Grading all 7 Mets trade deadline deals they made

Mets trade for Paul Blackburn – C

The “big” starting pitcher addition, Paul Blackburn came to the Mets in exchange for pitching prospect Kade Morris. Morris was having a good year and ranked in the upper 20s among their best prospects. To acquire Blackburn, who has another year of control beyond 2024, was a decent move but nothing to get all that excited about.

Blackburn only recently returned from the IL and gave up 4 earned runs in 5 innings against the Los Angeles Angels. He is now 4-2 with a 4.41 ERA in 51 innings spanning 9 starts.

A necessary trade for the Mets because of the loss of Kodai Senga, it’s certainly not the winning type of move we all dreamed about. The Mets did well not to overpay for a rental starting pitcher. However, Blackburn just doesn’t move the needle enough to give much confidence in the Mets starting staff. He’ll fall to fourth or fifth in the starting rotation depth chart. A bit of a late bloomer with his first full season at the major league level coming in 2022 when he was an All-Star for the Oakland Athletics, this trade deserves a C because of all of the questions around it.

Is Blackburn better than Tylor Megill? This season he has been. The issue the Mets will face is that if they do enter the postseason they’ll do it with a starting staff without the same kind of punch as any of the teams they’ll face.

We’re thankful the Mets kept the farm intact. But if there was one roster spot where selling major pieces was worth it, it was for a starting pitcher.