Grading all 7 Mets trade deadline moves

The New York Mets woke up today a different organization than they were yesterday, as they pulled off something that was inconceivable at the start of the offseason, a fire sale unlike anything this franchise has seen before. They traded away six players that combined for 18 All-Star nods, six Cy Young awards, and 7,218 innings pitched in their careers, and made seven trades.

And the Mets brought in eight prospects, seven of them rank in the top 22 in the team's MLB Pipeline prospect rankings, and two relievers to help the big league club get through the rest of the season. It is the result of one of the most dramatic pivots a team has ever made in sports, and the Mets should get some credit for recognizing their situation.

So let’s grade each of the seven trades the Mets made over the past week in chronological order:

1) The New York Mets dealt their closer, David Robertson, to their division rival Miami Marlins in exchange for two intriguing prospects.

My first reaction to this deal was “What on earth are the Mets doing, selling low on the best reliever available at the trade deadline.” But when you look closely at the players they got back, players that won’t be ready for another four years, it looks like the Mets did relatively fine.

The Mets had to deal their closer David Robertson to somebody, as he turned out to be the best reliever dealt prior to Tuesday’s trade deadline, and they needed to bolster a farm system in need of a boost, and the two farmhands they got back have been killing in so far.

Marco Vargas, an 18-year-old middle infielder, and Ronald Hernandez, a 19-year-old catcher, both of whom hail from Venezuela, rank in the top 10 in the Florida Complex League (Rookie ball) in Fangraphs’ wRC+ through July 31 (Hernandez at 156 and Vargas at 146), and have both shown excellent plate discipline, as each has walked in more than 20 percent of their plate appearances while striking out less than 20 percent of the time.

Both project to be above average hitters, while Hernandez has strong fielding and arm techniques behind the plate.

Robertson’s brilliant four months filling in for Edwin Diaz (2.05 ERA in 44 innings pitched) nets the Mets two quality prospects. Not a bad return for a 38-year-old closer who is four years removed from Tommy John surgery.

Grade: B

2) The New York Mets dealt Max Scherzer to the Texas Rangers for Ronald Acuña Jr.'s little brother.

The end was near for Max Scherzer for the Mets after Scherzer’s comments on Friday about the team’s plans for next year and beyond. It turned out that it was indeed over not even 24 hours after that, as the Mets sent the three-time Cy Young winner to the AL West-leading Texas Rangers on Saturday in exchange for Luisangel Acuña, the brother of Atlanta Braves’ superstar outfielder Ronald Acuña, Jr.

Whenever you hear the name Acuña, that usually means excitement. And Luisangel Acuña is not an exception to that statement, as he is ranked the No. 44 overall prospect on MLB Pipeline. Acuña has the makings of a five-tool player in the major leagues, and not many players can say that. He has a .315/.377/.453 slash line at Double-A with 114 hits and 42 stolen bases this season (both rank 2nd in all of Double-A this season), and spent most of his time playing shortstop, while sprinkling in some time at second base and in center field.

The Mets also agreed to pay down $35 million of the $57 million Scherzer is owed over the next two years, and the Mets used that leverage to bring in a stud like Luisangel Acuña, who is now the No. 2 prospect in the Mets’ system. So Uncle Stevie is using his thick wallets to bring in top prospects, and this is one example of it.

Grade: B+

4) After days of uncertainty, the Mets pulled the trigger and traded ace Justin Verlander back to the defending World Series champion Houston Astros and got two outstanding prospects in return.

The last few days were full of conflicting rumors about Verlander’s trade status, but the likelihood of Verlander being an ex-Met by today increased after the David Robertson and Max Scherzer trades. The Mets knew they couldn’t stop halfway if they were to execute the organizational overhaul they needed, so Verlander had to go too.

Justin Verlander was the best starting pitcher dealt during the trade season, and the Mets paid down a lot of Verlander’s remaining salary ($54 million out of $93 million) to get two of the Astros’ top prospects, and both are players to be excited about, in outfield prospects Drew Gilbert and Ryan Clifford, who slot in as the No. 4 and No. 6 prospects, respectively.

Drew Gilbert was a rockstar for the University of Tennessee in two seasons, that translated as the Astros’ first round pick last year. Gilbert has an outstanding combination of power and speed that will play well in the majors, but he is about two years away from the show. He will likely report to Double-A Binghamton to play alongside his Tennessee teammate Blade Tidwell, who was promoted there from High-A Brooklyn on Monday and both will make their Binghamton debuts on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Ryan Clifford is farther away from the majors, as he is in High-A now at 19 years of age, but he flexed his natural lefty power swing this season, as he has 16 home runs in 250 plate-appearances at that level, alongside a .903 OPS and a .276 ISO power.

