Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Paul Blackburn throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim, Calif., Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)
NEW YORK (AP) — Staying on the hunt for pitching, the New York Mets acquired starter Paul Blackburn from the last-place Oakland Athletics on Tuesday for minor league right-hander Kade Morris.
New York also added reliever Huascar Brazobán in a deal with the struggling Miami Marlins for minor league infielder Wilfredo Lara just before baseball’s 6 p.m. EDT trade deadline.
Blackburn was an All-Star in 2022 but has had trouble staying healthy at times. He missed more than two months this season with a stress reaction in his right foot before coming off the 60-day injured list last Friday and earning a win over the Los Angeles Angels by allowing four runs over five innings.
“I think this is an incredibly consistent pitcher who fills the strike zone and has kind of a kitchen-sink approach to what he does, and we think he’s going to fit into our rotation quite nicely,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said.
Blackburn is 4-2 with a 4.41 ERA in nine starts this year and figures to slot into a rotation missing injured ace Kodai Senga and rookie Christian Scott. The 30-year-old right-hander remains under team control next season and can become a free agent following the 2025 World Series.
“I think you’re never going to replace a pitcher like Senga at the deadline,” Stearns said. “And so we just tried to figure out how best to fortify our team around it. And it meant both in the rotation and the bullpen to ensure that we had enough arms and some flexibility in various roles to put us in the best position for the next two months and hopefully beyond.”
Following a poor start, the Mets have surged back into the playoff chase on the strength of the major leagues’ highest-scoring lineup over the last two months. New York began the day holding one of three National League wild cards in a crowded race.
Within the past few weeks, the Mets started finding help for a shaky and injury-ravaged bullpen by trading for veteran relievers Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek. Stearns also acquired lefty Matt Gage, who was called up from the minors Monday, and landed outfielder Jesse Winker in a deal with Washington.
“We tried to be responsive to the needs of our ‘pen,” Stearns said. “We believe we’re a playoff-caliber team and we did what we thought was the right thing to do in adding to certain components of the team.”
Brazobán was 1-2 with a 2.93 ERA in 20 appearances for the Marlins this season, striking out 34 and walking 11 in 30 2/3 innings. The 34-year-old right-hander is 7-5 with a 3.56 ERA and 139 strikeouts in 121 1/3 innings over 97 major league games in three seasons with Miami.
“I think that benefit is that he can go multiple innings,” Stearns said. “He’s got a pretty unique pitch mix and so I think he can fit a variety of roles in our ‘pen and that can evolve as we get healthy in our ’pen as well. The fact that he has some roster flexibility as well is helpful.”
Morris, 22, was 4-6 with a 3.51 ERA in 16 starts and two relief appearances with Class A St. Lucie and High-A Brooklyn this year. He was a third-round draft pick by the Mets in 2023 out of the University of Nevada and was rated the team’s 25th-best prospect by MLB.com.
New York also obtained reliever Tyler Zuber from the Tampa Bay Rays for minor league right-hander Paul Gervase.
To make room on the 40-man roster for the new additions, two players at Triple-A were designated for assignment: right-hander Ty Adcock and catcher Logan Porter.
Zuber, 29, pitched in two games for Tampa Bay this season, allowing one run and striking out four in 3 1/3 innings. He was 3-0 with a 2.49 ERA and 29 strikeouts over 21 2/3 innings in 18 games at Triple-A Durham.
Zuber also appeared in 54 big league games with Kansas City from 2020-21 and is 1-5 with a 5.13 ERA in the majors.
“It was desired to have some control over certain players — Blackburn, Brazoban, Tyler Zuber as well who we acquired — who can help us not only this year but into the future,” Stearns said.
Earlier in the day, New York traded Triple-A lefty Josh Walker to Pittsburgh for minor league left-hander Nicolas Carreno. Walker made 24 appearances for the Mets over the past two seasons.
Lara, 20, has hit .247 with 21 home runs in 250 minor league games across three levels in the Mets organization over four seasons.
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AP freelance writer Jerry Beach contributed to this report.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
By MIKE FITZPATRICK
AP Baseball Writer
This post was last modified on 07/30/2024 5:15 pm