Mets trade Jeurys Familia to Athletics for two prospects, international slot money

Mets trade Jeurys Familia to Athletics for two prospects, international slot money The Mets and A’s finalized their deal sending Jeurys Fa...

Mets trade Jeurys Familia to Athletics for two prospects, international slot money

The Mets and A’s finalized their deal sending Jeurys Familia to Oakland for two prospects and $1 million in international slot money.

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The Mets will get right-handed pitcher Bobby Wahl and third baseman William Toffey for their 28-year old closer, who will be a free agent at the end of the season.

The deal, which was agreed to Friday night, but finalized as the Mets took the field in the Bronx, includes the A’s taking on all of the $3 million owed Familia for the rest of this season.

“I guess, the A’s are lucky to have a quality guy, a quality pitcher like Familia,” Mets manager Mickey Callaway said after the Mets’ 7-6 loss to the Yankees. “He’s done a great job for this organization. I know the fans, I know the coaching staff and the players are going to miss him.

Jeurys Familia heads out west as Mets ship their closer to Oakland in deal finalized Saturday. (Seth Wenig / AP)

“I understand it is also necessary to try and strengthen our team in the future. Sounds like we did a pretty good job with it.”

Most importantly, the Mets picked up $1 million to spend on international signings. That was an area they targeted for improvement last winter when they brought back Omar Minaya.

“The Mets have been aggressive internationally the last two years,” said Minaya in a statement released by the team. “This extra bonus pool money will be extremely helpful in acquiring potential top flight talent.”

Scouts who have seen the prospects said there is some upside potential with Toffey, a nd Wahl projects as a middle reliever.

Toffey, 23, was Oakland’s fourth-round pick in the 2017 from Vanderbilt, and is ranked by MLB.com as the Athletics 17th-best prospect. Toffey was hitting .244 with eight doubles, five homers, 32 RBI with a .357 OBP in 48 games this year with Advanced Class-A Stockton.

Toffey was assigned to Double-A Binghamton.

Wahl, 26, has pitched to a 2.27 ERA in 34 appearances, including one start for Triple-A Nashville this season. He is flying to Las Vegas to join the Mets’ Triple-A team. In 39.2 innings he has 65 strikeouts and 11 saves.

He appeared in seven games with Oakland last year, allowing four earned runs in 7.2 innings.

The A’s fifth-round pick in 2013 from Ole Miss, Wahl has a fastball that can touch 99 miles an hour and works in the 93-96 range, according to a scout who saw him this year. He also features a hard curve/slider.

Wahl has 284 strikeouts in 216. 1 career minor-league innings.

Familia, who holds the franchise record for saves in a season (51 in 2016), has 17 saves this season and four blown saves in 40 appearances.

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Callaway said that he will likely not name a replacement closer. Friday night, Gsellman got the honor, but Callaway said they would mix and match to the opposing lineup.

“I thought that Robert settled in last night and did a pretty good job in the ninth. I think we have multiple options,” Callaway said. “I think we’d have to get creative with who is coming up in the lineup. All those things we would have to take into consideration.”

Familia was at Yankee Stadium Saturday morning, but had left the clubhouse before most of his teammates had come back in after pregame workouts.

“I hate this time of year. You know, I’m sad to see him go, especially Familia, such a nice guy and good teammate,” Mets reliever Seth Lugo sa id. “It’s sad. Hope the best for him. I hope the A’s get in the race and he can get another shot at a World Series.”

With the Mets looking at their second straight year without a playoff appearance, Lugo and the rest of the the clubhouse were bracing for more departures.

Source: Google News US Sports | Netizen 24 United States