Mets’ injuries should only solidify stance as buyers in pitching market

The volatility and fluidity at this time of year is being embodied right now with the Mets and starting pitching. 

Not long ago — before they were playing like the best team in the National League — the Mets could envision trading a walk-year starter or three. As their performance improved, the Mets were still wondering if they could have a buy-and-sell strategy — with the sell being a starter such as Sean Manaea or Jose Quintana. 

That strategy became particularly crystalized as plans to re-promote Christian Scott neared in conjunction with Kodai Senga moving closer to the majors. 

And now what? 

Scott made four starts upon being called up from Triple-A before being diagnosed with a sprained ulnar collateral ligament. The best result now is that the rookie righty will shut down completely for a few weeks, then go through a buildup with no snags and be an option late in the season. But Tommy John surgery hovers as a possibility too if the rehab fails. 

After an arduous, stop-and-start rehab from a shoulder injury, Senga made his 2024 debut Friday night pitched well (two runs, nine strikeouts over 5 ¹/₃ innings), but suffered what was diagnosed as a high-grade calf strain that, Carlos Mendoza said, likely costs the righty the rest of the regular season. 

So suddenly, I heard this from one AL talent evaluator about the Mets: “I know they are into the starting pitching market.” 

They almost have to be. Their 4-0 loss Saturday to the Braves, flip-flopped that duo atop the NL wild-card standings with the Mets tied for second with the Padres. They are in a tight race and need reinforcements for a rotation that is now Manaea, Quintana, Luis Severino, David Peterson and Tylor Megill, who was promoted and started Saturday. The Mets do not want to remove Jose Butto from the pen, where he has been effective. Perhaps they have regrets about designating for assignment Adrian Houser, who might have provided some depth. More and more, it looks as if prospect Brandon Sproat could be on the horizon.

In the short term, though, David Stearns has a greater need to land a starter, in part because there is volatility pretty much everywhere in the current rotation, including Severino being at 120 ²/₃ innings after throwing 209 ¹/₃ over the previous five seasons combined. 

I believe the best route the Mets could take is to acquire a starter with some future control considering Manaea, Severino and Quintana can be free agents and Scott’s near future is now clouded. The Mets are going to have to shop in this arena in the offseason and they can now improve their playoff chances and tick off at least one 2025 starter. 

Two that stand out for me are the White Sox’s Erick Fedde and the Cubs’ Jameson Taillon. 

The Mets have called on Fedde, who flamed out with the Nationals after being a first-round selection, went to Korea and remade himself as a 20-game winner and KBO’s MVP. He signed a two-year, $15 million pact with the White Sox to return to the majors and has a 2.98 ERA in 20 starts. Obviously, the high-end stuff of teammate Garrett Crochet is drawing lots of attention. But Fedde, who is due $7.5 million in 2025, is holding lefties and righties to an identical .223 batting average. 

Taillon is owed $18 million in both 2025 and ’26. He comes with the proven understanding after being a Yankee in 2021-22, that he can handle New York, plus has the rep as a terrific teammate. And in 17 starts for the Cubs this year, Taillon had a 2.96 ERA. 

There are others. The Angels’ Tyler Anderson, for example, is under team control for $13 million next season. And there is a group of walk-year players if the Mets wanted to go that way, including Detroit’s Jack Flaherty and Toronto’s Yusei Kikuchi.

O’s could counterbalance Eflin acquisition with youth

The Orioles, who are not exactly known for extravagant spending, traded for Zach Eflin, who is due $18 million in 2025. That reflects part of a new day in Baltimore with new, deeper-pocketed owner David Rubinstein. 

But a rival executive also noted that the Orioles made a trade earlier to send Austin Hays to the Phillies. Hays was making $6.3 million this year and would cost more next year in his final arbitration season and/or would have been a non-tender candidate. 

Plus, there are rival executives who believe the Orioles are listening on first baseman Ryan Mountcastle and center fielder Cedric Mullins, who are arbitration-eligible players who could be dealt at this deadline or in the offseason to establish more financial flexibility to absorb Eflin. Baltimore could then plug in youngsters Coby Mayo at first and Colton Cowser and/or Heston Kjerstad in center to join Gunnar Henderson, Adley Rutschman, Jordan Westburg and, eventually, Jackson Holliday. 

“They are going to have the youngest position group no later than next year and the least-expensive position group and possibly the best position group,” the executive said with admiration. “It is really something.”

Jazz deal takes two out of Yanks’ mix

Before the Yankees acquired Jazz Chisholm, I thought one way to add a bat and a reliever at once was to try to deal with the Angels for third baseman Luis Rengifo and closer Carlos Estevez. It is not possible both are still in play. 

So I called Phil Nevin, who was the Yankees third-base coach from 2018-21, Rengifo’s Angels manager the past two years and is among Aaron Boone’s best friends. And he lauded both as players and teammates. 

“He’s full of energy and wants to win,” Nevin said of Rengifo. “I saw his maturation and transformation into a really good winning player. He’s learned to understand the game and is probably as quick as any player I’ve had as far as understanding what it takes to get better, taking either criticism or coaching and applying it.” 

Nevin praised how much Rengifo’s lefty-swing has improved, but his extra appeal for a Yankee team that has struggled vs. lefties is that over the last three seasons, Rengifo is sixth in batting average against lefties at .328 (minimum 300 plate appearances) and ninth in slugging at .555. 

Nevin also said Rengifo is “a better defender than people think because he’s worked at it.” 

As for Estevez, who was obtained by the Phillies for two of their better pitching prospects, Nevin said, “He’s a great teammate and I think he has grasped this role of finishing games and wanting to be a guy like that. But you can put him in any role, and he’ll be the same guy. Carlos last year became a veteran leader in our pen. He’s learned to pitch to the top of the zone with his fastball and his slider has been really good. I feel like he would be a great pickup for somebody.”

One name that has come up a lot from the Angels pen, Luis Garcia, did not pitch last year for Nevin. But multiple scouts mentioned his name as an under-the-radar trade candidate, specifically citing the veteran righty’s high ground-ball rate.