12:59pm: The clubs have each announced the deal. In addition to Sanchez, the Marlins will receive a player to be named later or cash.
10:39am: The Mets are set to acquire right-handers Elieser Hernandez and Jeff Brigham from the Marlins, reports Mike Puma of the New York Post. Minor league righty Franklin Sanchez is headed back to Miami in return. Both Hernandez and Brigham were designated for assignment by the Marlins earlier this week.
The acquisitions of Hernandez and Brigham will give the Mets some needed depth in both the rotation and the bullpen, where they’re currently faced with the prospect of losing significant chunks of their staff. Starters Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker are all free agents, and while the Mets already re-signed Edwin Diaz, they’ve also seen Seth Lugo, Adam Ottavino, Mychal Givens, Trevor May and Trevor Williams reach the open market.
Both Hernandez and Brigham have a minor league option year remaining — two, in Brigham’s case — and therefore shouldn’t be seen as locks to occupy a spot on next year’s Opening Day staff for the Mets. That said, Hernandez has four-plus year of MLB experience and Brigham has three, so they’re a bit more seasoned than the garden-variety DFA pickup.
Hernandez, in particular, has at times looked like a potentially solid big league starter. From 2020-21, he made 17 starts for the Fish and pitched to a 3.84 ERA with strong strikeout and walk rates alike — 26.4% and 5.7%, respectively. That came in a sample of just 77 1/3 innings, thanks largely to a series of injuries. A lat strain in 2020, follow by biceps inflammation and a quad strain in 2021, combined to limit Hernandez’s time on the mound. Still, for a righty who’d been pitching in his age-25 and age-26 seasons, it was an encouraging sample from which to draw.
The 2022 campaign, however, was another story. Hernandez opened the season in Miami’s rotation but lost his spot and wound up splitting his workload evenly between 10 starts and 10 bullpen outings. The end result was a dismal 6.35 ERA, fueled in part by his strikeout rate (21.6%) and walk rate (7.9%) trending in the wrong directions. Home runs have long been an issue for Hernandez but never more so than this past season, when he yielded a staggering 2.74 homers per nine innings pitched. Put another way, a stunning 6.8% of the hitters who came the plate against Hernandez connected on a home run.
Those red flags notwithstanding, Hernandez is a 27-year-old righty who’s only one year removed from quality rotation work spread across two seasons. Since he can be optioned to Triple-A, he’s likely viewed as a sixth or seventh option in the rotation, should injuries necessitate such a move. An excellent Spring Training could put him in the mix for a spot on the Opening Day staff, of course, but even if he’s ticketed for Syracuse to begin the ’23 season, he’s a better rotation fallback than many clubs have in the upper minors. Hernandez is projected by MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz to earn $1.8MM in 2023. That’s more than some clubs might prefer to pay for a depth option, but the deep-pocketed Mets are likely more comfortable with that possibility (and could always look to sign Hernandez to a split contract with separate rates of pay in the Majors and Triple-A).
Turning to the 30-year-old Brigham, he’s coming off a more successful 2022 campaign. In 24 innings with the Marlins, he worked to a 3.38 ERA with a strong 27.7% strikeout rate against a 9.9% walk rate.
Brigham missed the entire 2021 campaign and much of this past season while dealing with a nerve injury in his right biceps, so durability is something of a concern, but dating back to 2019 he’s pitched about a full season’s worth of innings (63 1/3) with a 4.12 ERA, 25.1% strikeout rate and 9% walk rate. This past season’s 94.7 mph average heater was down from its 96.6 mph peak in 2019, but the results were still sound. As with recent waiver claim Stephen Ridings, Brigham is likely viewed as an optionable depth piece who can perhaps vie for one of the final spots in what should be a new-look Mets bullpen this winter. He’s projected for a modest $800K salary in 2023.
As for the Marlins’ return, they’ll acquire the 22-year-old Sanchez, who posted a combined 3.79 ERA in 35 2/3 innings across two Class-A levels in 2022. Sanchez fanned 27.1% of his opponents, a strong mark, but also walked an untenable 13.5% of hitters he faced. The Marlins sent him to the Arizona Fall League, where he was tagged for nine runs in 7 1/3 innings and walked more hitters (six) than he struck out (five).
Sanchez didn’t rank among the Mets’ top prospects at any Baseball America, FanGraphs or MLB.com, though that’s not really a surprise for a pitcher who’s being swapped out for a pair of recent DFAs. He’ll give the Marlins a young arm with bat-missing capabilities but also some glaring command issues — the type of project arm often included as a lottery ticket in minor swaps of this nature.
This was way cooler until I read the last sentence.
