Meet the Mets
The trade deadline came and went yesterday, and the Mets were very busy. After making additonal trades over the weekend, they completed their fire sale by shipping off Brooks Raley to the Phillies, Ben Rortvedt to the Dodgers, Luke Weaver to the Pirates, and Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor to the Cubs for five minor league players.
The Mets’ total haul from the deadline included thirteen players for eight departing players, nine of whom will now be in the Mets’ top 30 prospects.
“We added a tremendous
amount of talent,” said David Stearns in a media availability immediately following the trade deadline yesterday afternoon. Stearns also said the Mets explored a strategy similar to the Blue Jays to add cost controlled starting pitching, but didn’t “line up” on prices.
“It’s the possibility of what he can do for us in the second half,” Stearns said of holding onto Luis Robert Jr.—the only player reportedly on the trading block who the Mets did not part with. “The understanding that there is a club option [$20 million], and the excitement of of still having here him here for the next two months of the season.”
John Harper of SNY gave the Mets a B- as an overall grade for their trade deadline, noting that scouts had a more favorable view of the Mets’ trades than prospect rankings alone might indicate, but criticizing David Stearns for not following in the Blue Jays’ steps by acquiring cost controlled starting pitching to signal a desire to compete in 2027.
Brooks Raley left the Mets with the second-lowest ERA in team history among pitchers with more than 100 appearances for the team.
“Although things didn’t work out as we all hoped, I want to thank the fans, my teammates, and the Mets organization for the love that they showed me. I want to wish everyone the best on their journey,” Freddy Peralta wrote in an Instagram post following his trade to the Rays.
Hudson Valley native Sammy Stafura, who the Mets acquired from the Pirates for Luke Weaver, grew up a huge Mets fan. “I’m ready to get after it, I am one of the biggest mets fans ever and will give the Mets everything I have,” he said. The Mets took on $2 million of Luke Weaver’s salary for this season and $6 million of next year’s salary to complete the deal.
Anthony DiComo of MLB.com provided more details about Jefferson Rojas, acquired from the Cubs for Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor, who now slots in as the Mets’ top prospect ahead of Jonah Tong, per MLB Pipeline.
With the departure of nearly a third of the team, the Mets made some promotions to fill out their now-depleted roster. Jefry Yan—he of the exuberant mound celebrations—was called up to the big leagues. Dedniel Núñez and Nate Lavender, who both spent time this season rehabbing injuries, were also recalled. To round out the new look pitching staff, Xzavion Curry was also brought back and Chayce McDermott, acquired from the Dodgers for Ben Rortvedt, will also be in the big league bullpen. To take Tyrone Taylor’s place on the position player side, Cristian Pache was called up.
Down on the farm, Mitch Voit was named Eastern League Player of the Week and MJ Melendez led the Syracuse Mets in home runs in July.
Around the National League East
Derek Hill hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh, as the Phillies bested the Nationals 6-3.
In addition to bolstering their bullpen by acquiring Raley from the Mets, the Phillies also added to their lineup by trading for Luis Arráez from the Giants.
The addition of Arraez means that the Phillies are shuffling their defensive alignment, which most notably includes Bryce Harper returning to the outfield.
Nolan Hoffman, who the Phillies designated for assignment, was acquired by the Royals for for minor league right-hander Manuel Colon and cash considerations.
The Braves added to their bullpen as well, acquiring left-handed reliever Brent Suter from the Angels for infielder Nacho Alvarez Jr. The Braves also made a couple of deals with other buyers, sending catcher Joey Bart to the White Sox for Duncan Davitt and Eli White to the Red Sox for Tyler Uberstine.
The Mets weren’t the only NL East team to deal a reliever to the Pirates. The Pirates got lefty Lake Bachar from the Marlins for three prospects. The Marlins were wheeling and dealing, acquiring Victor Vodnik from Rockies for Connor Norby and Aiden May. They also dealt Liam Hicks to the Rays for Brayden Taylor, Adrian Santana, and Jacob Kisting and traded reliever Braxton Garrett to the Cubs for minor league infielder Jonathon Long and minor league righty Jace Beck.
