Jeurys Familia is on his way to Oakland in exchange for two prospects – 23-year-old, lefty hitting 3rd baseman Will Toffey (the A’s 17th ranked prospect) and 26-year-old right handed relief pitcher Bobby Wahl. Toffey was a fourth round pick out of Vanderbilt in the 2017 draft and has been slashing .244/.357/.384 in high A ball. Wahl was tremendous in AAA this season before a recent call up to the big league club where he has so far posted a 4.70 ERA in seven relief appearances. It’s hard to believe the Mets couldn’t get more than that in return for a proven closer who was in demand. I sure hope we don’t find out that it’s because the Mets wouldn’t pay any of Familia’s remaining salary.
Familia, who was signed by the Mets as an amateur free gent in July 2007 and rose through our minor league system before debuting in September 2012. Initially a starting pitcher, Mets coaches successfully transitioned Familia to a relief role and eventually as closer. In 2015 and 2016, Familia was among the best closers in baseball with a combined 94 saves, but a forgettable post season track record. Familia struggled with injuries, off-field issues and consistency last season, but just seemed to be hitting his groove again now after a rough start to the 2018 season. The floundering fourth place Mets don’t have a need for a closer and it made sense to trade Familia. Now we can audition Robert Gsellman to see if he can be our 2019 closer. In the off-season the Mets will have a number of free agent options to consider, including Craig Kimbrel, Greg Holland, Cody Allen, Zach Britton, Andrew Miller, Joakim Soria, David Robertson, and others.
more garbage . not surprising
Matt, what do you think??????? Per MLBTR:
“… the Athletics have sent a pair of minor leaguers back to New York: third baseman William Toffey and right-hander Bobby Wahl. The Mets will also receive $1MM in international bonus money, while the Athletics will take on all of Familia’s ~$3MM remaining salary.”
Did you really expect the leopard to change its spots?
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Ok, The third baseman is a “polished hitter” with little power. The righty, you wrote about: organizational players.
I changed my mind. These guys may not trade JDG or Thor. Come to think of it, keep Wheeler too.
I know he’s a rental, but the Mets got salary relief, international bonus money and two players! I wonder how bad the other offers were.
Some stuff on Toffey:
Another high draft pick here, third baseman William Toffey, was the A’s fourth-round pick last year. He was out for about six weeks with a shoulder injury. But when he’s playing, he’s definitely shown that he’s got a real ability to get on base.
manager:
He’s got a discerning eye. He certainly does have that. I think he’s experiencing some growth at the plate. And in fairness to him, he’s been hampered by the fact that he’s been hurt twice now. He got off to a pretty good start, hurt the shoulder sliding at home plate…went back to Arizona. They rehabbed it – I don’t know if it will be a surgical procedure after the season’s over or not. Then he came back and kind of got on track, and then he came up with a tender quad. But from what I’ve seen in the small sample, he certainly seems to be a very good defender and profiles at third. There’s not much better than a left-handed-hitting third baseman. Everybody’s looking for those – it’s like left-handed-hitting catchers – so he does that. He has power. And I think, by his own admission, he would probably say that he’s certainly a work in progress at the plate. But he definitely has a feel to hit and is able to be selective enough to not chase too much and swing outside of the zone, and that’s probably allowed his on-base percentage to be a legitimate number.
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He does not show up on the MLB pipeline top 30 of the A’s. At least its a position player.
But bat left? honest to god, this team has a huge issue here.
Note:
MLB pipeline already has moved Toffey to the Mets ledger, where is sits at 20 in our system.
More from MLBTR:
“Despite the interesting upside for Wahl, the general consensus in the industry is that the prospect return in this trade isn’t particularly impressive, especially considering the trade value of Familia. It could be that the $1MM in international bonus money is the true prize in this deal, and if that’s the case, we could see the Mets come to terms with one of the top remaining international prospects in the coming days; high-upside Cuban righty Osiel Rodriguez currently tops the list of unsigned players.”
From Minor League Ball:
#17) Will Toffey, 3B, Grade C+: Age 22, fourth round pick in 2017 from Vanderbilt, hit .263/.377/.349 with 38 walks, 45 strikeouts in 209 at-bats in NY-P; very polished, with excellent strike zone judgment in left-side bat; very solid glove at third base; main question is power development, should hit doubles but unclear how many homers will come at higher levels. ETA 2020.