The kid has given up 1 hr in his entire minor league career. Im not in tune with his arsenal but he’s your classic prospect pitcher with command issues. Good pickup by the marlins.
It is so painful as a Mets fan to see that moron Eppler in action even down to the smallest deals. The Mets will suffer a serious regression with 80% of their rotation and 90% of their bullpen leaving and hapless Eppler in charge of rebuilding; Mets will be lucky to finish in third place in the East next year no matter how much Cohen spends!
Oh boy “The end result was a dismal 6.35 ERA” Mets get
Oh boy “give the Marlins a young arm with bat-missing capabilities”
Canosucks,
So true the Mets don’t have a plan they are in between delusional rebuild and pretend contend spending to win now. Makes no sense what they do.
Stearns and click and we have eppler.
Hey Mets fans, I know that on the surface, this trade may bother you, but Elieser is a potential diamond in the rough. This isn’t like when we traded Jordan Yammamoto to you all. Elieser does have some talent and work ethic at times. His issue is health and sometimes the inconsistency. I think this is a move to see about a possible 5th starter next year. He actually may be stable with you guys to where you get something out of him. Consider that in Miami, he was under pressure to perform when he was able to pitch because he was always competing against guys with more tools and considered more of a focus then he was. A chance to pitch and legitimately win a role, combined with health, could be good for him. I’m not entirely thrilled that we traded him to a division rival.
As for Brigham, that’s just the ‘meh’ to the trade. He was part of our garbage bullpen.
Now, I am curious from the intelligent Mets fans (not the blind homers), what are the pluses and minuses we may be getting in Sanchez? Are his flaws solely related to command issues or is there more to it with him?
Intelligent Marlins fan here,
Simple quick google search states Sanchez brings a hard throwing FB that he recently hit 100,mph in the AFL with an even better low 90’s cutter.
The dude does have major command issues. Mel should help straighten him a bit.
This Kid Sanchez could have been a contender.
Thanks for trying, MFB, but Elieser is going on 28 and has never figured anything out. He gives up 2.1 HR/9, career, and that was actually somehow worse in 2022: 2.7 HR/9.
He has no chance of being a meaningful contributor. At the end of the 2023 we’ll look at the Mets BB=Ref page and notice him on the fringes of the pitching table, with an ERA over 6.00 in around 20 innings.
Nice seeing you Jack Strawb. Mets spinning signing Marlins and Braves DFAs as pitching depth reminds me at the Trading selling upgrading the DH by trading for Vogelbach and Ruf. LOL Meanwhile they preach retaining their prospects and they trade a high upside RP in Sanchez. I can’t make this stuff up.
How it going, Rr? Yes, these are the guys you buy at the minor league free agency bazaar or trade the equivalent 30 yo 3Bman to fill the Marlins’ roster hole in AA. You don’t deal a live, young arm for these two, not a 22 yo who K’s 11 per 9, gives up just 7 H/9, and gives up a pro baseball career best of 0.1 HR/9,
The BB’s make him a project, obviously, but he wouldn’t be the first A-ball pitcher to find the plate, especially since that’s the only thing he’s missing. This is startling malfeasance, and the desperation for live bodies by the Mets is the result of mishandling the roster and offseason last year—where was the sense that they’d have to play the, you know, 2023 season?
Don’t these guys have a whiteboard?
The 22 year old only pitched 35 innings at low A ball and your excited about his bad stat line. I love how you compare mlb stats to single a. Like the levels are remotely comparable. The kid has long odds of ever reaching the big leagues at all.
Jack Strawb,
It’s going well here can’t complain aging a bit and hanging in for one last big score. No longer the fastest rat in the race but I been around the block forever. At least I grew up with the ’69 Mets and returned to NYC to catch the ’86 Championship so unlike those not as fortunate know the difference between Frank Cashen and Sandy Alderson. I know a Fraud when I see one and yes I also knew Madoff was a Fraud before it became public.
Mets6986,
I really approve of your screen name but my gut tells me you were too young to appreciate those two Teams like I did. I lived at Shea during the 80’s watching 90% of their Home Games live during that run. I was there for the Big Moments Mike Scioscia HR off of Gooden which I have discussed with Doc.
I have watched video of this kid Sanchez and he really has a live arm which with a bit of control could be dominant but he is a project. Makes no sense to me to trade such an arm for a Team that values building the Farm just like trading PCA for a rental in Baez made no sense. Either go all in or rebuild. Half arsing it I thought was the Wilpon way.
