Unsatisfying NY Mets trade deadline addition has become a useful Yankees puzzle piece

One of the worst trades David Stearns has made at the helm of the New York Mets was the deal that brought Paul Blackburn to Queens. Kade Morris, the prospect New York sent to the Athletics for Blackburn, may have faded after a solid start out West, but the real reason this move goes down as a big bust is the complete lack of production the Mets got out of Blackburn.

At the time, he seemed like a capable, innings-eating swingman. He had a 4.41 ERA over nine starts and 51 innings at the time the Mets acquired him in 2024, but he'd fall off in the second half with New York, posting a 5.18 ERA over five starts and 24 1/3 innings. Then, in 2025, he'd truly implode with a 6.85 ERA before being DFA'd in favor of Nolan McLean.

The Yankees scooped him up from there, but he didn't make much of an impact with a 5.28 ERA over 15 1/3 innings in the Bronx. Color us surprised, then, to see him log a two-inning save on July 12 heading into the All-Star break.

The Yankees have turned Mets disappointment Paul Blackburn into a true relief weapon

Blackburn had some unflattering comments about the Mets clubhouse, stating that there was a lot of chemistry in the Yankees' clubhouse and that wasn't the same with the Mets in 2025. This fueled the flames of the rumors of tensions between Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil, as well as the "chilly" relationship that reportedly exists between Lindor and Juan Soto.

To be fair, it didn't seem as if the 32-year-old was trying to throw shade, but rather was giving his insight into the differences he saw between both New York organizations.

Blackburn's 2025 with the Yankees was a small sample, and while it doesn't look impressive on paper, that's a little misleading. The right-hander's first outing with the Yankees last season came on August 23 when he gave up seven earned runs over 3 1/3 innings against the Boston Red Sox. After that, he pitched to a 1.50 ERA through the end of the season.

The Yankees liked what they saw from Blackburn as a reliever and believed they could get his stuff to play up out of the bullpen. That's what led them to re-sign him this past winter.

And as a reliever in the Bronx, Blackburn looks like a different player. He's posted a 2.22 ERA over 48 2/3 innings. Even if his peripherals don't quite match his actuals, a 3.50 xERA, 3.63 FIP, and a 3.89 xFIP are all solid numbers. Much of his success can be attributed to a career-best 56.8% ground ball rate, which is significantly better than the 41% grounder rate he posted with the Mets last season, and the 45.5% clip he recorded in Queens in 2024.

Blackburn is making folks in the Yankees organization take notice. Manager Aaron Boone called him "awesome," and said, "Paul’s quietly pitched really well for us for the last 4-6 weeks and is really establishing a nice role down there. He’s getting settled into the bullpen.”

He's been earning more and more opportunities in high leverage, hence the two-inning save with Yankees' closer David Bednar unavailable the other day, and frankly, this run started since he traversed the city last year.

Excluding his first outing with the Yankees, he's been incredible with a 2.08 ERA, 3.11 xERA, 21.3% strikeout rate, 7.4% walk rate, and 32.1% hard-hit rate over 39 games and 60 2/3 innings. That's a sizeable sample, and one that makes it look as if he's a changed player.

It seems as if the Yankees performed some sort of voodoo to transform Blackburn into a completely different pitcher, making the sting of his flameout with the Mets hurt even more.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow