The Mets faced the 2015 trade deadline again, but unfortunately Yoenis Cespedes was not there.
They praised each other on an Oscar-like deadline with only a best supporting award given out. It’s a process without a star in the room across sports, and it fits right into the 20,000-foot mindset that David Stearns, with Steve Cohen’s blessing, has laid out for 2024: that the team needs to make the playoffs without hurting its chances in 2025 and beyond.
After all, Stearns was hired to turn the Mets into the Dodgers East — a talent factory that could create difference-makers while also having the resources to retain and acquire stars. Nothing that has happened under his watch has hindered that, including this trade deadline. No player approaching a top-tier prospect has been moved by the Mets.
Conversely, that’s why the dice were never rolled on Cespedes. In 2015, the Mets acquired Cespedes along with Tyler Clippard, Kelly Johnson, Addison Reed and Juan Uribe, all of whom contributed to a NL championship team at a higher level. The Mets will have to hope that in 2024 they don’t need a star player, just supporting players.
