Yankees add former top pitching NY Mets prospect with 1 MLB game of experience

Look how far the New York Mets farm system has come. At the start of 2023, their top prospects weren’t so great.

Yeah, a few guys have developed into regulars in the majors. It’s the pitching that has fallen short. Blade Tidwell was their top pitching prospect with Dom Hamel right behind him.

Hamel made his big league debut with the Mets last year. With 3 hits allowed and a hit batter, he recorded 3 outs in the sixth while allowing the leadoff hitter to get on in the seventh. It wasn’t impressive and the Mets weren’t shy about placing him on waivers shortly after his September 17 debut. He went to the Baltimore Orioles and then the Texas Rangers before the year was through. Now, he’ll join the New York Yankees.

The Yankees have another ex-Mets player for the depth chart

Hamel had an abominable Triple-A stint spanning two seasons. An overall 6.27 ERA in just under 200 innings, the nearly 27-year-old is trending toward becoming a reliever or longman out of the bullpen.

He was better as a reliever than a starter last year but not significantly. A 4.61 ERA but a big drop in strikeouts to 8.6 K/9 from 11.7 K/9 was unexpected. Usually a starter transitioning to a relief role aids in an increased number of strikeouts. Not for Hamel. He lowered his ERA but didn't do it as expected. One reason could be that even when he did start games, Hamel was limited to only about 3 innings. He was essentially an opener for much of his time with Syracuse.

After getting waived by the Mets, Hamel didn’t pitch again. The minor league season had already ended. It’s quite possible he never even sees any action for the Yankees. As we’ve seen the Mets continually do, taking a chance on a waiver claim is sometimes just to fill a roster spot temporarily until something better comes along.

Hamel does have options so every DFA made involving Hamel seems to have been a lack of faith in his abilities. Does he find retribution with the Yankees? Paul Blackburn better watch out. Hamel is a contender to take his job away.