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Jeurys Familia

Mets Sign Jeurys Familia

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TODAY: The deal is now official. Familia will receive a $2MM signing bonus and $6MM salary in 2019, with $11MM salaries in the two ensuing seasons, per Rosenthal (Twitter link). $1MM apiece of the 2020 and 2021 salaries is deferred to 2022. Familia can add $500K if he reaches fifty games finished and would receive a $1MM assignment bonus if traded.

YESTERDAY: The Mets are turning to an old friend to reinforce their bullpen, as the club has reportedly agreed to a deal with free agent right-hander Jeurys Familia, Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan reports (via Twitter).  The contract is pending a physical.  MLB.com’s Jon Paul Morosi reports that it will be a three-year pact, while The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reports that Familia will earn $30MM over the course of the contract (all Twitter links).  Familia is represented by the ACES agency.

Originally signed out of the Dominican Republic by the Mets in 2007, Familia spent his entire professional career with the organization before he was dealt to the A’s last July.  The right-hander posted a combined 3.13 ERA, 2.96 K/BB rate, and a career-high 10.4 K/9 over 72 innings for New York and Oakland, racking up a total of 18 saves along the way.

Familia had excellent numbers with the Mets from 2014-16, emerging as the team’s closer and recording 94 saves over those latter two seasons.  In a troubled 2017 season, he was suspended for the first 15 games under the league and players union’s joint domestic violence policy after being arrested on assault charges the previous fall.  Familia also spent over three months on the DL after undergoing surgery to fix an arterial clot in his throwing shoulder.

The 29-year-old had a brief DL stint due to shoulder soreness again in 2018, but overall looked healthy and more or less his old self on the mound.  Familia averaged 96.2 mph on his fastball (making him one of the harder-throwing relievers in the game), while posting a 14.1% swinging strike rate that topped his 13.6% career average.  The focus on strikeouts led to a drop to a 46.3% grounder rate, after Familia posted no worse than a 57.3% ground ball rate over his previous four seasons.

Familia will be returning to Citi Field as a setup man, now that the Mets have added Edwin Diaz to serve as their new closer.  The combination of Diaz and Familia gives the team an impressive combo for the eighth and ninth innings, and already provides a big upgrade to a bullpen that struggled with consistency in 2018.  It wouldn’t be surprising to see New York explore other moves to augment the relief corps, as Seth Lugo and Robert Gsellman might be the only current relievers who could be considered locks for the Opening Day roster.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pitching Notes: Nats, Jays, White Sox, Athletics

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The Nationals already seemed like a possible ongoing pursuer of starting pitching before trading away Tanner Roark; now, it’s all but inevitable that the club will add another new arm. Veteran free agents Wade Miley and Anibal Sanchez are both on the Nats’ radar, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (Twitter links), though it’s not clear whether either is particularly likely to land in D.C. Both hurlers turned in excellent results in 2018 after overcoming injuries, with the latter relying on his ability to induce groundballs and the latter finally overcoming his home run woes. Sustainability remains a question, of course, as each has had his share of struggles in seasons prior.

  • Whether the Nats will also be exploring higher-end pitching options isn’t yet fully clear, but president of baseball operations Mike Rizzo did say today that the club is performing “due diligence” on Japanese hurler Yusei Kikuchi, as Pete Kerzel of MASNsports.com tweets. Given the wide interest that the 27-year-old has drawn to this point, it seems safe to assume the Nationals are at least open to making another significant rotation addition this winter.
  • It’s still far too soon to know how the market will develop for Kikuchi, but we keep hearing of teams that wish to be involved to some degree. The Blue Jays intend to sit down with the 27-year-old lefty, per Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter), adding another organization. Though the Toronto club in no way profiles as a 2019 contender — most of the talk has surrounded its possible marketing of its own pitching — it surely has designs on a fairly quick bounce back and may view Kikuchi as a nice target to provide some good innings both now and in the future.
  • White Sox GM Rick Hahn says he’s not likely to add a significant starter via free agency (via James Fegan of The Athletic, on Twitter), but that evidently won’t stop him from checking in at the top of the market for relievers. The Chicago organization has “shown interest” in veteran hurler Adam Ottavino, MLB.com’s Jon Morosi reports on Twitter. It’ll likely cost a pretty penny to reel in the talented right-hander, who is also a clear target for more obvious contenders, though perhaps the White Sox will plan to offer him and others a chance to work as the closer.
  • It seems the Athletics are contemplating another bullpen buildout after succeeding with that strategy in 2018. Rosenthal tweets that the organization is interested in a reunion with Jeurys Familia, who certainly also ought to draw quite a few hits from other teams, particularly since he only just turned 29. While the rotation is an obvious need in Oakland, Rosenthal says it’s one that’s likelier to be met at a later point in the offseason — with “inexpensive” arms. It sounds as if the A’s won’t be driving the market on any of their top free agent targets. The search for diamonds in the rough paid out handsomely last winter, but hitting it rich again will surely be a challenge.

