AUGUST 7: Righty Dawrin Frias will head to Oakland to complete the deal, the A’s announced. The 23-year-old has been hit hard at the Class A level this year, while also showing significant control problems.
AUGUST 4: The Mets announced tonight that they have acquired left-handed reliever Eric O’Flaherty and cash considerations from the Athletics in exchange for a player to be named later. Fellow southpaw reliever Alex Torres has been designated for assignment to clear space for O’Flaherty on the 40-man and 25-man rosters.
The Athletics designated O’Flaherty for assignment over the weekend to clear a roster spot for trade acquisition Aaron Brooks. The former Braves setup ace was in the second season of a two-year, $7MM contract he signed prior to the 2014 campaign as he recovered from 2013 Tommy John surgery.
O’Flaherty, 30, was sharp in 2014 — his first year back from Tommy John surgery — working to a 2.25 ERA with 6.8 K/9 against 1.8 BB/9 in a small sample of 20 innings at the big league level. His backloaded contract paid him just $1.5MM in 2014 due to uncertainty surrounding how much he’d be able to pitch and $5.5MM in 2015, with the A’s expecting him to be a significant piece in their bullpen.
That didn’t work out, though, as O’Flaherty has struggled to a 5.91 ERA in 2015. While a .354 BABIP has been a significant factor in the regression of O’Flaherty’s ERA, so, too, a marked step back in his control. O’Flaherty averaged just 2.3 unintentional walks per nine innings from 2009-14 after establishing himself as a quality relief option in the Majors, but he’s issued 12 unintentional free passes in 21 1/3 innings this season. On the plus side, O’Flaherty has a track record of success — he posted a 1.99 ERA, 7.2 K/9 and 2.9 BB/9 in 249 1/3 innings from 2009-13 with Atlanta — and he’s dominated opposing lefties in 2015, holding them to a .186/.286/.209 batting line.
O’Flaherty is owed about $1.86MM through season’s end, though the A’s appear to be picking up at least some of the tab there. He becomes the second reliever to make the cross-country journey from Oakland to Queens, as he’ll join former teammate Tyler Clippard in manager Terry Collins’ bullpen.
Torres doesn’t immediately look like a DFA candidate upon first glance, as he’s worked to a 3.15 ERA and struck out 35 batters in 34 1/3 innings. However, Torres has also walked 26 batters this year, and opposing lefties are hitting an alarming .268/.406/.393 against him in 69 plate appearances. Torres’ ERA is largely a product of a minuscule .233 BABIP and a bloated 83 percent strand rate — neither of which figures to be sustainable down the stretch.
A relatively quick DFA certainly isn’t what the Mets had in mind this spring when they traded Cory Mazzoni and a player to be named later (Brad Wieck) to the Padres in exchange for what they hoped to be several years of Torres’ services. Torres is not yet arbitration eligible — though he will be this winter — and enjoyed better performances from 2013-14 with the Rays and Padres, so perhaps a team looking for left-handed bullpen depth will give him a look if he’s placed on outright waivers. If not, the Mets will be able to outright him to Triple-A Las Vegas and keep him in the organization with the hope that some time in the minors will help to sort out his command issues.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images. This post was originally published at 9:48pm CT.
So trading Torres’ terrible FIP for Flaherty’s mediocre FIP? Or is something else wrong with Torres physically?
Trading a bad loogy for a good one
I guess I’m just not convinced yet that Torres is useless given he has had success relatively recently and is controlled for a while. I’d rather keep Torres over say Parnell considering his reverse splits. Just use him as you would a righty.
Torres was never a loogy
Clip apparently said that he was scuffling earlier in the season, and had just recently redound his stuff. Granted, it’s four and a third innings but his FIP in the second half is 1.7 and his fastball has regained its velocity. Much better than Torres, no doubt. Torres has been horrendous almost all season long, and has a FIP of 8.26 in the second half. Doesn’t really help the playoff run.
A pitcher moves from the AL to the NL and “suddenly” gets better, eh? Yeah haven’t heard that story a million times before…
Relief pitchers don’t pitch against pitchers, generally. Clippard and O’Flaherty are not starters.
LHB: .186 against O’Flaherty
Torres: .268
Its a move to get better against lefties.
From his ridiculous hat to his backwards splits, can’t say I’ll miss you, Torres.
I don’t see why a dude wearing a hat to protect his head from line drives is a reason to want a guy to go.
Nice to see that 9 people can’t take a joke.
His wildness is one problem and his backwards splits against lefties.
I applaud him for taking initiative on safety for pitchers, even if he looked like Mario’s brother Luigi.
Mets knew he had reverse splits when they traded for him. Should have just used him like a normal reliever
good! the Mets badly needed a LOOGY, and if blevins is still a while from returning, this guy should do the trick. I was getting mighty sick of watching righties pitch to Harper in the late innings. Its just asking for trouble.
The Tigers never seem to use Lefty’s as LOOGY’s. Kroll is getting killed pitching to right handers. Dave never listened to me. Maybe Al will.
Get on the phone, Al. Make a claim. The Tigers pen still stinks.
I wonder who the A’s will get in this deal. Already got one very good prospect who Mets fans were hyping (until they traded him, then he suddenly became a no-name, smh) for Clippard, Beane will probably get someone decent again here.
I was one of Meisner’s biggest fans (and saw him live in Savannah this year) but even I wasn’t “hyping” him. Guy is a solid prospect, probably a back of the rotation starter with mid rotation potential but he’s far away from even coming close to those projections. A very good prospect is generally a top 100 guy or a guy with a good chance to at least make the Majors. I think Meisner is very talented but even I know he has lots of work to do. Clip for him was very fair for both sides.
No Mets fans were hyping Meisner. Even Amazin Avenue only had him as the 9th best (and 3rd best pitching prospect) at their mid-season rankings. Also, no one called him a ‘no-name’ after he was traded, either. He’s a solid prospect who could be good for Oakland a few years down the line. It was a fair deal as many teams were in on Clippard.
I would like to see the Pirates pick Torres up, good replacement for Bastardo for both now and the forseeable future.
Well the A’s are getting a 23 year old reliever with an 8.71 ERA in low A. Seems like the Mets got a big league reliever for free.