Revisiting The Mets’ Performance At The 2025 MLB Trade Deadline

The disappointing end to the 2025 season for the New York Mets has been well documented. The team that once owned a league-best 45-24 record not only didn’t hold onto their division lead, but didn’t even make the playoffs. All despite having a clear path to do so on the last day of the season.

Following the disappointing season, a lot has been made of what exactly went wrong. One aspect that certainly contributed to things, and something that president of baseball operations David Stearns, himself, confirmed in his postseason press conference is that seemingly every move the team made at the trade deadline did not pan out.

With that being said, let’s take a look back at that July 31 trade deadline and see exactly how all players involved in trades the Mets made that day fared.

Deal No. 1

• Mets Receive: LHP Gregory Soto
• Orioles Receive: RHP Wellington Aracena, RHP Cameron Foster

Analysis:

A few days before the official deadline the Mets made their first move and went out and got much needed help for their bullpen. Gregory Soto, a left-handed reliever, was brought over from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for a couple pitching prospects.

Soto posted a 3.96 ERA and 3.33 FIP across 36 1/3 innings with Baltimore prior to the move. However, with the Mets those figures increased to a 4.50 ERA and 3.55 FIP across 24 innings. Soto allowed 33 hits across the 24 innings and saw his strikeout rate drop from 27.5% with Baltimore to only 21.8% with the Mets to end the season.

With that being said, the left-handed reliever was tremendous with New York his first month-plus with the team. Across his first 10 appearances, he did not allow an earned run. To take it even further, over his first 14 he only allowed an earned run once. In all, he had two scoreless debut appearances in August, then a sparkling 1.64 ERA in September. At first, the trade seemed like a tidy piece of business.

However, following suit with much of the pitching staff as a whole, Soto struggled mightily in September. In 11 September appearances Soto allowed at least a run in five of them, and of those five, in three he allowed multiple runs. In all, he posted a 7.94 ERA and allowed 20 hits across 11 1/3 September innings.

On the flip side, at the time of the deal, Wellington Aracena was the 15th-ranked prospect in Metsmerized’s midseason organizational prospect top-50 update. Meanwhile, Cameron Foster was unranked.

Aracena, who had a 2.38 ERA across 64 1/3 innings with Single-A St. Lucie prior to the deal, picked up right where he left off when he joined the Orioles’ organization. After a 23-inning run with Aberdeen (Single-A), where he posted a 2.35 ERA and 24 strikeouts, Aracena ended the season with 4 2/3 scoreless (six strikeouts) at the High-A level. The 20-year-old was only ranked 29th in Baseball America’s most recent Orioles top 30. However, a steady rise is expected if he keeps these type of performances up.

Meanwhile, Foster, 26 years old, performed decently for Baltimore’s Triple-A affiliate Norfolk down the stretch. He had a 3.38 ERA across 16 innings. It would not be surprising if he gets a shot at a lower leverage bullpen role for Baltimore in the near future.

Final Verdict: 

The thought process by David Stearns and staff was correct. The Mets really needed another left-handed option in the bullpen. An extremely underrated catastrophic event for New York was losing A.J. Minter early only. And, in addition, at the time of the deal, Brooks Raley only recently returned. So, it was not clear what exactly he was going to be, and that aside, New York just needed another reliable lefty out of the bullpen.

Soto had shown to be reliable and was exactly that early on in his tenure with New York. However, ultimately, with his performance going south in September, and the fact it appears Aracena seems to be a relatively decent prospect, looking back at this trade is a bit tough.

Grade: C-

Deal No. 2

• Mets Receive: LHP Tyler Rogers
• Giants Receive: OF Drew Gilbert, RHP José Buttó, RHP Blade Tidwell

Analysis:

The second deal the Mets made turned out to be comfortably the team’s best piece of business. New York acquired workhorse reliever Tyler Rogers from the San Francisco Giants in exchange for three players, two prospects and a major-leaguer, that were all once looked upon extremely positively within the organization.

By season’s end, the unorthodox thrower that is Rogers led relievers around the league in games at 81. The 34-year-0ld came to New York with a 1.80 ERA across 50 innings. Since his acquisition on July 31, Rogers appeared in 28 games for New York (53% of games since the deal), and performed very well with a 2.30 ERA across 27 1/3 innings. His play did dip slightly, but the overall sample was still very strong.