MLBTR Readers Predict Teams For McCutchen, Kikuchi, Donaldson, And More

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MLBTR’s free agent prediction contest closed on November 18th, and earlier this week we ran through our readers’ team predictions for each of the top ten free agents.  Now, let’s check out another batch of reader picks:

11.  Andrew McCutchen – Indians (13.6%), Braves (9.3%), Cubs (9.2%), Pirates (5.4%), Phillies (4.9%), Yankees (4.8%), Nationals (4.3%), Mets (4.3%), Cardinals (4.0%), White Sox (3.6%), Mariners (3.4%), Giants (3.2%), Rockies (3.2%), Diamondbacks (3.1%)

12.  Yusei Kikuchi – Padres (18.8%), Mariners (12.0%), Dodgers (11.5%), Angels (9.7%), Giants (4.8%), Yankees (4.5%), Red Sox (4.4%), Phillies (3.4%), Rangers (3.2%)

13.  Josh Donaldson – Cardinals (50.1%), Braves (6.1%), Indians (6.0%), Mets (4.5%), Phillies (4.0%), Angels (3.8%), White Sox (2.8%)

14.  Charlie Morton – Astros (35.6%), Phillies (13.0%), Nationals (5.9%), Brewers (5.1%), Braves (3.4%), Angels (3.2%), Athletics (2.8%)

15.  Wilson Ramos – Nationals (16.8%), Astros (13.4%), Braves (10.1%), Dodgers (10.1%), Mets (7.3%), Phillies (6.3%), Angels (6.0%), Brewers (3.6%), Mariners (3.6%), Rays (3.0%), Rockies (2.7%), Athletics (2.5%)

16.  Marwin Gonzalez – Astros (10.3%), Twins (7.0%), Cubs (6.7%), Yankees (5.7%), Mets (5.5%), Giants (5.1%), Rockies (4.7%), Brewers (4.7%), Angels (4.4%), Indians (4.2%), Braves (4.0%), Phillies (4.0%), Dodgers (3.5%), Nationals (3.4%), Athletics (3.2%), Cardinals (3.2%), White Sox (3.0%), Blue Jays (3.0%)

17.  Jeurys Familia – Athletics (12.4%), Mets (9.5%), Twins (6.9%), Cubs (6.7%), Cardinals (6.2%), Red Sox (5.6%), Braves (5.5%), Dodgers (4.5%), Phillies (4.4%), Angels (4.1%), Indians (4.1%), Nationals (3.8%), Brewers (3.8%)

18.  Zach Britton – Astros (11.1%), Red Sox (11.0%), Yankees (10.9%), Cubs (9.8%), Cardinals (8.0%), Dodgers (7.0%), Phillies (6.4%), Braves (5.8%), Mets (5.2%), Nationals (3.6%), Indians (3.4%)

19.  David Robertson – Yankees (28.8%), Mets (11.7%), Red Sox (9.0%), Cubs (4.7%), Braves (4.5%), Cardinals (4.5%), Indians (3.5%), Dodgers (3.4%), Phillies (3.4%), Nationals (3.2%)

