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Mets Rotation Update

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A month ago, the New York Mets made the bold move to transition two of their highest-volume relievers to the rotation. Robert Gsellman and Seth Lugo each came to the majors with expectations of starting, but after years of working effectively out of the bullpen, the Mets gambled by moving the pair back to the rotation mid-season. The experiment is over for Gsellman, writes MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo.

Gsellman’s longest outing was a 4-inning stint in which he allowed one run while striking out four and walking none. While the Mets eventually lost that game 2-1, it was the only game of the four Gsellman started that went that way. Still, short outings and an 8.68 ERA suggest Gsellman is better suited to returning to his usual role in the bullpen, where the Mets rank 11th as a team by ERA and 12th by FIP.

Besides, the Mets’ rotation is full again with ace Jacob deGrom followed by Rick Porcello, David Peterson, and Michael Wacha. The 25-year-old Peterson has been a pleasant surprise, going 4-1 with a 3.03 ERA/4.02 FIP. His emergence has been especially important considering the de-evolution and subsequent injured list stint for fellow southpaw Steven Matz. Matz slumped to a 0-4 mark with an unsightly 8.63 ERA/6.69 FIP before being placed on the injured list for shoulder bursitis.

The right-handed, non-deGrom, veteran division of the rotation – consisting of Porcello and Wacha – have produced subpar results by measure of ERA, but take a look at an ERA-indicator like FIP and you’ll find a much different story. Porcello boasts just a 1-4 record over 8 starts (39 innings) with a 5.54 ERA – but a 2.97 FIP. Wacha, similarly, has a horrid 7.20 ERA over 5 starts (20 innings) – but a much more respectable 4.40 FIP. Wacha in particular has shown an impressive 12.2 K/9, easily a career high, but he’s also surrendered 12.6 hits per nine innings, a mark that’s equally outside his career norms. A .429 BABIP against might be partially responsible for the discrepancy between FIP and ERA, giving the Mets cause to believe in their rotation over the season’s final three weeks.

Lugo will continue to hold down the fifth spot in the rotation. Long one of New York’s most reliable relievers, Lugo has continued to impress from the rotation. While no stranger to the rotation – Lugo made 31 starts from 2016 to 2018 – he worked exclusively out of the pen in 2019 for an identical 2.70 ERA/FIP across 61 appearances covering 80 innings. He’s been their most reliable bullpen arm in recent seasons, but having acquired Miguel Castro from the Orioles at the deadline and moving Gsellman back to the pen, the Mets are betting that they can afford to keep Lugo in the rotation for now. The 30-year-old has done an admirable job stretching himself to starter’s minutes, culminating in a 5-inning outing his last time out. In total, Lugo has a 1.54 ERA across 11 2/3 innings since moving to the rotation.

Minor MLB Transactions: 9/5/20

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Wrapping up some minor moves from around the game…

  • The Mets outrighted Hunter Strickland to their alternate training site, the team announced.  Strickland was designated for assignment earlier this week and cleared waivers, then accepted the outright assignment.  This is the second time the veteran hurler has been outrighted this season.  After signing a minors contract with the Mets in June, Strickland has an 8.10 ERA over 3 1/3 innings with the team.
  • In another Mets move, the Amazins released right-hander Pedro Payano, as per the MLB.com transactions page.  Payano made his Major League debut in 2019, posting a 5.73 ERA over 22 innings for the Rangers before signing a minor league deal with the Mets over the offseason.  The New York-born Payano, however, didn’t see any big league action for his hometown team in 2020.  Payano is a veteran of eight seasons in the Rangers organization, posting a 3.68 ERA, 2.46 K/BB rate, and 8.2 K/9 over 686 1/3 minor league innings (starting 125 of 142 games).
  • The Yankees released righty Adonis Rosa, the team announced.  Rosa had been pitching at the Yankees’ alternate training site.  Signing with the Yankees as a 19-year-old in 2013, Rosa has a 3.35 ERA, 3.79 K/BB rate, and 7.8 K/9 over 515 1/3 career minor league innings, starting 74 of his 114 career games in New York’s farm system.  Rosa’s MLB resume consists of a single game, a two-inning appearance on August 13, 2019.

Mets Select Erasmo Ramirez

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The Mets have selected right-hander Erasmo Ramirez’s contract, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. The team opened 40-man space for Ramirez when it designated outfielder Billy Hamilton for assignment.

The 30-year-old Ramirez, whom the Mets signed to a minor league contract in June, could now be in line to appear in the majors for the ninth consecutive season. Going back to 2012, the former Ray, Mariner and Red Sox has recorded a passable 4.40 ERA/4.58 FIP with 6.98 K/9 and 2.56 BB/9 in 640 2/3 innings and 193 appearances (92 starts), but his stock has fallen over the past couple years. Ramirez struggled to a 6.50 ERA/6.69 FIP across 45 2/3 frames with Seattle in 2018 and only totaled three innings with Boston last season.

