Ex-Mets GM says the Brewers wanted one of their best players for Adrian Houser before the 2021 season

Adrian Houser will pitch for the New York Mets in 2024. If former Mets general manager Zack Scott had an itchy trigger finger, he may have done so back in 2021.

Scott now has one of the more interesting Twitter pages out there. Although his time with the Mets was brief, he has become a must-follow for all of the insight he has given about past trades or ones proposed. Scott isn’t burning bridges but rather giving fans a look at some “what could have been” scenarios.

In this case, Scott says the Milwaukee Brewers offer Houser to the Mets straight up for Jeff McNeil.

Thank you Zack Scott for not making a could’ve been horrible Mets trade

Houser and Tyrone Taylor for an injured pitching prospect already eligible for the Rule 5 Draft is masterful. Houser for a future batting title champion is unforgivable.

Scott saw through David Stearns who was attempting to send a young and controllable pitcher to the Mets after a terrible 2020 season. Houser had barely established himself as a trusted major leaguer at the time. His 2019 campaign was his lone full season and as successful as it was didn’t match up to what McNeil was offering.

Oddly, Scott may have felt a little sense of remorse back in 2021 after turning down this trade from the Brewers. Houser went on to go 10-6 with a 3.22 ERA in 26 starts and a pair of relief appearances in Milwaukee. McNeil, on the other hand, after coming off of three straight seasons of batting over .300 hit a wall in 2021. His putrid performance was so unexpectedly bad. If the trade had actually happened and the results were the same, we would have praised Scott for his brilliance.

We know better. McNeil rebounded the next season and hit .326 to lead the major leagues. Houser saw his ERA jump up to 4.73 in 2022.

It should come as no surprise the Mets were offered such a bad deal from the Brewers. Their history of trades with the Brewers is terrible. Keon Broxton for three prospects. Neil Walker for Eric Hanhold. Even a three-team deal involving the Colorado Rockies seemed to benefit the Mets the least. Thankfully, Scott balked at this proposal. Now he can laugh about it in 2023.