20.  Adam Ottavino – Yankees (11.4%), Rockies (11.2%), Cardinals (7.9%), Dodgers (7.5%), Mets (7.1%), Red Sox (7.0%), Cubs (6.3%), Braves (4.9%), Nationals (3.4%), Phillies (3.4%), Indians (3.2%), Brewers (3.2%)

Trade Rumblings & Reactions: Twins, O’s, Fulmer, Mets, Familia, Machado

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Among the many trade proposals being tossed around behind the scenes, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter links) hears that the Twins have been approached about dealing Brian Dozier and Eduardo Escobar in the same trade, while teams interested in Zach Britton have also asked the Orioles about a larger deal involving Dylan Bundy or Kevin Gausman.  Rosenthal is doubtful either scenario takes place, as Baltimore may not be looking to deal from its rotation and, more generally, teams usually prefer to deal players individually rather than package together several trade chips in a single blockbuster move.  In regards to the Twins, Rosenthal speculates that the Brewers could have been the team who asked about the multi-player deal — Milwaukee has the most glaring need of any contender for middle infield help, and the Brew Crew has been connected to both Dozier and Escobar in reports.

Here’s more on some completed, and perhaps potential, trades as we approach the deadline…

  • Though an oblique strain sent Michael Fulmer to the DL on Friday, at least one team still has some trade interest in the Tigers right-hander, a rival scout for the mystery team told The Athletic’s Emily Waldon (Twitter link).  Much depends, obviously, on how quickly Fulmer is able to return from the injury, as he wouldn’t be able to pitch in the postseason for any club that acquired him after August 31.  I’d think that unless Fulmer makes an unusually speedy recovery, the Tigers would prefer to wait until the offseason so they could gain full value for what might be their best trade asset.  The Athletics can probably be ruled out as the team still in on Fulmer, as Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle (Twitter link) notes that the A’s had “some interest,” though that was prior to the injury news.
  • Mets assistant GM John Ricco discussed his team’s trade of closer Jeurys Familia to the A’s while speaking with reporters (including the New York Post’s Zach Braziller) today, saying that the Mets felt they would’ve received a worse return for a rental player like Familia had they waited longer for a deal.  The fact that Oakland was willing to take on the remainder of Familia’s contract wasn’t a major factor, as Ricco said the Mets are willing and able to take on salary in other trades.  “We made the judgment the talent level for eating money wasn’t going to be there, so we decided to do the [Familia] deal where we moved the money,” Ricco said.
  • Ricco’s explanation notwithstanding, the Familia trade has drawn criticism for the relatively small return (two minor prospects and $1MM in international bonus money) the Mets received, particularly with so many teams looking for bullpen help.  Sources from rival teams interested in Familia told The Athletic’s Jim Bowden (subscription required) that they didn’t know why the Mets didn’t approach them one final time to give them a chance to top Oakland’s offer.
  • More favorable reviews were given to the Manny Machado deal between the Orioles and Dodgers, from front office executives and scouts surveyed by Baseball America.  Speaking anonymously, the evaluators spoke positively about the five-prospect package Baltimore received for Machado, particularly since [which could also go to the Mets’ logic on dealing Familia when they did] rental players have become harder to move in the modern trading climate.  “For a rental these days, getting [Yusniel] Diaz and [Dean] Kremer was good in my opinion. In general I don’t see teams sacrificing top talent for two-plus months (of a big league player),” one American League front office official said.

Quick Hits: Cano, Mets, Familia, D-backs, S. Miller, White Sox

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Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano has been out since mid-May on account of both an 80-game suspension and a fractured right hand. In his absence, the Mariners have deployed Dee Gordon at second, and they’re not going to waver from that upon Cano’s return. “We are looking at Dee as our second baseman,” general manager Jerry Dipoto said Friday (via Ryan Divish of the Seattle Times). “There may be a time, especially mid-August to the end of the season where he slides out to center field for a day. But primarily he’s going to play second base.” With Gordon poised to continue at second, it seems Cano will primarily handle first base when he comes back. Although the 35-year-old Cano has never lined up at first, he certainly has the bat for the position. If Cano’s his usual self at the plate, he’ll be an easy upgrade over Seattle’s current starting first baseman, Ryon Healy, though the former’s suspension means won’t be eligible for the postseason if the contending Mariners earn a spot.

