10:40am: The Astros and Mets have both announced the trade.
10:27am: Houston will receive left-hander Blake Taylor and outfielder Kenedy Corona in return for Marisnick, ESPN’s Jeff Passan tweets. Taylor was on the Mets’ 40-man roster after having his contract selected last month and will now go on Houston’s 40-man roster.
10:05am: The Mets and Astros are in agreement on a trade that will send outfielder Jake Marisnick from Houston to New York, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman tweets. Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first (via Twitter) reported that the two sides were close to a deal. Houston will receive a pair of minor leaguers in return for Marisnick, per SNY’s Andy Martino (Twitter link).
The trade is seemingly a sensible move for both clubs. Houston has an abundance of outfielders on the roster with Michael Brantley, George Springer, Kyle Tucker, Josh Reddick, Myles Straw and Yordan Alvarez all likely ticketed for varying levels of time in the outfield in 2020. Meanwhile, the Mets have a need for a center fielder but also lack payroll flexibility, making Marisnick and his projected $3MM salary an appealing target. The Astros themselves are on the cusp of luxury tax territory, so shedding even a relatively minimal salary is of some help. As noted in our Offseason Outlook on the Astros, looking to move the salaries of Marisnick and/or Reddick was a plausible course of action for Houston this winter. It still seems likely that they’ll at least explore their options with Reddick and his $13MM salary.
Marisnick, 29 in March, will be a short-term acquisition for Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen and his staff, as he’s entering his final season of club control. He’s been utilized in a part-time capacity in Houston and hasn’t provided much offense in recent years, hitting .224/.283/.406 over the past two seasons combined. But Marisnick runs well and grades out as a terrific outfield defender; over the past two years he’s registered 17 Defensive Runs Saved, a +7.5 Ultimate Zone Rating and 21 Outs Above Average despite only logging 1327 innings in the outfield. For a Mets club that has long struggled on the defensive side of the game, Marisnick’s glove will be a welcome addition even if it comes at the cost of some offense.
In some ways, the acquisition of Marisnick mirrors the Mets’ acquisition of Keon Broxton last January. Like Broxton, Marisnick is a glove-first center fielder with notable strikeout issues and a history of OBP deficiency. His swing-and-miss troubles aren’t as extreme as were Broxton’s, however, and Marisnick has a lengthier track record as a generally useful player. He’s typically been worth between one and two wins above replacement in each of the past five years and could, of course, deliver a bit more overall value if he’s afforded more playing time. Even if he washes out in his new setting (as Broxton did), the financial hit won’t be substantial, and given his limited offensive track record and waning club control, the prospect cost to acquire him was rather minimal.
Neither Taylor nor Corona are considered to be among the Mets’ top prospects. The 24-year-old Taylor did log a 2.16 ERA with 10.0 K/9 and 3.2 BB/9 in 66 1/3 minor league innings of relief, but he did so against much younger competition. Taylor opened the year at Class-A Advanced, despite his age, and only moved up to Double-A midway through the season. Taylor did briefly reach Triple-A in 2018 but struggled both there and in Double-A, leading to the decision to have him repeat multiple minor league levels in 2019. His improved results are encouraging, but he’ll turn 25 next season and has only pitched 50 innings above A-ball, so he’s far from a sure bet to make an impact out of the Astros’ bullpen.
Corona, 19, signed with the Mets as an international amateur less than a year ago. He hit .301/.398/.470 in 63 minor league games this season, but as was the case with Taylor, he was older than the average competition he was facing. Corona, who’ll turn 20 next March, began the season in the Rookie-level Dominican Summer League, though he did top out with four games with the Mets’ short-season Class-A affiliate. He’ll likely be ticketed for A-ball in 2020, where the Astros will get a better idea of how he can handle more experienced competition.
Irrelevant
Irony. The very first comment on an “empty” story by a Twins fan in 1 word fashion. Nice.
Lol
Yeah, you are.
Oh Joy another Keon Broxton who Van Lunchwagon makes out to sound like the next coming of Willie Mays!
Wow .224 hitter and now I know we will not be getting Kevin Pillar who I hoped for!
My thoughts exactly. Kevin Pillar would have been a much better choice, but probably would have cost at least 2M more. Therefore, we get what we got.