From Fangraphs:
Will Toffey, 3B – Toffey had good peripherals at Vanderbilt and showed an in-game power spike as a junior. He’s selective, has some bat control, and features enough bat speed to project a 50 hit tool at peak. He has plenty of arm for third base but is a fringey defender there and some teams talked about catching him as a pro. He looks like a potential corner bench bat right now, but he has a chance to hit enough to play every day if his defense improves.
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If this was the best offer, then this was the best offer. The Mets were getting nothing in three months anyway…
Every playoff hopeful team except for the Yankees could use a pen boost. Hard to believe this is the best we could get.
2 1/2 month rental for an upper second tier closer with closer with control issues. They arent getting 2015 Familia, but hoping for his return.
I think the idea we would get a top 10 talent in return was wishful thinking.
Dont get your hopes up for Cabrera or Bautista either. I suspect the return will be broadly similar.
From the Godfather of #LOLMets:
https://mobile.twitter.com/mikemayerMMO/status/1020861149393358848/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Eembeddedtimeline%7Ctwterm%5E277265008684044290&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fmetsminors.net%2F
The Padres trade Brad Hand and get top prospect catcher Francisco Mejia. Two years ago the Yankees trade Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs and get Gleyber Torres.
What was this talk about the Mets kicking in some money to get a better prospect?
They blew it. But, that’s the Mets management for you.
The Indians are catching rich making Mejia expendable (thanks Gus), and while it would have been great to think about a trade with them, keep in mind Hand has 2.5 years of control with another year on a club option — 3.5 years. Familia is a 10 week rental. Also keep in mind, Chapman is way better than Familia, who is an upper second tier closer. This year he is near 20th in rank for closers whether it be saves, WHIP, BAA etc.
Its a mistake to think he is in the league of Chapman or Kimbrel. Again, expecting Gleyber Torres in return is folly.
The value in return for a trade on this team is Jake, Noah, and to a much lesser extend Wheeler and Matz. After that, the returns will be buckets of BP balls no matter how much salary the team eats.
My pleasure Chris.
The return weighs differently on who is asked. For example, some articles claim Wahl to be the prize with good control and a good curve and developing slider to go with a 99 mph heater.
Others felt Toffey had upside, including possibly becoming a catcher as he has the tools. Fangraphs had Toffey #7, others had him #17 or even #21. Or as Keith Law said, “North Marlins”. Keith Law is brutal on the Mets.
The beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But, with several teams bidding, supposedly, you would think they did the best they could while not waiting for teams to fall out of the bidding and risk their leverage.
The comp you should be looking at is what the Royals got with Kelvin Herrera who is making almost the identical salary and very similar statistically.
The return seems pretty similar to me, i guess a lot depends on how you want to view the international bonus slot money.
Evaluating these trades is tough…I’m stuck with my pre-sets on my evaluation of the Met Decision Makers, much less the desisions they make.
Are we guessing that they received $3 million of salary relief plus a $1million international Pool Allowance? I can’t even begin to translate that fully…anyone?
The Mets claim that the saved $3MM will go towards signing international free agents. Please stay tuned…
Each team has a budget of how much they can spend on international free agents. The Mets’ budget this year was just shy of $5 million.
Keith Law – ESPN
If the New York Mets are just going to trade their most valuable major league assets for salary relief, rather than to try to improve the club, then it’s time for MLB to step in and force the Wilpons to sell the team, just as the league did with Frank McCourt and the Dodgers. Trading Jeurys Familia for two fringe-at-best prospects is not how any team, regardless of payroll level, should operate in this environment. For a franchise that operates in the largest market in the league to do this — and do so 10 days before the trade deadline rather than waiting for someone to offer a legitimate return — is embarrassing for the Mets and for Major League Baseball as a whole.
Until they prove otherwise, this is the thought I have. This fanbase has spent years of ownership pinching pennies and playing subpar talent. Last year they sold off veteran players and their contracts and pitched us on getting bullpen help; they got career minor league players. Now, just a day after saying they’ll foot the bill for better returns, they get garbage for a top reliever rental and not cover his remaining salary.
I’ve had my beefs with the ownership (poor communication, poor resources, meddling, lawsuits, questionable hiring) and try not to be a part of the vocal minority whinging online, but it’s time for the Wilpons to go. MLB, are you listening?