David Stearns is looking to his past in an attempt to improve the Mets’ present.

The Mets swung a trade with the Brewers — Stearns’ former team — on Wednesday in adding starting pitcher Adrian Houser and depth outfielder Tyrone Taylor. Milwaukee is landing rehabbing pitching prospect Coleman Crow in the swap, which appears to amount to Stearns’ new boss (Steve Cohen) absorbing contracts his old boss (Mark Attanasio) wanted off the books.

“We are excited to add Adrian and Tyrone to our team,” Stearns said in a release. “Tyrone brings a well-rounded skill set to our outfield grouping and can play all three outfield positions at a high level. Adrian is a proven Major League starter who continues to add to our rotation depth and will pitch valuable innings for us this year.”

Houser is the jewel of the trade, projecting as a possible back-end starter after a respectable season in which he finished with a 4.12 ERA in 111 ¹/₃ innings.

The 30-year-old holds a career 4.00 ERA in seven seasons, the best of which came in 2021 (when he went 10-6 with a 3.22 ERA).

The righty could slide into the No. 4 slot of a Mets rotation that is fronted by Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana and Luis Severino.

At the moment, Tylor Megill, Joey Lucchesi and Jose Butto would be the front-runners for the fifth-starter spot.

Among the starters the Mets are chasing is Japanese ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto, whose addition would shake up the staff and could bump pitchers such as Houser into a swingman role or into depth options. Houser had settled into a starting job with Milwaukee but has proven versatile as a bullpen arm, too.

He has never been a star, but he has been consistently useful since establishing himself in the majors in 2019 — which has meant his price tag has risen. Houser is projected to make around $5.5 million in his final season of arbitration, which made him expendable for a Milwaukee club that is more frugal.

Taylor, too, will hit arbitration, with MLB Trade Rumors projecting a $1.7 million salary for this season. The Brewers save a bit of money, and the Mets receive a righty-hitting outfielder with good speed and decent pop who played all three spots on the grass last season.

The 2012 second-round pick debuted in 2019, and has bounced up and down between the minors and the majors since. Last season, Taylor appeared in 81 major league games while hitting to a decent, .713 OPS that was boosted by his 10-homer power. He also stole nine bases without being caught.

The Mets have been searching for an outfielder like Taylor, who has plenty of avenues toward finding playing time — and will need to find that playing time because he is out of minor league options.

He could become a platoon option, particularly with lefty-hitting DJ Stewart. He could spell Brandon Nimmo in center field. He could take over for Starling Marte if the 35-year-old fails to bounce back from an injury-marred, poor 2023 season.

Taylor — who has appeared in 130 games in right field, 120 games in center field and 80 games in left field — has never committed an error. His 508 total chances to begin a career are the most by an outfielder since Jacoby Ellsbury had 554 errorless chances from 2007-09.

That kind of reliability could be important for an outfield group that also includes 40-man members Cooper Hummel and Alex Ramirez, a far-off prospect.

With the trade, the Mets are giving up approximately $7 million in salary, two roster spots and one interesting prospect, though Crow might not pitch this season.

Crow was acquired from the Angels in June’s Eduardo Escobar deal but never debuted with the Mets. He required Tommy John surgery this summer, which typically knocks pitchers out for at least one year.

The righty, originally a 28th-round pick of the Angels in 2019, had been the Mets’ No. 29 prospect, according to MLB Pipeline.