Mets Select Blake Taylor, Claim Stephen Gonsalves
The Mets have announced the addition of two left-handed hurlers to their 40-man roster. Blake Taylor‘s contract was selected from Triple-A while the club claimed Stephen Gonsalves off waivers from the Twins.
Taylor, 24, has been a member of the Mets organization for more than a decade. The 2013 second-round pick of the Pirates joined New York in the teams’ 2014 swap centering on Ike Davis. Taylor was a somewhat highly touted prospect during his draft class, of course, though he hasn’t climbed above the Triple-A level yet. He did dominate in Double-A ball this year, though, as the left-hander posted a 1.85 ERA/2.61 FIP with 10.38 K/9, 2.77 BB/9 and a 50.5 percent groundball rate in 39 innings.
It hasn’t been long since Gonsalves, 25, was a top 100 prospect, and now the southpaw’s days with the Twins are over after a lengthy run as a member of the organization. Gonsalves had been with Minnesota since it grabbed him in the fourth round of the 2013 draft. However, control problems have haunted Gonsalves in recent years, especially during his only taste of the majors in 2018, and he barely pitched at all this season. Elbow and forearm problems limited Gonsalves to a total of 13 innings among three different minor league levels in 2019, but the Mets will nonetheless take a chance on the once-promising hurler.
Mets, Pirates Complete Ike Davis Trade
The Mets and Pirates have completed the Ike Davis trade with the Bucs sending Blake Taylor to the Mets as the player to be named later, according to Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (on Twitter). Taylor was the Pirates second-round pick (No. 51) overall in last year’s draft. The CBA prevents teams from trading drafted players within their first year in the organization, so the two sides had to wait until after the one-year mark.
At the time of the trade, it was reported that the PTBNL would be more significant than the other piece the Mets received in minor league righty Zack Thornton. The soon-to-be 19-year-old probably comes with more upside than the 26-year-old Thornton, but this may not be the impact prospect that some Mets fans had in mind. In seven starts and one relief appearance in rookie ball last season, Taylor pitched to a 2.57 ERA with 5.6 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9.
Taylor was ranked as the 40th-best prospect of the 2013 draft class by ESPN’s Keith Law (Insider subscription needed) and was also ranked 55th by Baseball America and ranked 61st by MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo.
The Mets announced (via Twitter) that Taylor will report to the rookie-level Gulf Coast Mets.