“What can you do?” - Mets fans grill David Stearns over trade deadline moves as playoff hopes waver

New York Mets General Manager David Stearns answered questions related to the team ahead of their 8-3 win over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. He spoke about the various aspects of the Mets' current downfall, including the team's approach during the trade deadline.

When asked about the trades that the Mets brought in, Stearns stated that there was little anticipation from the Mets management that their season will get derailed. Once the best team in the MLB in early June, are now fighting for their playoff spot.

“I think if I knew exactly how our season would play out, absolutely (I would have approached the trade deadline differently). No question,” Stearns said. “We make the decisions we make at the time with the information we had. "I’m very comfortable with the process we went through that led us to those decisions, but yeah, we did not play well during the month of August, and frankly, to this point through September. "We’ve had various segments of our team that haven’t performed certainly to the level that we anticipated as we approached the trade deadline, and had I had that knowledge going in, yes, it would have changed what we did.

Mets fans weren't pleased as they voiced their displeasure at Stearns. Here are a few reactions:

"What can you do? LOL," a fan said. "He’s still the only one that didn’t know this rotation would suck. Incredible," another fan commented. "Process is your team has stunk for 3 months..let that register," a fan opined. "Maybe just be more aggressive in general at the deadline and don’t put all your marbles in players like Mullins and Gregory Soto," another fan said. "I lose faith in this guy more and more everyday," a fan said. "Funny how all the fans knew what to do but he didn’t," a fan said of the team.

The biggest challenge that manager Carlos Mendoza and the Mets have faced is their rotation. The Mets' starting pitching lineup was filled with veteran arms like Kodai Senga and players like Clay Holmes, who made his transition from a reliever to a starter this year.

Senga wasn't at his elite best after returning from an injury and had to be sent back to the minors to undergo a rehab process. Clay Holmes had to be paired up with Sean Manaea in a bulk reliever role. Even the arms that were reliable last year, Manaea and David Peterson, haven't performed, with the latter having a 6.53 ERA since the trade deadline.

Overall, the Mets' rotation has logged the ninth-fewest innings since the start of August, and ahead of Tuesday's game and had a 5.40 ERA, which was sixth-lowest. They needed to bring in starters that could provide the late-season innings, but unfortunately, it hasn't worked for Stearns and Co.

Mets' trade deadline acquisitions haven't performed to expectations

David Stearns didn't hold back from criticizing the performances of the players the team acquired before the July 31 deadline.

“First of all, I’d say we’re not at the end of the line yet, and so there are potentially chapters yet to be written,” Stearns said of the deadline haul. “But to this point, it’s a fair assessment that our trade deadline — at least some of our trade-deadline acquisitions — have not performed at the level that we expected, or the level that they have performed at throughout their careers.

Center Fielder Cedric Mullins has hit at just .188 with a .571 OPS since joining the team. Expected to be a regular, he is currently platooning with Jose Siri. Ryan Helsley has found himself in the middle of a tipping issue that has ballooned his ERA to 10.29 with the Mets.

Edited by R. Nikhil Parshy