Why does everyone act like Pillar is a good player? Marisnick is better than Pillar and costs less. Pillar is garbage
I think you guys are missing your Carlos Gomez more than you will admit… How much did you pay for him?
a delicious amount
The Twins have been irrelevant for years.
What? The Mets are acquiring someone who actually has positive defensive metrics. I must have read something incorrectly.
Because Juan Lagares didn’t.
He made $9 mil and Jakes only going to make $3 mil
Lag area was signed under a different regime and was not only a child when he was signed but was a shortstop. They had no idea he’d win a gold glove in CF when he was brought into the organization.
He has some pop but he doesn’t hit for avg at all. This could have upside defensively
Cheap centerfielder. I hope the Mets didn’t give up too much to get him.
Hurts Boston’s market for JBJ. Many thought Houston would send Jake there to replace JBJ. Might end being no market and JBJ stays.
Without yet knowing the return, makes sense for both parties. I thought this was a possibility going into the off season.
I like Marisnick a lot as a player but he’s kinda Juan Lagares with a little bit more pop, not exactly elite offensively… not really sure if this makes them better than last year
Top five outfielder in the game doesn’t make the team better? Ok
That is correct. A good defensive outfielder that is below average offensively probably does not move the needle. Maybe a half tick at best so i guess you call that improving? Ok.
No question he’s top 5 defensively, and the pop is a nice addition but this is still a guy who had a career OPS+ of 80 which isn’t outstanding by any means, and probably isn’t good enough to be an every day player meaning Nimmo or Conforto will still have to play center against a lot of RHP… I like the pick up a lot (especially at $3 million for the year) but I just don’t think this is the type of move that leaps them to the top of the division
Lagares definitely does not have more pop than Marisnick by no means Lmao
Lol I know I said Marisnick has more pop than Lagares but is otherwise a kinda comparable player in terms of skill set
Lets see his pop when he does not know what pitches are coming!
ThEn SaY bYe BYE tO bErGmAn
I’ll guess Andres Gimenez as the return.
I’ll guess you’re a moron.
why? Is he a former BVW client?
The Astros already have so many outfielders. Myles Straw is basically a faster Marisnick who can also play middle infield.
Marisnick is already familiar with Beltran’s system…knocking on garbage cans…etc.
Stupid joke aside, solid pick up depending on what they gave up.
That’s the return. A new sturdy garbage can.
That wasn’t a stupid joke. You are on to something I think. Haha.
Trash can haha so funny. You people are jackasses
Stop cheating and people won’t jokes. Pretty simple.
So banging in a trash can is worse than hacking a database ?
Banging On A Trash Can – Doug Funnie ft. Skeeter Valentine
Good song.
Lol. You win the day, burce. Well done.
Don’t sweat it. I said it was a stupid joke. Don’t get offended by it. I still know the Astros were and are extremely good. And I like the move for the Mets.
You mean altering the live game of play and giving the hitter an illegal, real-time advantage over the pitcher thus artificially impacting the performance of all the benefactors and negatively affecting the opponents’ careers? Um, yeah.
Butt clenched while I await news of the return. Better not be anything significant.
The Mets are sending a garbage can, a table, a laptop, a camera, and something to bang the garbage can with.
The Mets system has lots of guys who are suitable to bang against a garbage can…
Yeah their system hasn’t produced anybody lately.
Except for the guy who won the last two Cy Young awards.
And the guy who just won ROY and broke the rookie HR record.
And Jeff McNeil.
And Michael Conforto.
And Noah Syndergaard.
Oh I’m shocked no one yelled at you for Noah since they traded for him. My fellow Mets fans are usually that dumb.
I don’t know what Jake gets paid but it sounds like the Astros are looking for money …
They’re clearing out someone they don’t value very much compared the other 30 outfielders they’re trying to find a spot for.
meh move by meh franchise
Isn’t this the hack that savaged Lucroy at home unnecessarily?
yup!
Look NL East catchers…
They got him to go after Travis D. on the Braves! LOL 🙂
Hope this doesn’t stop them from going after Marte
Marte isn’t really a good CF anymore. as far as defense Marisnick is a better defender. at the plate is a different story,though as is the salary hit.