Here’s more from around the game…

  • The Mets pulled off a major trade Saturday in sending pending free-agent closer Jeurys Familia to the Athletics for third baseman William Toffey, right-hander Bobby Wahl and $1MM in international bonus money. Keith Law of ESPN (subscription required) isn’t impressed with the Mets’ half of the deal, writing that Toffey and Wahl are “two fringe-at-best prospects” and lambasting the big-market club for its penny-pinching ways. Law, who credits the A’s for paying next to nothing for a proven reliever, goes on to offer in-depth assessments of Toffey and Wahl in his piece.
  • If Diamondbacks right-hander Shelby Miller returns this season from elbow inflammation, he may work as a reliever, manager Torey Lovullo told reporters (including Zach Buchanan of The Athletic) on Friday. For now, Miller’s in the midst of a 10- to 14-day shutdown period, Buchanan notes, though he doesn’t have any UCL damage. Miller, out since July 12, endured a nightmarish few starts before going on the DL. In his first action since undergoing May 2017 Tommy John surgery, Miller yielded 19 earned runs on 24 hits and seven walks in 15 innings (four starts).
  • White Sox reliever Nate Jones suffered a setback in his recovery from a pronator muscle strain and will be shut down for two weeks, Scott Merkin of MLB.com tweets. The team still expects Jones to come back this year, Merkin adds, though it seems too late for him to emerge as an in-season trade chip. The 32-year-old Jones has already been out for more than a month, making this his second straight injury-shortened campaign. Jones, whom elbow problems limited to 11 2/3 innings last year, has thrown 24 2/3 frames this season and registered a 2.55 ERA/4.61 FIP with 9.85 K/9 and 5.11 BB/9.

Athletics Acquire Jeurys Familia

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In a trade that has been widely expected since last night, the Athletics have officially acquired right-hander Jeurys Familia from the Mets. In exchange, the Athletics have sent a pair of minor leaguers back to New York: third baseman William Toffey and right-hander Bobby Wahl. The Mets will also receive $1MM in international bonus money, while the Athletics will take on all of Familia’s ~$3MM remaining salary.

With Familia set to reach free agency at season’s end, and the Mets suffering through a miserable 40-55 season thus far on the year, the closer’s ticket out of Queens has been all but purchased for weeks. Familia earned the number two spot on our Top 75 Trade Candidates At The All-Star Break list owing in part to the above factors as well as his excellent start to the 2018 season. Thus far, Familia’s managed an excellent 2.88 ERA and 17 saves to go along with 9.52 K/9 and a 50.5% ground ball rate.

Familia’s excellence goes beyond the common surface stats, too. His peripherals have earned him a 2.54 FIP, for one. He’s also been excellent at limiting homers, with a minuscule 2.8% homer-to-fly-ball rate on the season. An even deeper dive reveals that Familia has allowed hard contact at just a 26.8% clip during a season in which hard contact is up on the whole, and he’s also managed to induce swinging strikes on 12% of his pitches. According to Statcast, the batted ball profile of hitters against Familia gives him an xwOBA of just .289, which is only a few points above his actual wOBA (.273).

The excellent figures above are a well-timed bounce back from a miserable 2017 season for Familia that began with a 15-game domestic violence suspension and got even worse when it was revealed that the righty had an arterial clot in his right shoulder that would ultimately require surgery to repair. By the time he was finally able to return on August 26th, he looked nothing like himself, posting a 4.70 ERA while walking 4.11 batters per nine and not even notching a strikeout per inning. His 2018 comeback not only allowed the team who signed and developed him to capitalize on his success and reap a prospect return, but it also earned Familia a trade to a contending team, and the promise of pitching in meaningful games by which he can boost his free agent pay day.

