Why this NY Mets trade deadline move needs the most immediate payoff

Of all the moves the New York Mets made at the trade deadline, one stands above the rest as needing the quickest payoff. We can sit around and wait a while on what Sammy Stafura does, if he doesn’t become trade bait first. We’ll have patience with Jefferson Rojas because of what a high-profile prospect he is.

We can even respect that only one of the three prospects acquired for Freddy Peralta will probably amount to much. As a rental sold off to the Tampa Bay Rays, we can at least be grateful the Mets were able to get a solid mix of quality and quantity.

The one trade we don’t need to have as much patience with is the one that sent Huascar Brazoban to the Chicago White Sox. Perfectly capable of being a member of the 2027 Mets and beyond, the pair of prospects acquired for him need to look “worth it” to help justify the decision to sell him.

The Mets need to see the benefits of the Huascar Brazoban before 2026 is over

Zach Franklin is already 27 and Gabe Davis has not had a good year in Double-A. The latter came over with an 8.31 ERA in 10 Double-A starts. His Binghamton debut included 3 runs in 3 innings.

Franklin is the closer to MLB-ready, but also Rule 5 eligible this winter. Whether MLB actually has the draft or not because of the expiring CBA, there’s a clock already ticking on whether or not Franklin is actually a useful big leaguer. He’s not a young 27 either with his next birthday arriving this October.

The circumstances around the decision to trade Brazoban, a cheap and controllable arm used as a Swiss Army knife by the Mets, made any deadline move involving him a questionable one for anything short of a crazy offer. What the White Sox gave up wasn’t close to crazy yet the Mets accepted, possibly seeing Brazoban’s 37th birthday coming in October and making the decision to go younger rather than hope to defeat fathertime for the first time in history.

Davis is looking like a guy who’ll need to start next year in Double-A again and win over the Mets before going to Triple-A. Franklin is a candidate to get some innings later on this season. Tryouts are already underway. Something as light as an inning in the final weekend feels necessary. Big strikeout numbers at 11.9 K/9 and good walk numbers at 2.8 BB/9 prior to the trade, Franklin has the intangibles to possibly get some big league outs even if his ERA in the minors isn’t anything fabulous.

With the players on expiring contracts, we can give the Mets a greater benefit of the doubt that due diligence was done. It’s different with Brazoban even more so than Luke Weaver. As debated as the Weaver trade was, we can give it two years to shine. No promising signs from the two prospects acquired from Brazoban and it’s fair to question the choice.

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