Now that he’s coming back to the majors, it’s unclear whether Ramirez will fill a starting or bullpen role for the Mets, whose rotation, despite impressive peripherals, owns the majors’ seventh-worst ERA (5.25). Only Jacob deGrom, David Peterson and Seth Lugo (who has made a pair of short starts since leaving the bullpen) have done well to prevent runs for the club’s starting staff this year. Rick Porcello, Michael Wacha, Robert Gsellman and the currently injured Steven Matz have had immense difficulty keeping runs off the board, on the other hand.

Mets Designate Billy Hamilton For Assignment

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The Mets have designated outfielder Billy Hamilton for assignment, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com was among those to report.

New York acquired Hamilton from San Francisco just over a month ago, but the move failed to pay dividends for the Mets. The soon-to-be 30-year-old Hamilton wound up going 1-for-22 as a Met before they designated him, and his stint with the team may have ended Thursday when he came in as a pinch runner in the bottom of the ninth against the Yankees and was thrown out trying to steal third with no outs. Fortunately for the Mets, J.D. Davis then homered to tie the game, and they went on to defeat the Yankees in extra innings.

Base-running mistakes weren’t what the Mets bargained for when they landed Hamilton, who has more than held his own on the base paths since debuting with the Reds in 2013. The speedy Hamilton has 302 steals on 382 attempts on his resume, and he has also provided excellent defense in center field with 75 DRS and a 55.8 UZR. But an inability to contribute passable numbers with the bat has held back the switch-hitting Hamilton, owner of a .241/.295/.324 line with 21 home runs in 3,114 plate appearances.

Alex Rodriguez Reportedly Unhappy With Mets’ Sale Process

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It appears the Mets’ next owner will be Steve Cohen, who entered exclusive negotiations to purchase the franchise from Fred Wilpon and Jeff Wilpon last Friday. Cohen became the favorite after beating out multiple big-money groups, including one headlined by former major leaguer/current television analyst Alex Rodriguez and famous fiancee Jennifer Lopez. The Rodriguez-Lopez team was willing to offer $2.3 billion for the Mets before losing out to Cohen, according to Josh Kosman and Thornton McEnery of the New York Post.

Now, after falling short, A-Rod is crying foul on the process, as he believes bidding was rigged in Cohen’s favor, Kosman and McEnery report. Mets banker Steve Greenberg asked Rodriguez what his group was willing to pay before final bids were due, per Kosman and McEnery, who write that the 14-time All-Star “reluctantly” gave Greenberg the information. Cohen then offered $2.35 billion for the franchise, which will apparently end up as the winning bid.

“They took the bids and showed them to Cohen,” a source close to Rodriguez told the New York Post. Another source said the sale “was fixed” because Rodriguez & Co. did not get a chance to match Cohen’s offer. Rodriguez has tried contacting Fred Wilpon since last Friday but to no avail, Kosman and McEnery report.

With Rodriguez out of the picture, it should only be a matter of time before Cohen finalizes a deal, though Major League Baseball will spend three months investigating his background before a sale goes through, Kosman and McEnery relay. If Cohen does get the team for $2.35 billion, though, it would represent a lower amount than the $2.6 billion he was willing to fork over in the winter before negotiations between him and the Wilpons fell apart.

Mets Designate Hunter Strickland

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The Mets have designated reliever Hunter Strickland and transferred infielder Eduardo Nunez to the 45-day injured list, Tim Healey of Newsday was among those to report. Those moves help make room for righty Ariel Jurado, whom the team recalled.

This is the second time this year the Mets have designated Strickland, whom they brought back to their roster Monday four weeks after his previous DFA. Strickland wound up throwing a scoreless inning with two strikeouts and a walk last night, but it wasn’t enough to keep him in the fray. The 31-year-old has now tossed 3 1/3 innings this season and yielded four runs (three earned) on five hits and four strikeouts against one walk.

Nunez, 33, has been even less of a factor for the Mets than Strickland. He totaled two at-bats on the opening weekend of the season, but Nunez has been dealing with left knee problems since then. It’s unclear whether he’ll return this year.

Mariners Claim Walker Lockett

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The Mariners have claimed righty Walker Lockett off waivers from the Mets, as per a Mariners press release.  New York designated Lockett for assignment earlier this week.

The long ball has plagued Lockett over his brief MLB tenure, as a 2.2 HR/9 over 45 2/3 career innings is largely responsible for the 8.28 ERA he has posted over parts of three seasons with the Mets and Padres.  Lockett consistently posted strong ground-ball rates over his minor league career but has yet to translate that skill at the big league level, with just a modest 44.9% grounder rate in the Show.