That team, the Athletics, didn’t look like a serious player for the American League West crown early on in the season. But thanks to a torrid stretch during which they’ve gone 21-7, the Athletics have vaulted themselves into contender status and currently sit just four games out of the second AL Wild Card spot currently owned by the division rival Mariners. A breakout season from third baseman Matt Chapman, a career year from infielder Jed Lowrie, and the continued success from young core players such as Matt Olson and Sean Manaea are all contributing factors to the A’s owning an impressive 55-43 record at this juncture.

Familia will join an elite-level A’s bullpen that’s already 38-0 this season when leading after seven innings. That group includes breakout closer Blake Treinen along with other excellent 2018 performers such as Lou Trivino, Chris Hatcher, Ryan Buchter and Yusmeiro Petit. There’s no word on who will handle the closing duties in the Familia era in Oakland, but it seems quite possible that Familia could supplant the incumbent Treinen in order to suppress his saves, a stat that holds an inordinate amount of weight in baseball’s arbitration process and would therefore help to drive up Treinen’s price tag in future seasons.

As for the Mets, it signals the waving of a white flag on the 2018 season. It’s not clear yet, however, whether the move signals a short retooling phase or a longer-term, larger-scale rebuilding process that could drive them to ship out players with longer-term club control such as Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard and Michael Conforto. With the meteoric rises of the division-rival Braves and Phillies, and the Nationals unlikely to go south anytime soon, the NL East doesn’t figure to get any easier in the ensuing seasons. Add to that uncertainty surrounding the future of the injured Yoenis Cespedes (who will likely require surgery and a nine-month rehab period), and the development of young players like Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith not working out as planned, it’s possible the Amazins could be motivated to tear down the major league roster and start from scratch.

Though manager Mickey Callaway stated this morning that the Mets would go with a closer-by-committee approach in the post-Familia era, it’s worth noting that he made the exact same comment at the beginning of the season before proceeding to use Familia as his 9th-inning hurler almost exclusively. During times when Familia was unavailable, Callaway turned to multi-inning workhorse Robert Gsellman, who’s earned five saves on the season (including one last night when Familia was kept on the pine amidst trade discussions).

With Familia headed to Oakland, the market figures to focus its attention on Zach Britton, who earlier today was deemed “the next Oriole out the door” by beat reporter Roch Kubatko of MASNsports.com. In a concurring report, Buster Olney of ESPN tweeted that Baltimore is expected to move Britton as soon as this weekend. Joakim Soria, Raisel Iglesias and Fernando Rodney represent some right-handed alternatives to Familia who could now garner increased attention from the Cubs, Diamondbacks, Indians, Red Sox and Braves (Jon Heyman of Fancred reports that those clubs were all players for Familia). Meanwhile, Zach Duke and Felipe Vazquez could earn the focus of clubs looking for a southpaw.

The trade of Familia marks the latest development in a surprisingly fast-moving trade market for relief pitchers. The Mariners acquired Alex Colome from the Rays back in May, the Nationals landed Kelvin Herrera from the Royals in June, the Indians pried Brad Hand from the Padres before the All-Star break came to a close, and the Cubs traded for Jesse Chavez later that night; and it’s still ten days in advance of the actual trade deadline. It falls in line with a trend we saw this past offseason in which teams are aggressively pursuing reliable relievers, perhaps because they seem to be more valuable than ever before.

Toffey, 23, is a left-handed-hitting third baseman who came to the Athletics by way of their fourth-round pick in the 2017 draft. In 197 plate appearances at Class A Advanced this season, he’s hit .244/.357/.384. Baseball America ranked him as Oakland’s 19th-best prospect headed into the 2018 season, noting his excellent plate discipline. Though he doesn’t possess any serious raw power, scouts believe it’s possible he’ll be able to hit some bombs simply by virtue of his ability to wait and swing at his pitch. Toffey’s best tool, perhaps, is his glove, though his fringe-average speed may prevent his defense from reaching its true ceiling.

Wahl is perhaps the better of the two prospects in this deal. Though his September cup of coffee last season was average at best (four earned runs, eight strikeouts and four walks in 7 2/3 innings), Wahl’s been mowing down opponents at Triple-A Nashville so far this season. Across 39 2/3 innings, the right-hander owns a 14.75 K/9 figure against 3.86 BB/9 and has posted a 2.27 ERA that’s not too far below his 2.52 FIP. If he’s able to produce something close to those numbers at the major-league level, he could be a fixture in the Mets’ bullpen for years to come.

