We all have an idea of what we want the New York Mets to do at the trade deadline. What about the actions we want them to avoid?

David Stearns had his share of hits and misses last year with the Mets. Some of the players added midseason took a while to be major contributors. No one was fully consistent, whether it was Phil Maton fading late or Jesse Winker disappearing for all of September offensively.

Mistakes will be made amongst the flurry of moves coming our way. If Stearns does any of these, he risks entering the doghouse.

1) Don’t bother adding a Tyler Zuber if it costs a prospect who could be useful a year later

Paul Gervase, the prospect the Mets traded to the Tampa Bay Rays for Tyler Zuber last year, is already in the major leagues. He could have been a useful asset to the Mets in 2025, unlike Zuber who never really got things rolling in Syracuse. One game and 2 earned runs in as many innings for the Mets this year after a rough time in Triple-A with the organization, Zuber was DFA’d recently, putting an end to the quietest trade deadline move of all made by Stearns.

It was a worthwhile endeavor to add Zuber who had been doing well with the Rays in the minor leagues. The problem is that Gervase wasn’t so far from MLB ready. Considering Zuber never even got into a game for the 2024 Mets, we can easily call this a failure in every way possible.

Gervase had actually been a somewhat known Mets prospect even though he was merely a reliever trying to find his control. Those same problems have been present this year in his limited action for Tampa Bay. He has walked 5 batters in 6.1 innings.

Was there a better deal out there to be made involving Gervase? We won’t know. Zuber clearly wasn’t it.