AP
Neither move was trumpeted at the time, but over a 2 ½-week stretch last December, the Mets acquired two players who became important components of the team’s success in 2024.
At the winter meetings on Dec. 4, they signed journeyman infielder Jose Iglesias to a minor league contract. Sixteen days later, president of baseball operations David Stearns completed a trade with his former employer, the Brewers, for Tyrone Taylor and Adrian Houser. The Mets surrendered minor league pitcher Coleman Crow.
All eyes at the time were on whether the Mets would land star Japanese pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who agreed to terms with the Dodgers a day after the Mets acquired Taylor and Houser (who didn’t pan out as the team had hoped).
To what degree the Mets secured two important pieces was unknown until the team got deep into last season. After all, Iglesias was coming off a season in which he couldn’t find a major league job and Taylor had elbow issues that limited his playing time and effectiveness with the Brewers.