@Robrock30 Same here, brother. Age is a beast but there are consolations. Saw the ’69 miracle as a kid and got to go nuts in ’86 with the rest of the City. Cashen was indeed a great GM, and got me into Branch Rickey’s version of moneyball before it was moneyball. The kids who grew up on the Wilpon Mets and their mediocrities and worse at GM and in the manager’s seat just don’t know. Cheers!
I was 9 years in 86. The Mets team got me as a lifelong Mets fan. He may have a live arm but so doesn’t most players now. Odds are he will never make the bigs. He didn’t overwhelm in low single A. It is a huge leap from low single A to the majors.
Big Money Cohen proving he’s a baller…
Cue every Long Island would be comedian Mets fan with their hot take. “Wilpons are back”. “Dumpster dive”. “Woohoo we are done now – watch out Atlanta”.
I mean, you’re not wrong… this is probably their DeGrom replacement lol
I mocked the Lindor deal and the Cano/Diaz acquisition trade. But this is the type of small deal that makes a club better, smart trade by the Mets.
The Mets so far have won that trade hands down. Who would have thunk it! Plenty of time for Dunn and especially kelenic but both have been rather disappointing. Its why Dave Dombrowski is a hall of fame executive. Prospects are volatile
I don’t think the Mets won that trade, but the loss was much less than I thought at the time. Mets dodged a bullet and it was a wash because the prospects have not panned. But the money they spent on both Cano and Diaz was more than enough to just get an elite closer from free agency. It was a poor trade that would up being a wash.
I’d say the Mets won the trade since they got an elite closer out of the deal, but they would have lost it if they gave the Mariners what they wanted in order to eat more of Canó’s contract. They wanted McNeil instead of Gerson Bautista. At the time, it was a possibility because Canó was going to take 2B from McNeil and there wasn’t a universal DH yet.
Im curious how much cash net net did the mets really take on considering one year was wiped out, one year was shortened and the mets did trade back a bunch of dollars to the mariners in the deal. Yes i know that was not foreseen in the trade but it is curious.
That also not factoring how much Diaz would have cost as an “Open Market” and what the mariners lost in potential value with dunn and kelenic.
@Astros2017Champs Well, no. The Mets got 4 years of Diaz, one of which was abysmal, one of which was mediocre by results, and two of which were superb. It cost them a total of $65m in a salaries among the players dealt at a time when very good to great relievers were signing in the $11-15m range, It cost them another $22m in Diaz’s salaries, 2019-2022, and another $10m, minimum, for the contributions of the spare parts they sent away, and probably another $20m for the cost of putting McNeil in LF while Cano stood near 2B, but we can omit that last.
That’s roughly $97m for two superb years from a Diaz. It was a stupid, stupid trade at the time. The Mets got extremely lucky that Diaz had two great years in him and Kelenic to date has been a bust, yet they still paid almost $100m for those two years—it *remains* a stupid, stupid trade, and that’s assuming no further production from Kelenic.
I thought it was much worse but the mets caught a break between the shortened season and the year ban.. According to Cot’s (which it seems you they dont prorate salaries going back in trades (ie Cano Salary was close to 9 mil for prorated payment and full 3.75M being paid by the mariners going to mets) The extra the Mets paid over the mariners is roughly 43M even if you include next years cano dollars and assume Kalenic gets the same dollars as last year 700K. I broke it down by year what the mariners paid in contract for their players acquired and the same with mets accounting for the punishment and prorations. Hopefully it is readible. Note this does not include new contracts or anything after (ie what canogot taken off from vet min or what mariners got in justin dunn trade). If you want to copy and past into excel or similar it should show the breakdown easier.
2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 Total Cost
Mets 19,607,425.00 7,027,778.00 3,250,000.00 30,450,000.00 20,250,000.00 80,585,203.00
Mariners 22,500,000.00 13,398,426.00 584,900.00 706,200.00 706,200.00 37,895,726.00
Difference (2,892,575.00) (6,370,648.00) 2,665,100.00 29,743,800.00 19,543,800.00 42,689,477.00
@Flyby Thanks. That’s fair. Applying those deductions for 2020 and for Cano getting caught juicing drops the Mets’ obligation by $32.6, meaning they still shelled out 97m minus 32.6 = $64.4m for 2 superb years from Diaz, less the trivial salaries for Kelenic in 2021-22, but also with 5 remaining years of control for the M’s. If he turns into an adequate regular but no more than that he might be worth about 0.30 (10 * 8m) = $56m in surplus value, but of course he might also be worth less than nothing.
When the final tallying is done we’ll also need to add in Dunn’s 1.6 WAR to date, the value of Jay Bruce’s WAR after he was dealt, and anything else Dunn and Bautista produce, but that all deducts from the Mets side of the ledger.
