The Mets and Pirates have completed the Ike Davis trade with the Bucs sending Blake Taylor to the Mets as the player to be named later, according to Travis Sawchik of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review (on Twitter). Taylor was the Pirates second-round pick (No. 51) overall in last year’s draft. The CBA prevents teams from trading drafted players within their first year in the organization, so the two sides had to wait until after the one-year mark.
At the time of the trade, it was reported that the PTBNL would be more significant than the other piece the Mets received in minor league righty Zack Thornton. The soon-to-be 19-year-old probably comes with more upside than the 26-year-old Thornton, but this may not be the impact prospect that some Mets fans had in mind. In seven starts and one relief appearance in rookie ball last season, Taylor pitched to a 2.57 ERA with 5.6 K/9 against 3.9 BB/9.
Taylor was ranked as the 40th-best prospect of the 2013 draft class by ESPN’s Keith Law (Insider subscription needed) and was also ranked 55th by Baseball America and ranked 61st by MLB.com’s Jonathan Mayo.
The Mets announced (via Twitter) that Taylor will report to the rookie-level Gulf Coast Mets.
