The Mets Receive A Paltry (But Much Needed) Haul At The Trade Deadline

In an ideal world, the trade deadline should feel like Christmas. For one day, you get all of these cool new additions to your favorite team. However, the world is not ideal and unless you’re a Dodger fan, it was a lot more like St Nicholas Day, where kids get oranges in their shoes. At the end of the day, many of the most sought-after presents remained in the store, unsold. All the parents of disappointed children assure them that the lukewarm holidays only ensure that they have the money to have nice things for years to come. And there is some validity to that. The talent pool was extremely shallow this year and nobody wanted to give up their valued prospects for them. Teams are seeing what happened to the Baltimore Orioles and realized that they suddenly care about keeping their farm system. And that’s all well and good, but fans still want dazzling new toys to play with and not an excess of vitamin C. Nobody actually gets what they want, but in the case of the New York Mets, they got four presents that they actually needed. 

 

Ryne Stanek - Relief Pitcher from Seattle

Just by reading his name, you can tell that he has some nasty stuff. His splitter and slider evokes a swing and miss over 20% of the time. His ERA is at an unfortunate 4.87, but if you look at the numbers from his 2021 and 2022, you can see the potential that his stuff actually has. He’s prone to running into bad luck, but with a change of scenery and a rabbits foot, he could be a reliable 7th inning guy. Or at least more reliable than his predecessors. 

 

Jesse Winker - Outfielder from Washington

The Mets and Jesse Winker have a storied history, but not one that you would expect. In 2019, he blasted a go-ahead homer off of Edwin Diaz and then made the game-ending catch the next day. His immediate response to both situations was to wave goodbye to the Mets fans, much to their chagrin. In the third game, he was ejected for arguing balls and strikes and the Flushing faithful waved goodbye to him. Since then, it’s been a friendly rivalry and now it has become downright friendly. Taking the field on monday, he received waves hello and made it on base twice in a routing of the Twins. He adds some much needed depth to the outfield and an even-more needed lefty in the lineup. His speed also shouldn’t be ignored, as he has 14 swipes this season, which already puts him in the upper echelon of the roster. His playful presence has already been felt in the clubhouse and he immediately fits in with the team’s chemistry. 

 

Paul Blackburn - Starting Pitcher from Oakland

The real ones know that Paul Blackburn is a good get. He started the season with 26 scoreless innings before suffering an injury and playing through it. Looking at his overall stats, it’s not pretty, but it doesn’t paint the full picture. He has had a tendency to implode just as much as the A’s coaching staff had a tendency to leave him out for dead. In 2022, he carried a sub-3.00 ERA into the all star break before a few bad starts and an injury put a black eye on his season. Baseball is a streaky sport and Blackburn is no exception. God forbid the Mets actually play in the postseason and Paul tosses another 26 scoreless innings. As we all saw last year, dumber things have happened in October…

 

Huascar Brazoban - Relief Pitcher from Miami

The windows of LoanDepot Park have giant yellow signs on them, stating “Everything Must Go”. After all, the landlords are in a rush to turn it into a Spirit Halloween sooner rather than later. The Mets did some shopping at the Marlins fire sale and ended up getting a decent bullpen piece. Batters are hitting .098 off his Cutter and nobody has been able to figure him out in general. He takes his 2.84 ERA into a battered bullpen that could use him. 

 

Like I said, these aren’t the flashiest pickups. They’re all flawed in their own way. But the big takeaway is that they added experience and depth to the team without having to give up much. In a market where the Astros gave up their entire farm for a free-falling Yusei Kukuchi, it didn’t feel like the right time to buy. When you look at the Mets lineup, they have no holes on a good day. This team has versatility and chemistry, which propelled them into a wild card spot this summer. Now that their pitching is somewhat beefier, they just have to keep doing what they do best in order to find themselves in the postseason.

 

And what do they do best? They have fun. 

 

The Mets had a productive stay in New York this time around. After finishing the series sweep in the Bronx, they split a series against the Braves and took the Twins two games to one. They’ll take their 57-51 record on the road this weekend with a series against the Angels, followed by a one-game makeup in St Louis, a cup of coffee in Colorado and then 3 games against the Mariners. This is prime time for them to feast and rack up as many wins as possible before going into the home stretch. And with the ease of their schedule this month, literally anything is possible, for better or for worse.