Mets bolster bullpen through trade with Mariners

The New York Mets and Seattle Mariners swung a trade on Monday afternoon. The Mets will receive right-handed pitchers Chris Flexen and Trevor Gott from Seattle in exchange for lefty reliever Zach Muckenhirn, according to the Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

The Mets designated Muckenhirn for assignment on Monday morning in order to make room on the 40-man roster for right-handed pitcher Elieser Hernandez, who was just reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Muckenhirn, 28, made his MLB debut this season and threw six innings across three appearances for New York, allowing four earned runs and striking out three.

New York is the big winner of the trade. 

Trevor Gott is the best player in this trade. Gott has 221 big league appearances across eight seasons, posting a 4.70 ERA and 192 strikeouts. In 2023 Gott has a 4.03 ERA and 32 strikeouts across 29 innings. His 3.01 FIP (fielding independent pitcher) indicates he has been quite unlucky this season and much better than the numbers suggest.

According to Baseball Savant, Gott ranks in the 95th percentile among pitchers in barrel percentage, 81st percentile in walk percentage, and the 75th percentile in expected batting average, despite ranking in the 18th percentile in fastball velocity. The Mets owe Gott $600,000 for the rest of this season.

Flexen, 29, was drafted by the Mets in the 14th round of the 2012 draft. He made his MLB debut with New York in 2017 and had an 8.07 ERA and 2.132 WHIP across three seasons. 

The right-hander revitalized his career in the KBO in 2020, leading to a second MLB chance, this time with Seattle. Flexen appeared in 64 games (53 starts) and posted a 3.66 ERA across 317.1 innings in 2021 and 2022, but struggled mightily to start 2023, posting a 7.71 ERA, which led to him being DFA'd.

The right-hander is owed $4 million for the rest of the season, which the Mets will pay. According to SNY's Andy Martino, the struggling righty will not throw a pitch for the Mets, as they will DFA him.

This trade shows off the financial might of Steve Cohen. Muckenhirn was never going to throw another pitch for the Mets and they traded him for a quality reliever. Seattle did not want to pay the rest of Flexen's salary and was willing to give up Gott in order not to do so.

The Mets essentially took on an unwanted contract ($4.6 million in total) to obtain a quality reliever to aid a bullpen that has a 4.26 ERA (21st in MLB). 

That is a big win for New York, and maybe an indicator of how they will operate in the future.