Lockett is out of options, so Seattle will have to include him on its active roster or risk exposing him to the DFA wire once more.  There’s little harm for the rebuilding Mariners in seeing if Lockett could fit into their future plans, as he has a solid track record as a starter in the minors and could also be potentially deployed for relief work.

NL East Trade Deadline Recap

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With the deadline in the rearview mirror, we’ll look back at each NL East team’s trade activity over the past month.

Atlanta Braves

Miami Marlins

New York Mets

Philadelphia Phillies

Washington Nationals

  • None

Mets Acquire Miguel Castro From Orioles

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The New York Mets swung another deal just before the trade deadline, acquiring Miguel Castro from the Orioles, per MLB Network’s Jon Heyman (via Twitter). The Orioles will receive southpaw Kevin Smith, per Robert Murray (via Twitter). In addition, the Mets will be sending a player to be named later or cash to Baltimore, per Mark Feinsand of MLB.com.

The Mets completed a flurry of deals at the last minute, also acquiring catcher Robinson Chirinos and third baseman Todd Frazier from the Rangers. In Castro, the Mets are getting another power arm from the right side to help out late in games. The 25-year-old owns a 4.02 ERA/3.71 FIP across 16 appearances this season. He strikeout to walk numbers have blown up in the 15 2/3 innings he’s logged this year with 13.8 K/9 to 2.9 BB/9. Those numbers are far better than his career norms, so at least some regression is to be expected. With just another month to go in the season, the Mets are betting the overall profile holds up.

Castro was set to make $1.05MM before prorating for the shortened season in his first season of arbitration eligibility. The Mets will retain his rights for two more seasons after 2020. Given the injury to Dellin Betances and Edwin Diaz’s struggles since joining the Mets, Castro figures to see some high-leverage opportunities over the final month of the season. Retaining his control for two years beyond this season is a win for the Mets as well. They have continually sought bullpen reinforcements in recent seasons.

Smith was the Mets’ 12th-ranked prospect per Baseball America and MLB.com. The 6’5″ Smith spent 2019 between High-A and Double-A tossing 117 innings across 23 starts with a 3.23 ERA. That showing prompted Smith to jump up the Mets prospect boards before the start of 2020. Smith, 23, could be given a look as early as this season, given the trend of debuting youngsters we’re seeing throughout baseball, but it’s more likely Smith stays in the development pool for now.

The Orioles sent a number of pitchers out in trades before the deadline, also dealing Mychal Givens to the Rockies and Tommy Milone to the Braves. They continue to rebuild under second-year GM Mike Elias.

Mets Acquire Robinson Chirinos, Todd Frazier

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The Mets have acquired catcher Robinson Chirinos and infielder Todd Frazier in a pair of trades with the Rangers, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter links).  Texas will receive a player to be named later in return for Chirinos, as per MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand (Twitter link).  The Rangers have officially announced the deals, revealing that they will also get a player to be named later for Frazier, and some money will be sent to New York to complete the Chirinos deal — Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reported that those cash considerations will total $360K.

Chirinos has been bothered by an ankle injury for much of the season, and eventually had a 10-day stint on the injured list to fully recover before returning to action last week.  It’s safe to assume that Chirinos’ dreadful .119/.224/.143 slash line over 49 PA is at least partially the result of that ankle problem, as the 36-year-old backstop has been a much more potent hitter over the last six seasons with the Rangers and Astros.  Chirinos hit .235/.331/.445 with 84 homers over 1953 plate appearances from 2014-19.

Anything close to that type of production would be a nice boon for the Mets, who have received little from Wilson Ramos at the plate this year.  With Tomas Nido on the IL, the Mets were thin on options behind the plate, and now could use both Chirinos and Ramos in something of a timeshare in September.

Chirinos could also be on the Mets’ radar for 2021, as the catcher has a $6.5MM club option on his services for next season ($1MM buyout).  It’s a fair price based on his past track record, though Chirinos will need to get on track at the plate or else the Mets might decline to exercise that option and seek a less-expensive catcher on the open market.  (Or, speculatively, maybe a much more expensive catcher if a change in ownership means the Mets have more dollars to spend on big-ticket talent like J.T. Realmuto.)

After playing for the Mets in 2018-19, Frazier makes his return to Queens after hitting .241/.322/.380 over 121 PA with Texas this season.  Frazier ended up playing almost every day with the Rangers, mostly at first base due to Danny Santana’s injury problems and Ronald Guzman spending much of the season at the team’s alternate training site.  Frazier also saw some time at third base, and he’ll provide the Mets with some depth and a right-handed bench bat at both corner infield positions.  Of note, J.D. Davis has been hampered over the last couple of games with a minor hip problem, so Frazier’s addition could be a particular depth add for third base if Davis has to miss any significant time.

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