The Mets DO NOT NEED MARTE. “The Mets blew 17472884 saves last year. It’s clear that we need a defensively challenged centerfielder” – mEtS fAnS
“the Mets … lack payroll flexibility,”
ROFLOL!
New York is a small market.
The Little Crab Apple.
“ROFLOL” – people still saying that?
“Little Crab Apple” – says the person that would only say that with a keyboard.
Why are you confusing payroll flexibility with them being a small market? That’s the first of your many issues.
Also, why are you always so angry? You should look into it. I miss the days of The Great Cereal Famine and MetsYanksRedSox – didn’t always agree, but certainly more intelligent conversations.
Laugh it up while you still can friendo. Once Steve Cohen takes over, Mets will be spending like the Dodgers. Cohen’s the 30th richest man in the world. His net worth is 4x more than Steinbrenner. Now THAT’s funny.
Not everyone wants to spend “stupid” money like your Phils.
Meh good defender bad hitter— fine platoon mate for Nimmo I guess
Astros probably wanted to trade reddick instead to get rid of that amount of money but finding no buyers.
No crap. The A’s probably want to trade Khris Davis too….
Chris Davis says hello from Baltimore
Alex cobb does too…. Hard to find a team without one.
Will that be the worst contract of all-time? Few others come to mind (Ellsbury, Crawford, Zito, Wells, Cabrera, Rusney Castillo, Hampton, Bailey, Howard, Sandoval). But I think Davis takes it. Anyone else I’m missing? On the fence with Pujols. Expected these later years to be worse than they have been.
Miguel Cabrera’s contract is worse due to the money owed. Davis, if he was on a competitive ML team, would’ve been cut and sitting at home by now. With Davis, you get the reminder of how bad he sucks because the Orioles still let him play in the big leagues.
Miguel Cabrera’s contract is worse due to the money owed.
——————————————————————-
I agree on Miggy.
Everyone knew Davis was a bad contract, but it ended at age 36, so it should not have been a terrible contract.
Pujols was a terrible contract as soon as it was written. But less was known about the aging process. Miggy was 33 when he signed an 8-year contract. It was pretty well known at that point that he’d have only 1-2 years where he was worth $30M, with the other 6-7 years being a waste.
Marte will still come.
good riddance!
Mets are probably going to trade another outfielder away now…they have a lot
Nice pickup, kind of obvious in hindsight.
The Wilpon era isn’t over yet. A cheap centerfielder who struggles to get on base…why not just resign Juan Lagares?
Everyone who’s excited about the Mets ownership change better slow your roll. The money won’t flow for another 5 years until Cohen takes over officially.
Lifetime .230 hitter…seems like you could have traded for someone with a little more upside and making less that $3MM
Marisnick is a glove first CF. And 3 million dollars is not a lot of money for a ML’er. Whether he’s a fourth outfielder or the starting CF that’s not a ton of cash.
This is disappointing – all it points to is they aren’t really upgrading CF. They’ll just platoon him and Nimmo in CF. Marisnick simply can’t hit and playing too much exposes that glaring weakness. Despite news of the Mets being sold, it is abundantly clear that it is business as usual meaning no real money being spent on payroll.
The possible sale is oddly structured. Even after the sale, Wilpon’s will control some substantial executive level decision making for 5 years.
Is Cohen counting on the Wilpons and BWV to screw up and devalue the franchise thus resulting in him having pay less? It’s a lot of money to shell out without knowing what shape the team will be in in five years. He is a hedge fund guru after all.
seaver41, I agree its disappointing but we also needed to be realistic. With so much money tied up to Cespedes the Mets weren’t all that likely to push for a big ticket upgrade in the outfield. They are going into 2020 with Nimmo, Marisnick and Conforto in the outfield. They might bring in a cheap veteran like Cameron Maybin or someone along those lines to act as a 4th outfielder but once Cespedes is healthy Marisnick will become that 4th outfielder.
Marte too rich for their blood? Seems like a better move imo
Marte will be a Met in 2020.
Why not go for someone better
Kevin Pillar for cash hurts a lot less than Marte
hurts less how?
Then why trade for Marisnick?
backup.
They have a ton of outfielders, no need for a backup
Hoping some of those back-ups go in the Marte trade. Wishful thinking.
A good deal for both parties.
Catchers in the NL are on notice. Look for Jake’s two step to the left to “avoid” contact move.
