Phil Maton
The New York Mets catapulted themselves into postseason contention after a disastrous May. As the team clawed its way back Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo implored the front office to be buyers at the trade deadline.
Truth be told, this was easier said than done.
Kodai Senga was hurt most of the season, and worse yet, he suffered a season ending injury in his only start of the season. There went a much needed top of the rotation starter.
The bullpen has long been a problem all season. Just when they think they find something, it falls apart.
Reed Garrett was a revelation until he wasn’t, and now, he’s hurt. Adrian Houser was a revelation until he wasn’t, and now, he’s gone.
We’ve seen Dedniel Núñez and Sean Reid-Foley fulfill their promise. Both are on the IL. Everytime the Mets found something, it fell apart.
They could never build a bridge to Edwin Díaz, a closer who still isn’t the Díaz of 2022.
The prices at the trade deadline were astronomical. Case-in-point, the Mets overpaid to acquire Jesse Winker from the Washington Nationals. At least based on what we saw, it wasn’t quite the overpay it was because the market was that absurd.
Stearns effectively gave up nothing for Phil Maton, who had been great for the Mets this far. He gave up a lower tiered older prospect who struggled in Triple-A for Ryne Stanek. Stanek has struggled this year, but he has a good track record.
He obtained Paul Blackburn from the Oakland Athletics for a promising pitcher. Blackburn was a 2022 All-Star, and he’s under team control for another year.
The Blackburn acquisition gets a struggling Tylor Megill out of the rotation and could make him a bullpen option. It also keeps Jose Buttó, the only good remaining reliever in the pen, in the bullpen.
The Mets obtained Tyler Zuber from the Rays for a boom-or-bust minor league reliever. Zuber has options remaining and is not yet arbitration eligible.
Finally, the Mets got THE big piece by obtaining Huascar Brazobán. He’s having a terrific year for the Miami Marlins and will be under team control for four more seasons. All that for a utility player prospect.
Make no mistake losing Tyler Stuart and Kade Morris hurts. However, it doesn’t hurt nearly as much as watching Carlos Mendoza left with no good options in the bullpen leaving even the largest of Mets leads unsafe.
Suddenly, you can argue the Mets bullpen is one of the team’s strengths. It went from drowning to a sufficient bridge to Díaz.
Looking at the team, the lineup is better with Winker. The rotation is better with Blackburn. The bullpen was completely overhauled like it needed to be.
The Mets never got the ace. They didn’t get a top set-up man. You could argue they needed to do more, but you’ll notice Blake Snell and Tarik Skubal weren’t traded.
This team is significantly better, and they did it by minimizing the hit to the farm system. They turned their biggest weakness into a strength. They solidified themselves as a legit postseason caliber club.
David Stearns had a near flawless trade deadline. Between him and Steve Cohen, we see they will go for it, and the Mets are extraordinarily well run.
Call this a test balloon if you will, but Stearns showed his has what it takes to get the Mets to the 2024 postseason. He showed he has what it takes to get another World Series title to Queens.
Good on the New York Mets players for making the decision hard for the front office. What once looked like a team that would be sellers is now a team who is in Wild Card position.
Certainly, the players don’t want to waste this opportunity. Francisco Lindor and Brandon Nimmo have already publicly put pressure on the front office to be buyers.
However, this is David Stearns at the helm, and he’s cut different. He looks to sustainable winners, not one-and-done teams. Remember, this is the same person who traded Josh Hader when the Milwaukee Brewers were in first place.
Looking at the Mets, they’re on the precipice of building that sustainable winner. They have starting pitching prospects less than three years away. They have position player talent closer than that.
The question for this organization is do they sacrifice the future for this year. Of course, it’s a balancing act. Certainly, the Mets can be on the alert for more Phil Maton type deals. However, the real difference making players come at a real cost.
There’s an argument for an alternative path. That path has been forged already by José Buttó.
For his part, Buttó had struggled in his early Major League starts. He was far better this year, and eventually, partially out of necessity, he was moved to the Major League bullpen.
As a reliever, he is 3-0 with one save and a 0.84 ERA. With him and Maton, the Mets have two reliable arms in front of Edwin Díaz. Obviously, a team with a 4.07 FIP, the tenth worst in the majors, needs more help.
If the Mets aren’t inclined to trade off top prospects to do that, maybe they should be using those top prospects in 2024.
Again, Buttó’s move there has paid dividends. There’s a chance Tylor Megill can help there. Looking at David Peterson, his experience out of the pen last year appears to be helping him as a starter this year.
It’s something we have seen work against the Mets in the past. No one needs to be reminded of Adam Wainwright striking out Carlos Beltran to end the 2006 NLCS.
Keep in mind, Wainwright was struggling in Triple-A with the Cardinals. He had a 4.64 Triple-A ERA. He proved to be a better Major Leaguer.
At the moment, the Mets have a trio of struggling starting pitching prospects in Triple-A: Dom Hamel, Blade Tidwell, and Mike Vasil. Looking forward, Hamel and Vasil will need to be added to the 40 man roster before the 2024 Rule 5 Draft this offseason.
Rather than trade these players (or others), why not give them a look in the bullpen. Let’s see Hamel’s high spin rates fool batters. Tidwell’s fastball/slider combination appears ready for a MLB bullpen now. Let’s get Vasil away from the ABS system.
Let’s see what these young arms can do now. We’ve seen teams do this all the time to help them win. For that matter, Stearns did that in Milwaukee with Corbin Burnes, Freddy Peralta, and Brandon Woodruff.
Stearns knows how to execute this plan. He knows how to take starting pitching prospects and move them to the bullpen with an eye towards eventually using them as Major League starters here.
The plan makes sense for the Mets in the short term. It could payoff in the long term. Perhaps, this is the way to improve the Mets bullpen now while working to develop their top prospects.