Mets Trade Retrospective: 2018 Jeurys Familia deal with the Athletics

In mid-2018, the New York Mets traded Jeurys Familia to the Oakland Athletics for two minor leaguers. We look back at the deal and the return the Mets got in this trade.

In 2020, Jeurys Familia wouldn’t need to pay for a ride to the airport. After what he did with the New York Mets in 2019, there is a line of fans who would happily drive him there and purchase a one-way ticket to any other city.

Familia was so bad in 2019 that even when closer Edwin Diaz put together a nearly equally as bad campaign, the team never turned to their all-time single-season saves leader for help.

It feels like Familia has been a part of the Mets organization for his entire career. Briefly, as I’m sure you recall, he spent some time with the Oakland Athletics at the end of 2018. A trade deadline deal sent Familia westward where he had a chance to compete in the American League.

In return for Familia, the Mets received two minor leaguers and some international bonus slot money. The two players, Will Toffey and Bobby Wahl, have yet to make a name for themselves in baseball. Let’s check where they are.

Will Toffey

The good news is Toffey remains a member of the Mets organization. Last year, he spent the entire season in Double-A Binghamton. This is exactly where he finished up 2018 when he first became a member of the franchise.

Unfortunately, any success Toffey experienced in late 2018 didn’t carry over into 2019.

Across 323 plate appearances, Toffey hit just .219/.347/.349. The left-handed hitter third baseman found ways to get on base through walks but failed to do much with his bat.

The Mets are at a point with their third base prospects where it looks like 2019 first-round pick Brett Baty is the future at the hot corner with Mark Vientos offering up the most competition. Toffey, meanwhile, is left out to dry.

Already 25-years-old without an at-bat in Triple-A, the chances of ever seeing him in a big league uniform with the Amazins are slim.

Bobby Wahl

Surprisingly, Wahl actually did see some time with the Mets in 2018 following the Familia trade. In 7 appearances which spanned 5.1 innings of work, he served up a pair of home runs and concluded his time in New York with a 10.13 ERA.

Wahl was then traded in an even worse deal when the Mets shipped him and two other prospects to the Milwaukee Brewers for Keon Broxton.

Sadly, for Wahl, an ACL injury in spring training of 2019 removed him from the entire regular season. Already 28 years of age, he may have already reached journeyman status.

If all you knew about Familia was how he performed in 2019, it wouldn’t surprise you to see the Mets failed to get much in return for him. However, at the time of the trade, he was still the team’s closer and pitching to a 2.88 ERA.

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The Mets could have gotten a bit more from this once-dominant reliever if they ate a little more of the contract he was set to receive for the final months of 2018. Instead, the team wanted to dump it all on Oakland. Thus resulting in yet another one of the franchise’s cost-cutting trades.