The glove should play in that ballpark though.
Especially Travis d’Arnaud LOL just kiding
What a waste of 2 minor leaguers that could’ve been sent to Milwaukee for Hader
The prospects the Mets sent for keon broxton got them a new catcher no need to give them more
Lol. Yes because Marisnick and Hader will cost a similar prospect package.
Thank you.
kslaw, I had to laugh when I saw his post as well. The prospects the Mets traded to Houston aren’t anywhere near valuable enough to hold up a Hader deal. According to Baseball trade values trade simulator (which seems like a pretty good trade machine btw) a package would need to be headlined around J.D Davis and Andres Giminez with more stuff added to be fair value for Hader.
The ownership shuffle doesn’t take effect for another 4-5 years yet, itself a bit bizarre. But it’s the Mets.
Fans are going to love Jake; full tilt, 100 % of the time. Ya, he can’t hit worth poop and as some one said, that will probably get greater exposure the more he plays. But he’s fun to watch, and breathes a little life to a team that often looks it’s just going through the motions.
Marisnick is not a major league caliber player. Horrible move by the Mets. Could have just kept Lagares, at least Lagares has showed some potential.
And all these Nimmo platoon people? Nimmo is an everyday player. Just leave him in CF and quit trying to find some perfect outfielder that doesn’t exist.
“Marisnick is not a major league caliber player”. And that where I stopped reading.
Garbage. Marisnick is a better hitter than Lagares too.
Whatever. Marisnick is in the same class as Keon Broxton, last year’s defensive cf pickup. That didn’t last long because you need to freaking hit to have value.
I’m not mad. Lagares comparisons will come, but his defense plummeted to -2 defensive runs saved last season. Marisnick has a bit more pop, too.
He was good enough to play 120 games for the Astros. Mets trade for him and now he’s not an mlb caliber player
Well said.
Mets now got a cheap CF now they’ll get a cheap SP like Porcello and probably 2 cheap bullpen guys and they’ll call it a successful offseason lol by filling in Cf,sp and bp
That’s 3 mill less that they have for BP and a starter I would’ve rather got Straw at least he can steal bases
Agree and all of that will wind up with a fourth place finish; count on it!
Hes an excellent baserunner and defender. Playing their home games in a spacious ballpark, I can see the appeal. However he’s very similar to Juan Lageras so this isn’t too much of an upgrade. I don’t think this will stop the Mets from making a push to acquire Sterling Marte but if they decide to use JD Davis in the outfield, Marisnick would be a good player to compliment Davis as a late inning defensive replacement.
I mentioned in a previous post that the Mets should offer Davis and Dom Brown for Marte. The Pirates have sought MLB ready, controllable talent for their higher end players in the past (see Gerrit Cole trade) so it would make sense to offer Davis and Smith in a trade for Marte.
Yes.
Freudian slip? I think you mean Dom Smith.
It would make more sense not to give up Davis and Smith as I said earlier and get Pillar for just cash. We could use Davis and Smith or trade them for a starter instead.
Marte is not worth it.
Ahhhh Marisnick. I still get a chuckle when I see him. I remember how Larry Beinfest was the only person in the Marlins organization that actually thought he was as good as Yelich and better than Ozuna. It had to all be based on physique because it wasn’t based on talent.
I have to think that this isn’t the Mets answer to CF, unless he’ll be platooning and a defensive replacement for Nimmo.
Why do I have a feeling that the Mets may regret trading the kid Corona in this deal?
defensive replacement for Marte.
If it happens. Mets need to convince the Pirates first.
They have.
Report? I haven’t seen the Pirates accept a trade yet.
Because they are the Met’s and they always regret a trade! 🙂
I think this move is fine if he’s just going to fill the same role as Lagares. They needed that regardless of what else they do (or don’t do) to the outfield. But since it’s the Mets, god only knows what will happen.
NL East catchers beware!
Look out Travis d’Arnaud! only kidding
not worth $3 million IMO. shouldve gone after Akiyama
Anyone know Marisnick’s xWOBA and sCHWRbR?
Dominance and submission.
This isn’t going to move the needle for the Mets. They still have lots to do if they want to steal the NL East title.
Mets can’t do anything right. I actually feel bad for them. They have been looking for a centerfielder for what? 5+ years? And marisnick is their choice after taking so long?
