NY Mets replacement for what Tyler Rogers can do may already be waiting on the roster

Tyler Rogers will play for the Toronto Blue Jays next season, earning a whopper of a deal from the defending AL Champions. Three years and $37 million with an option to go to a fourth year to reach $48 million, it’s an unheard of amount to pay a middle reliever. New York Mets fans were disappointed to see him go, but at that price, it’s not so unreasonable to walk away.

Rogers’ uniqueness will make him impossible to completely replace. His mix of groundballs, weak contact, and deceptive arm angle are unique to him. He has had sustained success for several years, justifying the overpay in the minds of Blue Jays management.

There are a couple of players the Mets could add in free agency or via trade who could be a match to replace what Rogers did. Many are left-handed. Hoby Milner, who is off the free agent market, is maybe the best example. Internally, the Mets have a guy who actually has shown us his strong ability to induce ground balls and keep the ball coming off the bat softly. You won’t like it, but Huascar Brazoban has some of the same stuff as Rogers.

Huascar Brazoban hasn’t pieced it all together at once since joining the Mets

Brazoban was bad for the Mets in 2024. A 5.14 ERA in his 21 innings, he became an afterthought down the stretch and was demoted to the minor leagues. Despite the horrid ERA, he had an average exit velocity of 82.9mph and ground ball rate of 40%. The latter wasn’t quite on-par with what he had been doing with the Miami Marlins nor was the EV, up by a mile per hour yet still elite.

We saw a much different version of Brazoban last year with the Mets to begin the year. He fell down to earth as the season progressed and had a higher average exit velocity against him but saw his ground ball rate jump to 50.6%.

Rogers beat Brazoban in the ground ball rate but each shared the same average EV (as members of the Mets). Brazoban’s hard-hit percentage was only slightly worse at 34.9% versus Rogers at 34.4%.

Brazoban has his own unique qualities which don’t stand out from still pitchers like Rogers’ arm angle. He can throw multiple innings at a time. Not completely reliant on strike outs, they are a part of his game which can’t be said about Rogers who throws strikes and walks practically no one.

We shouldn’t overlook a few things about Brazoban. He was acquired at the 2024 trade deadline as a long-term piece for the Mets. Team control through 2029, he strangely has some of those same qualities as our dearly-departed submarine thrower. While Rogers’ ability to pitch frequently was helpful, the Mets may be inclined to turn to Brazoban to get them through 2 or 3 innings at a time twice a week. Different in a lot of ways with some shared qualities, the loss of Rogers may just give Brazoban the opening to crack the Opening Day roster.