Everything broke the Mets way even to the shortened 2020 season and Cano pointlessly juicing, and they still wildly overpaid.
you can not really judge anything after they were traded because it could be a completely different situation think Justin Turner during the mets Justin Turner during the dodgers (yes he was nontendered but it was a huge change for him). Yoenis Cespedes with detroit vs mets (if you are looking for mid season trade) In the end, the rest of the contracts they had was negligible. I believe even 1.0 war is a bit high in total
I also dont understand your 0.3(10 *8) calculation … are you counting 10 years he is with the mariners? If anything i believe he has alone wiped out any positive from anything gained (-2.0WAR Career) between all the other players or close to it combined. He has also used up two option years and if i remember correctly he has one more next year and would need to stay in the big leagues. If not i think 2025/26 he would be a minor league free agent.
Also i dont think you are taking into account the money Seattle sent back as part of the trade which i think was 20 million total if i remember right.
@Flyby The 0.30 * (10 * 8) = $56m refers to Kelenic should he happen to become a minimally useful player for the five years the M’s still control him.
0.30 = the 30% refers to the amount teams pay players they control compared with what the same players would get in FA, on average.
10 = 2 WAR * 5 years of control
8 = the 8m FA wins cost a team, on average.
All of which is to say, the results of the deal still have significant unknowns, and it wouldn’t be remotely surprising to see Kelenic to turn into a moderately useful player who adds $50 million to the M’s side of the ledger. People seem to forget he was just 22 last season, His defense is solid now, and he hit in extreme bad luck for his two partial seasons.
—yes, I did count the money the M’s kicked in. No offense, but I honestly can’t tell what you’re thinking. This was a terrible deal for the Mets, the absolute height of foolishness cooked up in the absurd mind of Jeff Wilpon. It worked as well as it conceivably could have for the Mets and it still cost them significantly.
Extremely good chance both of these guys will get their walking papers after their options run out. Dude Mets gave up throws 100 but walks north of 6 batters per 9 over his MiLB career. Ho hum.
Sometimes all it takes s someone changing a small thing to right the ship, so we’ll see
@Chemo850
I’m thinking both teams are thinking this with Sanchez for the Marlins and Hernandez with the Mets.
This makes the Marlins significantly better. The Phillies and Braves are gonna feast on these dudes.
Compost Divin’ Cohen
Did they trade for an owl? All i hear is Who! Who! & Who!
Too bad Burt Hoot-on is retired.
Dumpster Diving Mets are Back LOL
Why don’t they just go out and load up on some decent arms, it’s like they are back getting has-bins off the street like the previous owner. I was hoping they would have at least talk to someone like Rodin who can help right away. I see Atlanta resigned Mattel to their bullpen, they will probably stay on top of the NL east.
@Tomas7 Look at it this way: The Mets need most of a pitching staff and they hired… Billy Eppler to oversee that. Billy Eppler, the only General Manager ever trolled by the team he was fired from, when the Angels spent every single pick on pitching in the draft after Eppler departed.
That’s how inept Eppler has been when it comes to finding pitching. His Angels were notoriously bad on the mound, finishing 12th, 6th, 8th, 12th, and 13th in ERA in his 5 years there despite an ample payroll. Then his team fired and trolled him. With the draft.
Hernandez is interesting. We shall see what Hefner can do with him.
I don’t know why any Mets fans wouldn’t like this. You got 2 MLB experienced depth options, in exchange for what amounts to a lottery ticket. You gave up almost nothing for two guys who will surely make some appearances for your team next season. Even if they don’t do much, it’s a steal, and depth is important.
I’m not a Mets fan but I would assume any Mets fan would not like this mainly because both of these pitchers suck.
@!NolanGorman16! Thank You Dude as a long time Mets fan I couldn’t say it any better!
@!NolanGorman16! But, who cares? Even if it doesn’t work out, you option them and eventually DFA them. And all you lost was a minor leaguer who’s made it to A+ ball, who gives up 6 walks per 9 innings. You’ve literally can’t lose anything. This isn’t to make up for deGrom, or Bassitt, or Lugo…
Not according the writer of this article.
“The acquisitions of Hernandez and Brigham will give the Mets some needed depth in both the rotation and the bullpen, where they’re currently faced with the prospect of losing significant chunks of their staff. Starters Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker are all free agents…”
That quote literally states they are adding these guys for depth. It’s not saying they’re going to replace deGrom, Bassitt, etc.
Seems as though Hernandez may be better utilized out of the bullpen. Maybe Hefner can get the most out of him at the back of the rotation but we’ll see
Two new additions to NYM’s 60-man roster.
