Wrapping Up the Deadline: Brodie Makes A Bonehead Move at the Buzzer

Published by Fran Cava

NEW YORK — Met’s fans were almost in the clear.

Brodie had gone on record multiple times the past two weeks claiming the Mets would be neither buyers or sellers at this years modified deadline. With the Steve Cohen purchase of the Mets looming, fans longed for a quiet deadline in which the Mets would retain all their assets. In typical Mets fashion however, the proclamations he and the Wilpons’ had made would not come to fruition. As the clock struck 4 it seemed as if the Mets were staying put with their subpar roster, causing fans to rejoice at the fact that Brodie had not shipped out a prospect for a likely lost season. Just minutes after the deadline though the news broke that the Mets had gotten in two deals right before the buzzer. The return netting them right-handed reliever Miguel Castro from the Orioles, the abysmal catcher Robinson Chirinos and fan favorite Todd Frazier from Texas. All of which combine for an eye-popping -0.4 bWAR.

The trades have already garnered a ton of hate due to the assets that Brodie so easily parted with. Its clear the Mets are not a serious title contender, even if they do manage to squeak into this extremely forgiving playoff picture. So why trade another prospect for low impact players?

“We’re not playing great baseball right now and we need to boost ourselves. So hopefully these players can give us that opportunity.”

So the solution to not playing well is to pickup three players who are collectively not playing well. Miguel Castro is a hard throwing reliever that has pretty solid potential just looking at his percentiles on Baseball Savant.

His problem so far though has been command, which is not what the Mets can afford right now considering the shape their pen is in. This year his strikeout to walk rate is marginally better in a small sample size, sitting at 4.80. A good comparison to Castro is a poor mans Diaz, which is just decimating to think about. The pain of the trade is compounded by the fact that the Mets traded their no.12 left-handed pitching prospect Kevin Smith. He’s was tearing shit up in the minors last year rising several levels, and finishing with 3.15 ERA and a strikeout rate of 27.3%. Unfortunately giving this guy a shot in the rotation this season was not on managements agenda, and just like that they dealt a guy who could easily fit in the backend of the rotation right now.

The acquisition of “The Toddfather” might be good in the sense of boosting clubhouse morale, but he doesn’t fit anywhere. They needed a righty bat, but not a infielder/DH. At this point in his career he’s a below-average bat with shotty defense, who’s going to take a roster spot away from a guy like Giminez or Guillorme.

The addition of Robinson Chirinos is just simply dumbfounding. Its obvious the Mets needed a defensive catcher, but to trade for a guy with a -0.5 oWAR and an OPS+ of 5 is just unacceptable. You can pull a guy off the street and he may fare better in the box than Chirinos has this season. The return for Texas was cash considerations and two PTBNL, but they are likely both just scrubs.

On a good note this was probably Brodie’s last deadline in office, and the countdown till Steve Cohen takes over is one day shorter.