The Mets had the Dodgers and the Orioles, two teams with significantly better farm systems than the Astros right now, but Gilbert and Clifford bring in a strong return for a 40-year-old future Hall-of-Famer that started to show signs of aging at the start of the season.

Grade: A-

5) Outfielder Tommy Pham was dealt from the Mets to the Arizona Diamondbacks in exchange for a prospect who is years away from the majors.

When Tommy Pham was the lone bright spot during the Mets’ disastrous June in which they went 7-19, Pham was seen as a trade chip that could go to a team that needed a righty outfield bat, and the Diamondbacks were that team as all three of their starting outfielders are left-handed hitters. Pham hit .268 with 10 home runs and 36 RBI’s.

The Mets brought back 17-year-old shortstop prospect Jeremy Rodriguez in return, who was Arizona’s top international free agent addition, and showed a lot of quality plate discipline in the Dominican Summer League this season. He posted a .256/.371/.393 line in his first season as a pro, with 10 extra-base hits and 21 walks in 140 plate appearances and plays well at the shortstop position on the field. However, he is the one prospect that does not rank in MLB Pipeline’s Top 30 Mets prospect chart.

The Mets must have believed when scouting him that he could shoot up the prospect charts in the coming years with more experience, hence why they made the trade, but it is too early to tell, especially when it comes to higher levels of competition. The return seems relatively low for Pham, who had a 126 OPS+ in 264 plate appearances as a Met.

Grade: C

6) The New York Mets somehow got an interesting prospect in return for reliever Dominic Leone, as they took advantage of a desperate Los Angeles Angels team in need of relief.

Consider that Dominic Leone was picked up as an injury fill-in back in May, as someone to get the Mets through injuries of Brooks Raley and others. Leone was brutal in high-leverage situations this year, but he had to pitch in them because of the lack of depth in their bullpen. Leone had a 4.40 ERA in 30.2 innings pitched and a 94 ERA+, so he was a below average reliever.

Leone was never part of the Mets’ plans at the start of the season. Yet, he netted back one of the Angels’ top 30 prospects in shortstop Jeremiah Jackson, who is now No. 21 on the charts, because of the Angels’ desperate measures to win with Shohei Ohtani this year before Ohtani potentially bolts in free agency.

Jackson improved this season in Double-A, as he hit .248/.321/.447 in 82 games with 15 home runs and 21 stolen bases after last season was an injury-plagued one for him. He can hit the ball hard, and has shown more fielding versatility, getting at least 90 innings in five different positions this year, and could help the Mets out in the future as a super utility player if he is not traded again.

Billy Eppler recognized that the Angels were desperate to add bullpen depth and got a potential chip that could also be used in a later trade when his value goes up, while not having to give up a key player to get it. This was the best of the seven trades Eppler made this week.

Grade: A+

7) The Mets brought in two relievers in Phil Bickford and Adam Kolarek to fill out the roster for the rest of the season in a trade with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

With the Mets’ bullpen depleted with David Robertson shipped out, the team’s pivot to the 2024 season and beyond, and the Mets’ lack of major league pitching prospects worth looking at for the rest of the season, they needed pitchers just to fill out the major league roster for the rest of the season. The Mets recognized that, and they brought in two relievers that could use the change of scenery in Phil Bickford and Adam Kolarek.

Phil Bickford has been a below average reliever over the last two seasons with the Dodgers, posting an ERA+ of 86 in each season, and had a 5.14 ERA this season in 42 innings pitched, but he regressed this season, as his walks are up and strikeouts down. But Bickford got hammered on his slider all season, as opponents hit .313 against it, and had problems locating it. It will be the task for Jeremy Hefner to fix his control issues between now and the end of the season.

Bickford is not eligible for arbitration until after next year, so it will be interesting to see if the Mets can turn him into something useful for the future.

As for Adam Kolarek, the southpaw with a funky sidearm delivery, his career has been up and down, but he spent most of the season in Triple-A and not on the 40-man roster, though he was very good in Triple-A this season, posting a 2.40 ERA in 30 innings pitched.

These two big league additions won’t move the needle much, though.

Grade: C