Marisnick has always been a defense first guy. And now that he doesn’t know what pitches are coming (astros:-/), I see his bat being even worse.
Again, Marisnick is only backup for Marte.
I hope not; we should go after Kevin Pillar for just cash and not give up players for Marte who is on the downside of his career.
Pillar makes no sense with Marisnick on board.
Pillar he had an .823 OPS against lefties last year; Marisnick .080 OPS?
Platoon with Nimmo
This is an OUTSTANDING trade. Everybody wants the slugger but people forget how valuable great defense is in CF. Now with this trade in the books, wouldn’t be surprised to see J.D. Davis packaged with either Dom Smith and/or some prospects to get Josh Hader.
Josh Hader?
We already have the best closer in baseball in Diaz now up to 7 million!
sarcasm
Haha, nice one. I do like the idea of a Hader/Diaz combo to end games. Beltran can play the matchups instead of designating one closer.
Take it easy, Homer.
Josh Hader is a rare commodity. JD Davis and Dom Smith are not. The Crew can go sign a platoon of Cron and Thames for $7 million dollars. Then they ought to go call the Astros and trade for Abraham Toro. Follow the same path the Mets did last year for JD Davis.
I know that you didn’t just compare Toro to Davis. Haha!!! Toro hit .218 last year bro, where have you been. Plus, yea, the Brewers can sign a platoon of Cron & Thames for more like $8-$10 million or they can have Davis & Smith for about $1.1 million. Dude, seriously, learn more about how the business of baseball works. Teams nowadays don’t care so much about the player they’re getting for the current season, rather how many more years of control they cam get at the cheapest possible price. It’s sad but that’s just how it is now for a lot of these teams.
Want me to give you JD Davis’ numbers when your team traded for him? They have nearly identical AAA numbers. Nearly identical prospect rankings to boot.
Josh Hader is special. That’s why you want him so bad. Hulking corner players who can’t play any defense are not so rare. Your GM just collected a bunch of them and decided to make a team of misfit players.
86 wins is now a misfit team
It seems like the Mets are hoping to stumble their way into having a good team. They’re actually not that far from being a good team but they could get there with about 3 targeted moves. This is not one of them.
Not sure why, but Marisnick has always gave me the impression of a guy ready to breakout. It’s unlikely to happen at this stage of his career, but I could atleast see him becoming a poor man’s Lorenzo Cain.
He was Verlander’s CF of choice. The pitching staff is going to love his glove, arm and speed backing them up. Almost every ball gets caught for outs. If someone is lucky enough to bloop one in, he will hold the runner or gun them down if they take a chance on another base. Sit back and enjoy the show of his unquestionable defensive prowess and dominance.
And that’s an upgrade on Juan Laugares bat???
Sad day for Astros fans
I predict another NO HITTER with Marisnick in center field!
Yeah, when the Mets are no-hit by ( name uour opponent) and Marisnick wears the Golden Sombrero for the Mets.
I have always liked Marisnick. Good trade for the Mets. They are going to love him in CF.
The article fails to note for some reason that this is the first full season Taylor was used in relief, and he was extremely good. 10k/9, 0.4HR/9, 6.6H/9 with a 2.52 ERA is rare in the Mets system, and as for calling him old for his league when he was 23 when he reached and pitched in AA is simply disingenuous when considered in tandem with every other way the data is sliced in the article to make it seem like the Mets gave up nothing at all for Marisnick’s modest talents–especially when guys like Cameron Maybin and Billy Hamilton will probably be as good and won’t require milb talent in order to sign.
Worse, is their a single OF alignment on a team that includes Nimmo, Conforto, McNeil, Dom, and JD Davis, which includes Marisnick in its best option? If there isn’t, or if it’s extremely rare, why are you trading some fringy but potentially useful minor league talent for a very, very fungible guy like Marisnick?
So, a cheaper Lagares. Hopefully, the Mets aren’t done looking for CF starters.
Marisnick gets cut when Yoenis comes back. Yeah, right………
all season long and 2018 I kept hearing Nimmo couldnt play CF and wasn’t a CF guy now all of a sudden he is a CF guy ?
We all know Pillar was the better guy to have as usual its dumpter diving time for the Mets