David Stearns’ biggest trade deadline task is reversing a concerning Mets trend

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times, it was the age of youngsters thriving, it was the age of prospects falling, it was the epoch of doubt, it was the epoch of belief, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the summer of despair. The 2026 Mets have offered a tale of two farm systems. One that has provided pretty much the most optimistic major league results amid a dreadful season, notably Carson Benge, A.J. Ewing, Nolan McLean, Zac Thornton, plus Christian Scott returning after Tommy John surgery. And yet the upper-level prospects who have not graduated have been so bad that Steve Cohen admitted recently on “The Show with Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman” that he is “extremely worried” about the near future. In a quirk fitting the dichotomy of this Mets