Bold NY Mets trade for Tyler Rogers feels a tinge too much like a previous disaster

Tyler Rogers is a great addition to the New York Mets bullpen. There’s no doubting that. A sub 2.00 ERA for the submarining pitcher and a lengthy track record of success should have fans satisfied with the move. 

That’s one half of the tale. The other is the cost. The Mets gave up Drew Gilbert, Blade Tidwell, and Jose Butto. A 3 for 1 deal automatically stacks the odds against you winning the trade. With the involvement of the San Francisco Giants, one can’t help but invoke the same emotions we had three years ago when the Mets added Darin Ruf at the deadline.

Extreme? Yes. But so are sports feelings.

The Mets didn’t just trade for the pitcher version of Darin Ruf, but there are similarities

Ruf was not having a terrific season for the Giants at the time of the deal. Obviously, things didn’t change upon joining the Mets. Billy Eppler was attempting to find a pairing with Daniel Vogelbach; someone who could mash left-handed pitching. Instead, we got a disaster who couldn’t hit.

Rogers comes to the Mets with a 1.80 ERA. Ruf batted only .152 for the Mets in 2022 without a home run. They’re completely different players and yet the thought of the Mets throwing multiple useful players, including one currently in the majors, the way of the Giants seems to rhyme with this past deadline deal disaster when it was clear from the start they sent a lot the other way.

Butto is the J.D. Davis of this deal. Already a useful major leaguer, the Mets could have simply stuck with him. Out of options and not always the most effective this season, they saw an upgrade by swapping him for Rogers. The Mets gave up years of control for a rental, but are immediately better and more experienced with this roster spot.

It’s the prospects that seem to be the bigger deal. Gilbert and Tidwell are much more highly-rated than anyone the Mets gave up for Ruf. Thomas Szapucki, Carson Seymour, and Nick Zwack were never among the most elite of Mets farmhands. Gilbert’s fall which began last season and Tidwell hitting a bump in the road in Triple-A and the majors this year likely convinced the front office neither was a part of the team’s immediate future, possibly even a more distant one. The club has far better center fielders and starting pitchers who’ll make them expendable.

Was the trade a bad one? Not even close. This is the cost of doing business and what makes it feel a little icky is how much it required. Gilbert, Tidwell, and Butto feels like a lot for a rental even with how successful Rogers has been.

The team immediately got better today without losing a whole lot other than the chance Rogers walks in free agency and one of the three young players they gave up excels in San Francisco. A good final 2+ months out of Rogers will bury any comparisons.