Despite the interesting upside for Wahl, the general consensus in the industry is that the prospect return in this trade isn’t particularly impressive, especially considering the trade value of Familia. It could be that the $1MM in international bonus money is the true prize in this deal, and if that’s the case, we could see the Mets come to terms with one of the top remaining international prospects in the coming days; high-upside Cuban righty Osiel Rodriguez currently tops the list of unsigned players.

Jane Lee of MLB.com was the first to report that two sides had come to an agreement involving two prospects and international bonus pool money. Shortly thereafter Joel Sherman of the New York Post revealed which prospects were headed back to the Mets. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle first noted that the international bonus pool amount was $1MM, and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic made first mention that the A’s were taking on all of Familia’s remaining salary. Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mets, Athletics Expect To Finalize Jeurys Familia Trade By End Of Day

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12:45pm: The two clubs expect to complete the deal by the end of the day, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

Saturday, 11:08am: It’s “down to the medical reviews,” says ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick, who expects that the deal should “sail through” once that’s finished. Mets manager Mickey Callaway told reporters today that Familia remains unavailable for today’s game.

Friday, 10:36pm: The A’s are indeed the team trying to wrap up an agreement, Martino tweets. “Barring [a] snag,” Familia will head to Oakland, he says. Olney hears similarly. (Twitter link.)

10:26pm: The structure of a deal is in place but it is not yet final, Olney tweets. Meanwhile, the Mets have informed reporters that nothing will be announced tonight (via Puma, on Twitter). Though Familia is saying his goodbyes in the clubhouse, he says he hasn’t been given any official word (via DiComo, on Twitter).

The Astros are not involved, Olney adds on Twitter.

10:13pm: There’s definitely some fire producing this smoke, as Mets skipper Mickey Callaway tells reporters he was advised not to deploy Familia owing to a possible trade. (Via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, on Twitter.) It remains to be seen if a swap can be completed.

9:51pm: As Jeurys Familia watches from the bullpen rather than entering in a save situation, the Mets are working to finalize a deal to send him elsewhere, Buster Olney of ESPN.com reports on Twitter. The prospective destination is not yet known.

Earlier this evening, it was reported that the Athletics are a suitor for Familia, and all signs are currently pointing to a potential match with Oakland. Many other possibilities seem to have been dismissed. The sides are “well down the road,” per Andy Martino of SNY.tv (via Twitter), though ESPN.com’s Jerry Crasnick tweets that the A’s are “not willing to take on as much money as another club in the bidding.”

Most other suitors seem questionable at best. The Cubs had been tied to Familia, but Olney says they are not involved at the moment. Also on the sidelines are the Braves, Olney adds on Twitter. Though he suggested the Giants might be a factor, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand tweets that they are out owing to luxury tax considerations. Meanwhile, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter) and Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe (Twitter link) indicate that Boston isn’t deeply involved at the moment, though Crasnick tweets that they have been in the picture.

Despite the intrigue, it may be that talks won’t result in a deal. Andy Martino of SNY.tv tweets that, even if ultimately consummated, agreement may not be struck tonight. Clearly, though, talks are “too close to take a risk,” as a source puts it to Mike Puma of the New York Post (via Twitter).

Familia is the top remaining trade candidate from MLBTR’s recent ranking of deadline assets. There has never been any question he’d be moved since the Mets fell out of contention in the NL East. Though he hasn’t been at his most dominant thus far, Familia is getting good results and showing his typical upper-nineties power sinker.

Teams weighing a move for Familia will surely consider him rather affordable at a $7.9MM salary with no future commitment. If not, Mets front office point-man John Ricco made clear today that the club is willing to pick up the tab if it can achieve sufficient prospect value. (Via Puma, on Twitter.)

This is a developing story …

Mets Notes: Cespedes, Asdrubal, Rivera, Syndergaard

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As we wait to hear about the consummation of a prospective deal that would send closer Jeurys Familia out west, the Mets have served up plenty of other noteworthy news. Here are the other topics of conversation in New York:

  • High-priced outfielder Yoenis Cespedes homered in his return from a lengthy DL stint, but dropped a seeming bombshell after the game. Cespedes said that the root cause of his various leg ailments is in fact calcification in his heels, as Tim Britton of The Athletic and MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter links) were among those to report. The veteran says the only way to address the problem is a surgical procedure followed by an eight-to-ten month rehab, though it’s not certain that he’ll end up pursuing that course. For now, Cespedes could only say he’s not sure if he’ll be able to play through the rest of the season but hopes to be able to do so. Of course, the current campaign isn’t really the chief concern of the team. With Cespedes promised a total of $58.5MM over the next two seasons, his ability to play out the back half of the deal at a high level — whether in New York or elsewhere — is of much greater importance. At this point, it’s entirely unclear how that situation will shake out.
  • Infielder Asdrubal Cabrera figures to be a fairly notable trade piece for the Mets. The veteran switch-hitter is drawing wide interest, MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports on Twitter. While that market is not fully developed, it seems all but certain a deal of some kind will come together by the time the trade deadline arrives. Feinsand cites the Brewers and Diamondbacks as teams “believed to be among [the] potential suitors.” Cabrera placed fifth on our recent ranking of the top 75 trade deadline candidates, though some other infield possibilities could rise in the ranks if their teams move clearly into the selling camp.
  • Cespedes’s situation did not represent the only poor injury news. Infielder T.J. Rivera, who is working back from Tommy John surgery, has been diagnosed with a right elbow sprain, as Tim Healey of Newsday tweets. For now, Rivera will finish a ten-day rest period after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection, with the ensuing steps presumably still to be determined. The 29-year-old was hoping to reestablish himself as a solid infield piece, but struggled at the plate in six rehab games before this issue arose.
  • Alarm bells rang this evening as Mets righty Noah Syndergaard exhibited a velocity drop (as documented on Twitter by Britton). Fortunately, both the hurler and his manager say there’s no real cause for concern. (See this tweet from MLB.com’s Joe Trezza and this one from DiComo.) Neither his recently problematic finger nor some other issue was to blame for the velo fade. Instead, the team’s viewpoint is that Syndergaard simply experienced fatigue.
  • Blue Jays executive and former Red Sox GM Ben Cherington is emerging as an early potential front office target for the Mets, per ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter). Of course, that process is only in the preliminary stages at this point. It’s still not entirely clear just how the Mets will go about addressing the front office uncertainty that arose when GM Sandy Alderson took a leave of absence, leaving a trio of execs to handle things in his absence. Whether or not Alderson ultimately returns in some capacity, though, it seems the club will at least consider bringing in some new voices.

Athletics, Cubs Among Teams Showing Interest In Mets Closer Jeurys Familia

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The Athletics are “among the teams hoping to land” righty Jeurys Familia from the Mets, according to a report from Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle. The Cubs are also showing interest in Familia, Jon Heyman of Fancred tweets.

It seems these organizations are hardly the only ones with interest. At least seven or eight contenders have made contact regarding Familia, according to reports from Andy Martino of SNY.tv and MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. The precise timeline of a deal isn’t at all clear, and will surely depend upon how talks progress. But the Mets are already “exchanging names” of potential prospects with interested teams, Martino adds.

It really isn’t surprising to hear of this broad interest. Familia is an established closer who’ll hit the open market this fall after the struggling Mets wrap things up for the year. We recently tabbed Familia as the #2 player on our list of the top 75 trade deadline candidates. (The top name on the board, of course, has since been moved.)

Some might raise eyebrows, though, to hear that the A’s are one of the teams poking around. The club may only have hopes of challenging the Mariners for a Wild Card spot, after all, and getting Familia would mean offering more than motivated rivals. Plus, the Oakland club already has received impressive performances at the back of its bullpen.

