The New York Mets helped set the market for relief pitchers at this year’s trade deadline. Soon-to-be free agent Gregory Soto was acquired on Friday afternoon in a swap with the Baltimore Orioles. The Mets will send them a pair of pitching prospects, Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster.
The quick action by the Mets (and the Orioles for that matter) tells us a lot about how much it’s going to take to acquire pitchers of different abilities. A rental the Mets could always bring back again the same way they did with Ryne Stanek in the offseason, Soto’s presence should have fans feeling one of two ways with very little room for the in between.
You can think the Mets paid a good price for a player with higher potential
The number 19 Mets prospect and a relief pitcher unranked by MLB Pipeline isn’t such a bad price to pay for a player with Soto’s resume. Foster was having a good year in Double-A, but he’s merely a relief pitcher. They should always be expendable as minor leaguers.
Routinely throughout his career, Soto has pitched to a higher ERA than FIP. He strikes out a lot of batters and doesn’t give up a whole lot of home runs. Control is his issue. The .138 batting average lefties have against him this year is the only stat they need to justify the move. He’s going to fall in nicely as an earlier inning choice for the Mets to maybe get a big out against a left-handed hitter in the 6th inning. Brooks Raley should continue to be more of a later weapon.
You can think the Mets should have gotten someone else
Want something negative to think about this trade? There were others having a better season out there. Danny Coulombe comes to mind. He has been exceedingly better than Soto for a couple of seasons.
This is all you can genuinely be upset about. As many trade deadline moves prove, things can take a major turn in the final two months when a player joins someone new. Just because Coulombe is having the better year now doesn’t mean Soto won’t have the stronger finish or, more importantly, fit in nicer with what the Mets need.
