all felt good and
36:41it all changed
36:42after that he listen somebody might be watching this and say okay guys why don't you have him higher
36:47I don't think it was that consequential of a move for them but it was an annoying because he just
36:53keeps coming back and every time that he bit the Mets in the derriere it was like oh wow who
36:58could
36:58have saw this coming only anyone that pays attention you know like it just and that's been the trend of
37:02a lot of these things we're talking about where it's like what do you mean you didn't see this from
37:06a mile away the track record tells you that you should have saw this for a mile away that's where
37:10the whole David Strings conversation is so perplexing to me when we talk about player evaluation you know
37:15like this is something that he was so known for even during his time as an assistant GM in Houston
37:19before then he ultimately became the guy in Milwaukee like people if if you actually pay
37:24attention to David Strings his track record he had an abundance amount of success regardless of being
37:29a World Series champ or not as a young exec which is why I felt good about his heart exactly
37:33and him
37:34at his age still is one of the younger execs in all baseball as is so it's it's not like
37:38that this is
37:39the guy who's been here 30 years in the game you know and hasn't won it no like he's really
37:44only
37:44been established I would say since the mid-2010s with the Astros so it's been about a decade I
37:49would say of David Strings having relevance in the front office I look I like I like where we
37:54were ending this because I did like that we had Paul Blackburn at eight your boy your boy at nine
38:01and we want to put Nimmo at 10 I think I'm fine with the Nimmo trade at 10 I think
38:04that I think
38:05I'm fine with it there um unless you do you feel differently something else you want to put at 10
38:09no I mean listen I want to hear from the Mets fans that's what I want to hear from because
38:13I feel
38:13like that there's a bunch that we didn't even mention that bothered them more or maybe I'm just
38:17one's not hanging the dome right now I'm like oh wow you know what shame on me for not having
38:22the top
38:2220 today okay you know that's too much we can make it no doubt we we really can maybe maybe
38:29in the
38:29offseason we're doing the top 20 because there's more moves that came by and that are not good and
38:33not only that but with the lockout we're only going to have so much to talk about so we might
38:37as well
38:39with this Wardy because I do I we just did this and we went through these moves I'm sorry for
38:45the
38:45people you had to maybe think about some of these moves again that you didn't want to think about
38:48after some time but you just talked about David Stern's track record and before the hire and how
38:55he was viewed as watching his moves and where the Mets are right now has it changed your opinion of
39:03him
39:04do you still have faith in him as the president of baseball operations for the Mets I don't think
39:09that David Stern just started becoming a not good evaluative talent now he's had a lot of misses that
39:15we just talked about but I don't think he just lost that right I I don't think that but I
39:21don't feel
39:21as confident as I did a couple years ago what about you I mean you can't I mean there's no
39:26other way
39:26to look at it you yeah you absolutely out there that's like I still believe and and congratulations
39:32to them that reminds me of like positive Tommy you know where he's just like you know the Mets are
39:36going to turn it around no matter what even though there'll be like 100 games in the hole um yeah
39:40no
39:40my thought and response to that is is that no I don't have faith in David when it comes to
39:44player
39:45evaluation as well as his decision making because he hasn't given me enough reason to believe
39:49otherwise you know I banked on his track record for years I went to bat for him for literally years
39:54on my
39:54platform before he even got hired saying how this is basically going to be um Cohen's golden boy once
40:00he finally gets him and how do you think I feel as someone who's been being that drum so long
40:04and
40:05have the pie in my face the way that I do because Stearns has been just such a failure as
40:10a president
40:10to this point so no he needs to go out and prove it there is enough there is no more
40:14of me sitting
40:14here and talking to you guys today and saying oh yeah I have optimism I have faith in my present
40:19no
40:19when my owner goes on this YouTube channel a week ago and says I'm really worried about the
40:23immediate future of the club yeah I'm gonna be worried about it too and that's why David Stearns
40:28he's committed to begin the 2027 season but there's a reason why Steve Cohen went out of
40:33his way to state when asked clarification by our friend Joel Sherman that you know nothing is like
40:40set in stone basically nothing is certain when it comes to the contract we're gonna hope that plays
40:44out in everything but don't think that it's like a guarantee nothing's guaranteed is exactly what
40:49Steve Cohen said here about a week ago so that's where I'm at Dex I just want to see this
40:54team give
40:55me a reason to be happy for more than just these little spurts of 48 hours I know I know
40:59you do
40:59listen I hope that at some point maybe we're sitting here and we're doing a top 10 best David
41:05Stearns moves I would love that prove me wrong David please prove us all wrong because you're not
41:10going anywhere whether we like it or not you know we'll see this was fun though great conversation
41:15always it wasn't it was a good conversation that is the great Tyler Ward I'm Dexter Henry we hope
41:21you enjoyed this we went through our top 10 worst moves by David Stearns that is Wardy's boy uh I'm
41:29gonna still try to be Wardy's boy maybe I was Wardy's gonna step off of me I'm not sure I'm
41:36gonna be his
41:36boy anymore come on back Wardy's gotta say bye to the people Wardy's I'm gonna be Wardy's boy anymore
41:43uh because I keep putting so many people on him that that's it first person to step off of me
41:47on
41:47studio I know first to many decks let's lock in that's good let us know like we said what do
41:52you
41:52think do you agree with myself and Wardy I think we did a good job coming together with the top
41:5610
41:56let us know what you think we will catch you next time on straight out of flushing peace
42:13you
42:13you
42:13you
42:13you
42:13you
42:13you
42:13you
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