The forgotten NY Mets-Brewers trade from midseason showing some promise

We all recall the significant New York Mets trades from last summer but how many of the more minor ones are left in your memory bank? Shortly before the trade deadline, the Mets and Milwaukee Brewers made a very small transaction.

It was July 21 when David Stearns was able to send Tyler Jay to the Brewers in exchange for TJ Shook. Jay was a positive story from 2025, making his MLB debut for the Mets a decade after being the sixth overall pick from the 2015 draft. He would log only 4.2 innings, allowing 4 earned runs and another unearned. For the Brewers, he’d add another 3 scoreless innings. Jay was lost off waivers by the Brewers this offseason, only to later re-sign with the club recently on a fresh minor league deal.

What about the piece the Mets got back?

TJ Shook showed some big improvements after coming to the Mets last summer

Shook was someone Stearns probably already had an eye on as a depth addition worthy of following him to the Mets. He began his professional career in 2021, pitching to a 4.96 ERA in the lower levels of the minor leagues in 13 starts.

Shook didn’t advance much as far as results go. A 4.74 ERA in 2022, 4.62 ERA performance in 2023, and finally a 4.90 ERA in 2024 had him on the outs of the Brewers organization. Help for the big league club in the form of just 3 shutout innings from Jay seemed to be worth giving up on Jay. Was it a Milwaukee blunder?

Upon arriving to the Mets organization, an obvious change took place. Shook had already been throwing in relief at times but in 13 appearances for Binghamton, all he did was come out of the bullpen. A small sample of 20.2 innings resulted in some unique results. He was 3-4 with 4 saves and a 3.92 ERA. Involved in the game decision of 7 of his 13 appearances while successfully closing out games 4 other times, he was right there in the thick of games.

Other improvements took place, too. His walk rate dropped to 1.7 per 9 while the strikeouts increased to 13.1 per 9. Across the board, Shook was much more successful with his new organization. At 26 and seemingly stuck in Double-A, it was an incredibly possible turn for this undrafted free agent—a moniker he’ll wear in part because the 2020 MLB Draft dropped to only five rounds because of the pandemic.

The Mets had a far more successful and impactful trade with the Brewers last winter when they swapped Coleman Crow for Adrian Houser and Tyrone Taylor. The former didn’t last the season while the latter eventually won the starting job in center field. Shook has a lot more to prove before we see him in the big leagues. Additions like his, headlined by a full-time transition to a relief role, are beneficial even if all it does is help the Mets win one game. Last year, we saw first-handed how a single victory can matter.