To acquire Rogers New York parted with one major leaguer and two prospects, one of which made his major-league debut by season’s end with the Giants. The two prospects, Drew Gilbert and Blade Tidwell, ranked 15th and 19th, respectively, in Metsmerized’s midseason organizational prospect top-50 update.

The established major leaguer was relief pitcher José Buttó. Buttó, who had thrown 167 innings across three-plus seasons with the Mets, struggled with the Giants down the stretch. In all, he posted a 4.50 ERA with San Francisco across 20 innings as he struggled mightily with walks (10). He specifically struggled in September as he posted a 7.27 ERA in the regular season’s last month.

Gilbert, who was once a top prospect in the Mets’ system as he was acquired in the Justin Verlander trade, hadn’t quite been developing in the minors how the Mets had hoped. As a result, they shipped him to San Francisco where he went 7-for-14 at the plate with Triple-A Sacramento before getting called up to make his major-league debut.

Gilbert ended up getting a 100 at-bat run to end the year, where he slashed a disappointing .190/.246/.350 (.598 OPS).  The metrics backed up the poor play at the plate, as his xBA, xwOBA, and exit velocity numbers all ranked below the league’s 25th percentile. He did play decently in the field though, as he posted a plus-two outs above average and flashed a strong arm (84th percentile arm strength).

Lastly, Tidwell, who had a cup of coffee in the majors with the Mets prior to the deal, performed well at the Triple-A level with Sacramento after the deal. Over 18 innings, he struck out 24 and only allowed three runs (1.50 ERA). He did have a couple stints on the injured list in the minors of the trade, but the performances were strong. If he can be a consistent performer at a major-league level remains to be seen.

Final Verdict: 

Rogers was superb for the Mets after the deal. He was certainly one midseason acquisition that panned out. Despite being a rental, the Mets did not exactly part with a lot either to get him.

The concerns with Gilbert, granted a smaller sample size, reared its head at the major-league level. Meanwhile, Buttó, who did not performances well down the stretch after the deal, was out of options and a relatively easier bullpen arm to replace. Lastly, Tidwell did once again flash his strong stuff at the Triple-A level, but did have to battle through some injuries.

Of the three, Tidwell seems to be the most compelling, but even he struggled a the major-league level with the Mets and a long-term starter outlook at the top level seems unlikely.

Grade: B+

Deal No. 3

• Mets Receive: RHP Ryan Helsley
• Cardinals Receive: INF Jesus Baez, RHP Frank Elissalt, RHP Nate Dohm

Analysis:

One of the more mind-boggling aspects of the trade deadline was how poorly Ryan Helsley performed after the Mets acquired the star reliever from St. Louis. Helsley had been one of the best relief pitchers in the big leagues over the last three seasons, and, despite a down season with St. Louis prior to the deal, still owned a 3.00 ERA across 36 innings. However, disaster struck early, as Helsley went on to posted a 7.30 ERA over 20 innings with New York.

That 7.30 ERA can even be looked upon as deceiving, as the veteran closer posted seven scoreless innings to end the season. Over his first 16 appearances with the team, Helsley threw 14 innings and allowed 22 hits, 20 runs (16 earned), and eight walks. Over that time, he saw his ERA rise from 2.75 to 5.14. As a result, the Mets were no longer able to trust him in high leverage situations, the area that Helsley was brought to fulfill, limiting the flexibility New York had with their bullpen down the stretch. This put other pitchers in roles they were not on the team to fulfill exacerbating the bullpens struggles during the team’s free fall.

Sometimes a change of scenery midseason, especially for a player who had spent their first seven seasons in one spot, just doesn’t work out. With that being said, Helsley was on pace to have the worst year of his career since 2021 prior to the trade. And, despite the 3.00 ERA, his fastball was getting hit hard (.406 BA, .332 xBA) with St. Louis. The minute the elite slider went south, he was left helpless with the Mets.

To acquire Helsley New York parted with infielder prospect Jesus Baez and two pitching prospects; Frank Elissalt and Nate Dohm. Baez was by far the highest-rated player the Mets gave up at the deadline as he ranked No. 7 in Metsmerized’s midseason top 50 list. Meanwhile, Dohm came in at No. 17 and Elissalt was No. 38.