As I said when they were DFA’d, and pretty much all of last year…great job not trading Hernandez last year when they should have. Classic Marlins. They’ll probably get him back where he was too and we’ll get to see it up close and personal
Well, we all know that Kim Ng is running out of the benefit of the doubt from Marlins fans. This offseason better work out for her…especially after she poo poo-ed all over the trade deadline this past season with only making the one trade that rid uf of Bass, but failed to move Aguilar, Cooper, Wendle, Okert, and maybe even Rojas, Floro and Berti.
Let’s see what Ng shows up to Spring Training with. Calls for her head will start around then if she performs this offseason the way she has since she was hired and specifically this year’s trade deadline. So far there’s been a lot of misses, but some hits that have kept people a little patient, but there’s no longer any excuse that is acceptable…especially if she does not get a LEGIT Closer for the third straight offseason in a row.
Because she’s so much worse than all the white male GMs who’ve been screwing up for years and years and years. Decades in some cases. Rarely hear calls for their heads. Ng’s been here like five minutes and she’s already got her head on the block. Amazing.
It has nothing to do with whether or not she is a female. It has to do with the fact that when shep speaks, she sounds like she is reciting 5th party information she heard, and the lack of logical decision making, as well as totally not fulfilling the specific things she claimed she would address when she got the job, namely the bullpen, which is abhorrent
The Marlins had Michael Hill here for a long time, who is African American. It doesnt matter what religion, race, gender, etc that anyone is. Just be competent
I will agree that the Marlins are essentially the same they’ve been for the mot part of the last 20 years, in terms of decision making and smugness, but that doesnt mean she shouldbe given extra benefit either…
Her problem also is that Derek Jeter brought her to the Dance.
Mattingly now gone too so she is exposed.
I agree with Utah. Cheap owner magnifies bad Avisail signing. Should have foreseen impact of pitcher’s park. Spending big bucks on a bullpen is silly if you are going to run payroll like them. Watch for big year from Jorge Soler in 2023. He will DH a lot and smack 30 plus home runs.
Brigham has had some injury and command issues, but he finally starts to find it, and this is the moment they decide to get rid of him…bullpen has been actual garbage the last couple of years, but let’s trade for similar pieces, and not even take looks at the few guys already in the organization
The Marlins? Yeah, you guys have given away a lot of solid arms from the bullpen last couple years. And you guys don’t really seem to get fair value for your arms.
No bad if anything they can be bullpen pieces.
Yes bullpen pieces of s#@%. Eppler is the worst ever.
Been in the league for 5 years and ERA over 5 plus DFAd by Marlins yeah that’s a good pickup; the guy that destroyed the Angels is at it with the Mets; why because he was Cohen’s 24th choice as GM because no one else wanted the job so lets give him the keys to the future; so painful and my apologies and thanks for everyone’s indulgence for my cries of agony
@Canosucks Let it out, bro. When you deal away the only live arm in the trade for two DFA’s, you done scrod the scrod.
Braves will now get degrom after this Mets trade.
Interesting deal for both teams. It may end up being ‘meh’ for both teams, but we may very well remember this deal if either team gets anything from this trade. There are possibilities that either team picked up a diamond in the rough here.
That’s a very good trade for a Mets team with a bunch of arms hitting free agency.
To me it looks like Stearns is already making the moves for the Mets lol
Depth for the Mets, and a lottery ticket for the Marlins. The way I see it, sensible deal for both sides.. If Perez becomes a solid reliever Marlins win the trade. Neither Brigham or Hernandez moved the needle much.
1 year ago 28 teams were trying to trade for Hernandez. He has a great changeup, and high spin rates on his fastball, but he became HR prone
Yes. Read my comment below.
Mets sent out the garbage truck to cruise Braves and Fish to see if they could find some trash for their pitching staff……….looks like they sukkceeded……..
“The acquisitions of Hernandez and Brigham will give the Mets some needed depth in both the rotation and the bullpen…”
—-Hardly. If either are on the mound in Queens it’s only because guys are hurt or the FO didn’t do its job. These two are your depth’s depth.
“Hernandez, in particular, has at times looked like a potentially solid big league starter. From 2020-21, he made 17 starts for the Fish and pitched to a 3.84 ERA ”
—-But a 4.88 FIP and, get this, a 2.1 HR/9 rate.. Getting lucky on balls in play in well under 100 innings isn’t much of a virtue. That’s not remotely solid. That’s a #10 starter.
Sanchez, 22, is much more likely to turn into a useful MLB arm than two castoffs who weren’t making the Marlins, and at 28 and 31 years of age.