The New York Mets are acting like a team that actually understands how the modern game is won. You don’t just sit on your hands and hope the bullpen holds up when the dog days of summer hit. David Stearns is back at it, dumpster diving in the South Side of Chicago to find a diamond that the White Sox—in their infinite, rebuilding wisdom—decided to toss aside like yesterday’s garbage.
Bryan Hudson is a Met now, and while the move for a guy designated for assignment doesn’t carry the same weight as the Luis Robert Jr. blockbuster from a few weeks back, it tells you everything you need to know about this front office.
The Gamble on a Statistical Ghost
Let’s be real about who Bryan Hudson is right now. He is a 28-year-old lefty who spent a good chunk of last year looking like he forgot how to pitch. A 4.80 ERA in the majors coupled with a bloated 5.97 mark in Triple-A isn’t exactly the resume of a shutdown closer.
But the Mets aren’t looking at the 2025 wreckage; they are looking at the 2024 version of Hudson that absolutely carved up the National League. That version of Hudson posted a 1.73 ERA over sixty-two innings for Milwaukee, a season so dominant it felt like he was throwing a wiffle ball against toddlers. Stearns knows that talent doesn’t just evaporate into thin air.
Roster Tetris and the Left-Handed Void
The mechanics of this deal are pure baseball pragmatism. Chicago needed a roster spot for Austin Hays, so they cut bait on Hudson, and the Mets pounced with nothing more than a checkbook in hand. It’s a low-risk, high-reward flier that addresses the one thing every contender constantly craves: left-handed relief depth.
Moving Reed Garrett to the 60-day IL is the price of admission here, which was expected since he won’t pitch anytime soon. You can never have enough southpaws who can reach back and give you a different look in the seventh inning.
The Port St. Lucie Project
Do not expect Hudson to walk into Citi Field and start closing games tomorrow afternoon. He is heading down to Port St. Lucie to find his mechanics and prove that the 2024 heater wasn’t a fluke. The Mets clearly believe their pitching lab can fix whatever hitch developed in his delivery over the last twelve months.
If he fails, he’s just organizational depth in Syracuse. If he succeeds, the Mets just bought a high-leverage lefty for the price of a few steak dinners. It is the kind of aggressive, marginal improvement that separates the smart teams from the ones watching the playoffs from their couches.
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