“It doesn’t really matter how we got here,” New York Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said Tuesday. “We got to a place where we are a playoff-caliber team.”
On Trade Deadline Tuesday, Stearns and the Mets added three more pieces: right-handed starter Paul Blackburn from the Athletics, right-handed reliever Huascar Brazobán from the Marlins and right-handed reliever Tyler Zuber from the Rays. That’s on top of the additions of Phil Maton, Jesse Winker and Ryne Stanek earlier in the month.
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In exchange, the Mets didn’t surrender too much prospect capital. Infielder Wilfredo Lara, who went to Miami for Brazobán, was the only prospect in Keith Law’s preseason top 20 in the organization to be dealt. (Tyler Stuart and Kade Morris, who were moved for Winker and Blackburn, respectively, merited mention in the “others of note” section.)
The Mets had been trending toward buying since turning their season around at the end of May, and recent injuries to Christian Scott and Kodai Senga amped up their aggressiveness — and removed any possibility they’d deal from what had been a surplus in the rotation.
Mets trade deadline recap:
OF Jesse Winker (Tyler Stuart)
RHP Phil Maton (cash/PTBNL)
RHP Ryne Stanek (Rhylan Thomas)
RHP Paul Blackburn (Kade Morris)
RHP Huascar Brazobán (Wilfredo Lara)
RHP Tyler Zuber (Paul Gervase)— Will Sammon (@WillSammon) July 30, 2024
With the deadline in the rearview, here are the key takeaways:
The ceiling may be the same, but the floor is higher
The Athletic published its Trade Deadline Big Board last week, a list of 50 players with the potential to be moved by July 30. There were an additional 36 players considered for the list, all the way down to Washington reliever Derek Law.
The Mets traded for one of those 86 players.
Yes, our Big Board included plenty of players who didn’t get moved and lacked a bunch that did, and ranking every reliever who might swap jerseys in late July is a Sisyphean task. Still, to bring back an old analogy, the Mets didn’t spend most of their time in the gourmet aisles.
In adding a starter, a left-handed bat in the outfield and four relievers, Stearns shored up what he saw as New York’s biggest current and potential weaknesses.
“We just tried to figure out how best to fortify our team around (Senga’s injury), and it meant both in the rotation and the bullpen to ensure that we had enough arms and some flexibility in various roles to put us in the best position for the next few months and hopefully beyond,” Stearns said.
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In the rotation, that means fewer starts given to Tylor Megill. In the bullpen, that means fewer innings for Eric Orze. In the lineup, fewer at-bats for DJ Stewart.
“We were looking to add to the team in a variety of different ways,” Stearns said. “To come away and do that, it’s good and we’re happy we were able to do it.”
The Mets’ bullpen is better
The Mets revamped their bullpen. Outside of closer Edwin Díaz and veteran Adam Ottavino (relegated to low-leverage innings), nearly everyone is at least somewhat new.
Or, in the case of José Buttó, new to a role. Stearns said Buttó will stick in the bullpen for now. That’s an important development because of how well Buttó has performed as a reliever (1.08 ERA, 16 2/3 innings) and how versatile he can be by pitching in high-leverage situations or providing length. It’s a byproduct of acquiring Blackburn.
In July, the Mets traded for right-handers Stanek, Maton, Brazoban and Zuber (the latter two acquired on Tuesday).
That’s right: After recently designating Jake Diekman for assignment, the Mets did not add a lefty reliever. They may end up regretting that. For now, they’re carrying three lefties: Danny Young, a minor-league signing in the offseason, and recent waiver-wire pickups Alex Young and Matt Gage. All three have looked good for the Mets in the majors and minors, particularly Young, who has yet to allow a run through 4 2/3 innings.
Brazoban, who can pitch multiple innings, and Zuber hold minor-league options, which will come in handy. Stearns wouldn’t commit to having either of them start their tenure in the organization with the major-league club. The Mets also expect to soon see the returns of Dedniel Núñez, Reed Garrett and Sean Reid-Foley from the injured list.
What does Blackburn bring?
The Mets’ biggest deal Tuesday was for the Athletics’ right-handed starter. Blackburn, 30, was an All-Star two years ago and started this season with 22 1/3 scoreless innings. He also missed two months with a stress fracture in his foot, returning last week in a win over the Angels.
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The Mets valued Blackburn’s back-end consistency. Over the last three years, he’s posted ERAs of 4.28, 4.43 and 4.41. You know what you’re going to get.
“This is an incredibly consistent pitcher who fills the strike zone and has a kind of a kitchen-sink approach to what he does,” Stearns said. “We think he’s going to fit into our rotation quite nicely.”
Blackburn can slot into the New York rotation as soon as Friday in Anaheim, where he’d see the Angels for a second straight start.
There’s a cascade reaction to adding Blackburn for the Mets. He should be better than current fifth starter Megill, and Megill is better than the organization’s current sixth starter, who wasn’t on the 40-man roster. Buttó gets to stay in the pen, where he’s better than the guy who would have replaced him.
And Blackburn’s presence permits the Mets to rest some of their regular starters down the stretch. Luis Severino is on pace for 95 more innings than he threw last season and his most since 2018. Jose Quintana is on pace for 98 more innings than he threw last season and his most since 2018. Sean Manaea is on pace for 45 more innings than he threw last season and his most since 2021. The Mets wanted a six-man rotation specifically to accommodate Senga, but there were going to be ancillary benefits for everyone else in the rotation. With Blackburn aboard, they could theoretically slot Megill or someone else in as an occasional sixth starter to provide that breather.
No high-impact addition
The Mets checked in about obtaining someone such as the San Francisco Giants’ Blake Snell or the Detroit Tigers’ Jack Flaherty, who got traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, but balked at high asking prices, people familiar with the conversations said.
In the rotation, Blackburn is fine as a depth starter, but what happens if another injury occurs? Or if Manaea or Severino pitch poorly in the second half due to workload or something else? The Mets don’t have a No. 1 starter, and that might hurt them in a playoff series, assuming they get that far.
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In a seller’s market, the Mets did not want to trade from the top of their farm system. Their minor-league group has improved but still has not reached the point where subtraction wouldn’t be felt, rival evaluators said. The Mets chose not to overpay, in their estimation, for what was available.
All of the Mets’ deals were one-for-one trades (or in the case of Maton, a player to be named later or cash). Particularly with rental relievers, that strategy aligns perfectly with Stearns’ past. It was unlikely he would deviate, especially in this market.
The best prospect the Mets dealt was right-hander Morris, a third-round pick in 2023 who had a 3.43 ERA with High-A Brooklyn (57 2/3 innings, 10 starts). People within the Mets would say that it probably stung to deal Morris. Everyone else? At most, it’s the price of doing business.
“I think there was some pretty aggressive pricing this year,” Stearns said. “But that’s to be expected. We certainly anticipated going into this thing. We have a situation where we’ve got a lot of teams that were trying to add, and teams for various reasons that were reluctant to sell. And so that’s a pretty clear dynamic that was going to yield the type of deadline that we had.”
(Photo of Huascar Brazobán: Jess Rapfogel / Getty Images)