The whole NL East was part of the action at the deadline; the Washington Nationals traded All-Star pitcher Foster Griffin to the Guardians for a package of four players: lefties Will Dion and Josh Hartle, righty Kendeglys Virguez, and OF Nick Mitchell.
Around Major League Baseball
Predictably, there were a whole lot of trades yesterday around baseball. I will summarize many of them here, but you can check them all out with MLB.com’s handy tracker. And ESPN handed out grades for every trade.
The Angels received top shortstop prospect Arjun Nimmala, outfielder Eddie Micheletti and right-hander Angel Rivero from the Blue Jays for José Soriano. They also dealt Jo Adell to the Guardians for catching prospect Jacob Cozart and right-handed reliever Ryan Zeferjahn to the Cubs for catcher Moisés Ballesteros and righty Mason McGwire. At the buzzer, they sent veteran reliever Kirby Yates to the Pirates, completing Pittsburgh’s new look bullpen, in exchange for right-handed pitching prospect Kyle Robinson.
The Guardians also bolstered their lineup via a trade for Nathaniel Lowe from the Reds in exchange for pitching prospect Alejandro Rivera.
The Orioles were active sellers, trading three-time All-Star catcher Adley Rutschman to the division rival Red Sox for right-handed pitching prospects Anthony Eyanson and Kyson Witherspoon, outfielder Enddy Azocar, and catcher Carlos Narváez. They also dealt outfielder Taylor Ward to the Mariners for four players and reliever Tyler Wells to the Rays for righty Michael Forret.
The Blue Jays received infielder Josh Smith and righty Josh Stephan from the Rangers for left-hander Adam Macko and Spencer Arighetti from the Astros for Daulton Varsho, trying to lock in cost-controlled pitching to contend next year.
The Rockies traded Brenton Doyle to the White Sox for righty Mason Adams and infielder Carlos Vielma; the latter was a recent international signing by Chicago.
The Dodgers acquired Kris Bubic from the Royals for right-hander Carlos Duran.
The Giants dealt Robbie Ray to the Padres for shortstop Joniel Hernandez and righty Miguel Mendez. San Francisco also sent outfielder Heliot Ramos to the Yankees, providing the right-handed bat New York was seeking, in exchange for left-hander Henry Lalane and infielder Kaeden Kent. The latter is the son of newly-inducted Hall of Famer Jeff Kent.
The very busy Giants also dealt left-handed reliever Erik Miller to the also very active Red Sox for infielder Marcelo Mayer.
It wouldn’t be an MLB trade deadline without A.J. Preller doing A.J. Preller things. One of the last deals to be reported at the deadline was the Padres’ acquisition of Casey Mize and Gage Workman from the Tigers in exchange for Kash Mayfield and Jackson Wolf.
The Brewers got Dustin May and reliever Jo Jo Romero from the Cardinals in exchange for minor league outfielders Alexander Frías and Josiah Ragsdale. The Brewers also solidified their bullpen by obtaining Antonio Senzatela from the Colorado Rockies for left-hander Mark Manfredi and infielder Juan Martínez.
The Cardinals acquired left-handed reliever Caleb Ferguson in a trade with the Reds for $250,000 in international bonus space.
In an interesting non-trade, Jacob deGrom invoked his no-trade clause to block a deal by the Rangers, electing to stay in Texas.
Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue
Lukas Vlahos provided breakdowns on the trade returns for A.J. Minter, Huascar Brazobán, Brooks Raley, and Luke Weaver.
Linus Lawrence broke up the deadline monotony with the latest edition of Monday Stat Party.
This Date in Mets History
Joel Youngblood made history by getting hits for two different teams in two different cities on this date in 1982.
