Mets may have already lost the Jake Marisnick trade with the Astros

Jake Marisnick hasn’t played much at all for the New York Mets in 2020. Meanwhile, one of the pieces traded for him, Blake Taylor, is shining in the Houston Astros bullpen.

When the New York Mets went out and acquired Jake Marisnick over the winter we figured we’d see him play regularly as a defensive replacement in center field. It wasn’t a bad deal at the time. All it cost them was Blake Taylor and Kenedy Corona. Who are those guys?

Well, things haven’t worked out so well. Marisnick suffered an injury shortly after the 2020 season began. We haven’t had the chance to see him flash much leather since.

Meanwhile, down in Houston, the Astros may have been able to make up for the J.D. Davis trade with the acquisition of Taylor.

The 24-year-old rookie reliever has been brilliant in his first 12.2 innings with Houston. He’s 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA. I understand it’s a small sample.

But considering Marisnick has gone Jed Lowrie on the Mets and Taylor has carried his successful 2019 season over to the big leagues, this is beginning to look like a loss for Brodie Van Wagenen.

Taylor was anything but a notable Mets prospect. Acquired by the Mets in the Ike Davis deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates several years earlier, Taylor struggled to do much of anything as a starter down on the farm.

Fortunately, he shifted into a relief role last year. In his 66.2 minor league innings he went 2-3 with a 2.16 ERA.

It’s sad to see the Mets come away with another loss in a trade that didn’t look like it would be painful at the start. Taylor has already appeared in more innings than Marisnick. The veteran outfielder only got into 12 before landing on the IL.

To make matters worse, Marisnick is a free agent after this season. It’s very possible the Mets gave up a productive middle reliever for a handful of appearances by Marisnick.

Taylor still has a long way to go before we can declare this trade a win for Houston and a loss for New York. A dozen innings isn’t a long enough time frame to make that determination.

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However, given Marisnick’s absence in 2020 and the possibility he leaves for free agency after this year is over, it’s hard to imagine any possible way the Mets win this trade. They’ll need Marisnick to come back soon and put together a grand finish to the season.