Major NY Mets trade deadline blunder takes another hit with updated prospect ranking

It wasn’t Nolan Ryan to the California Angels. It wasn’t Lenny Dykstra to the Philadelphia Phillies. It was far from Tom Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds. At worst, this New York Mets trade deadline blunder might be more in the realm of Scott Kazmir to the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. That’s still not good.

A hat tip to Daniel Wexler for being on the prowl with this one. Prospect rankings are being updated and one familiar name made his way up to number six in the San Francisco Giants system.

Carson Seymour, in case you blocked it out, was one of the players sent to the Giants in the infamous 2022 trade deadline deal for Darin Ruf. Although now 26 and without a taste of the majors, FanGraphs saw enough from him previously to believe this righty has the ability to be an important big leaguer.

What has Carson Seymour been up to since leaving the Mets?

Seymour’s professional career was in its infancy at the time of the trade. Pitching well in Brooklyn at the time of the trade, he turned in a mostly positive 2023 season where he was 5-3 with a 3.99 ERA in Double-A. He walked batters at a rate of 3.4 per 9 and finished with 9.1 strikeouts per 9. It was good, but not great.

Minor league numbers aren’t always associated with rankings like these. A bad season can damage where a player falls just as an exceptional one can turn heads enough to help them leap up a listing.

Seymour failed to put together an incredible season in 2024 in Triple-A. He was 7-10 with a 4.82 ERA. Walks went up. Strikeouts fell. His home run rate more than doubled. The Pacific Coast League shows no mercy to pitchers.

Viewed as a potentially nasty weapon in a long relief role at the major league level, FanGraphs’ scouting report had this to say about him:

“He lacks the repertoire depth of a typical starter but has nasty, unique looking stuff that should allow him to play a very effective long relief role.”

Having witnessed Seth Lugo and Jose Butto put together dominant seasons as multi-inning threats, there is some jealousy here. Seymour doesn’t seem destined to win a Cy Young, but with what feels like a growing trend of teams once again employing relievers for a multi-inning purpose, there’s a place for Seymour somewhere.