Still, president of baseball operations Billy Beane has made clear he sees the deadline as a chance to get better. While the rotation remains a more obvious area of need, finding a significant improvement there may prove quite challenging given the supply-and-demand situation. And despite the good late-inning work from existing hurlers, modern baseball teams can never have enough good relief pitching. Indeed, the A’s just cut loose veteran righty Santiago Casilla, so they clearly aren’t fully satisfied with their current mix.

From the Mets’ perspective, the hope clearly will be that multiple contenders will push hard for Familia. Heading into the All-Star break, he had compiled 40 2/3 innings of 2.88 ERA ball with 9.5 K/9, 3.1 BB/9, and a 50.5% groundball rate. While there are plenty of talented relievers that could be had, relatively few of those are clearly slated to be dealt away by their current organizations. Zach Britton, Joakim Soria, and Fernando Rodney are perhaps the top alternative pitchers of this ilk.

NL East Rumors: Mets, Braves, Phillies, Realmuto

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While the Mets have received substantial interest in both Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard, a trade of either still seems unlikely to happen, per James Wagner of the New York Times (all links to Twitter). The Mets are seeking elite prospects and/or young MLB-ready talent for both pitchers, and it’s been tough to find a fit. Contending clubs, such as the Braves and Yankees, have that type of talent but are reluctant to include it in deals. Other contenders, like the Giants and Diamondbacks, don’t necessarily have the type of pieces the Mets are seeking in return. As Wagner notes, many of the best prospects in baseball are on non-contenders/rebuilding teams, such as the White Sox, Blue Jays and Padres — clubs that are spending more effort to trade pieces away at the moment. Wagner adds that he hears the Padres like Syndergaard, though, and hope to contend in the near future, so they could pursue him this offseason. For now, however, Asdrubal Cabrera, Jeurys Familia and Zack Wheeler are the likeliest Mets to be moved.

More from the NL East…

  • Adding a reliever or two appears to be the Braves’ top priority prior to the July 31 non-waiver deadline, tweets David O’Brien of The Athletic. Atlanta could alter that approach and pursue a rotation option, but there’s a considerably larger supply of available relievers, even after this morning’s blockbuster sending lefty Brad Hand and right-hander Adam Cimber from the Padres to the Indians. General manager Alex Anthopoulos recently suggested that the team would be reluctant to part with too much young talent in order to acquire a rental player.
  • It’s not entirely clear what the Phillies were offering in their efforts to acquire Manny Machado prior to the trade that sent him from Baltimore to L.A., but Jayson Stark of The Athletic tweets that the Orioles did “extensive background work” on right-hander Adonis Medina, outfielder Adam Haseley and left-hander JoJo Romero. Ultimately, though, the Orioles believed that the Phillies couldn’t (or perhaps weren’t willing to) match the upside that existed in headliner Yusniel Diaz, which prompted the O’s to ship Machado to the Dodgers.
  • Though many Phillies fans are disheartened to see Machado head to the Dodgers, Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia writes that the club will remain active on the trade market. Salisbury lists Twins shortstop Eduardo Escobar, another impending free agent in the midst of a strong season, as a potential target for the Phils. Escobar, 29, is hitting .271/.327/.507 with 14 homers and an MLB-leading 35 doubles to this point in the 2018 season. He’s better at third base than at shortstop but has substantial experience at both positions. On the pitching side of things, Salisbury suggests that Jeurys Familia, Felipe Vazquez and J.A. Happ could all emerge as targets for the Phils. Adding Happ could allow the team to move Vince Velasquez or Nick Pivetta to the ’pen, Salisbury adds.
  • It’s been suggested that if the Marlins don’t trade All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto this summer, the team could approach him about a long-term contract in the offseason. Realmuto spoke with Andre C. Fernandez of the Miami Herald about that possibility, and while he stressed that his current emphasis is on the 2018 season, he’s not closed off to the idea even after last offseason’s reported request for a trade. “If they approached me, I wouldn’t be opposed to having the conversation,” said Realmuto about a possible extension. “…The fact that they would think of me that way, to build around me, is an honor.” Realmuto acknowledged the Marlins’ improved play recently — they’re 21-18 over their past 39 games — and expressed confidence that the club will continue to improve over the season’s second half.

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