Baez struggled since the move for St. Louis. He posted a .243/.303/.378 slash line (.682 OPS) which was a large drop from his .742 OPS with High-A Brooklyn previous to the trade. Even before the trade, Baez was struggling mightily with Brooklyn as he posted a .651 OPS in July. These struggles then carried over to the Cardinals’ organization. Baseball America had the 20-year-old ranked as the Cardinals’ No. 5-ranked prospect in their most recent rankings. However, that is likely to change given his struggles to end 2025.

Dohm, a third-round pick in 2024, struggled in his time after the trade to the Cardinals’ organization after impressing greatly with High-A Brooklyn (2.62 ERA, 43 strikeouts over 34 1/3 innings). He posted a 5.11 ERA across 12 1/3 innings to end with the season with Peoria (High-A), but spent a lot of his time after the deal on the developmental list.

Much like his counterpart, Elissalt struggled mightily after the deal as well, posting a 5.59 ERA across 9 2/3 innings (three starts/four games) with Peoria (High-A). His season was then cut short with an injured list stint. Prior to the deal the 23-year-old performed admirably with High-A Brooklyn (3.02 ERA, 50 2/3 innings).

Final Verdict:

At the time of the trade, the thought of pairing Helsley with Edwin Díaz was tantalizing. New York envisioned pairing two of the National League’s best closers shutting down the eighth and ninth innings en route to a deep playoff run. Unfortunately, the deal did not work out in the slightest and the concerns about Helsley’s 2025 regression were exacerbated in New York. As a result, the trade looks like a complete failure.

By season’s end, the right-handed closer will depart the organization with a -0.2 fWAR. Being a rental, and given his performance, a return to New York is extremely unlikely. If it is any solace, all three of the prospects the Mets gave up in the deal performed poorly after the deal. Which, especially given how one of the pieces was rated in the organization’s top 10, and the other was encouraging on the top 15, would help lighten the blow somewhat.

Grade: F

Deal No. 4

• Mets Receive: OF Cedric Mullins
• Orioles Receive: RHP Anthony Nunez, RHP Raimón Gomez, RHP Chandler Marsh

Analysis:

One area the Mets were expected to address leading up to the deadline was the center field position. New York did just that by acquiring veteran Cedric Mullins. Mullins, a veteran of eight seasons with Baltimore, struggled mightily after the deal. With New York, he slashed .182/.284/.281 (.565 OPS) while playing uneven defense in center. The concern of acquiring Mullins was there from the start as despite a .738 OPS with Baltimore, which was the highest in his career since 2021, several of the underlying metrics pointed to regression being on the horizon.

By season’s end, Mullins ranked below the league’s 10th percentile in xwOBA, xBA, and xSLG. He also had subpar hard-hit rate, struck out a decent bit, and the defensive runs saved statistic questioned his ability in the field (negative-14 overall in 2025). Of course, all these numbers were furthered by his lackluster performance in New York. However, even before the trade, all those figures were at least in the ballpark of where they ended.

New York gave up a trio of lower-end pitching prospects in the deal. Anthony Nunez, Raimon Gómez, and Chandler Marsh ranked 23rd, 32nd, and 46th, respectively, in Metsmerized’s midseason top 50 update. All three have worked out of the bullpen thus far in their careers.

Nunez was enduring a terrific season in the Mets’ system between the High-A (0.63 ERA over 14 1/3 innings) and Double-A (2.10 ERA over 25 2/3 innings) levels. Baltimore promoted the 23-year-old to the Triple-A level where he appeared in 16 games out of the bullpen, posting a 3.45 ERA.

Gómez, who was put in the spotlight earlier this season for touching 104 mph, wasn’t able to pitch after the deal due to injury. He had a 4.63 ERA across two levels in the Mets’ system prior to the deal. Lastly, Marsh threw 10 innings at the High-A level for Aberdeen, posting a 1.80 ERA and 11 strikeouts. The 23-year-old had a 2.42 ERA across 52 total minor league innings out of the bullpen this season.

Final Verdict: 

Of the four trades on the list, this is really the only one where the player did not make much sense. It was clear the Mets needed a centerfielder, however, they may have rushed into getting the wrong one.

Mullins’ play, prior to the deal indicated a ton of regression and that is exactly what happened after he was brought to town. Luckily for the Mets, they did not have to give up much for the rental. This helps lighten the blow a bit, but Mullins’ struggles were certainly a detriment to the team down the stretch.

Grade: D

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