With the New York Mets firmly back in playoff contention, president of baseball operations David Stearns went to work at the trade deadline in an attempt to upgrade the roster.
However, Stearns didn’t just bring players in; the 39-year-old also shipped a couple out, and one of those deals the Mets have already won.
The Mets won the Josh Walker trade
After designating relief pitcher Josh Walker to make room for the recently acquired Ryne Stanek, the blue and orange shipped the 29-year-old to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for minor-league pitcher Nicolas Carreno.
Prior to the move, Walker had bounced back and forth between Triple-A Syracuse and the major leagues. The 29-year-old had struggled at points in the big leagues, pitching 12.1 innings across 10 appearances to a 5.11 ERA with a 1.541 WHIP while striking out 11. However, the left-hander had fared much better at the minor league level, where he pitched 28.2 innings across 25 appearances to a 2.83 ERA, 1.291 WHIP, and 39 strikeouts.
The Pirates sent Walker to Triple-A Indianapolis, where the New York native allowed two runs across one inning before landing on the injured list with an undisclosed injury. Now, according to a post from the organization via X, the Pirates have designated Walker for assignment.
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What does this mean for the Mets?
With Walker now on his way out of the Pirates organization, the blue and orange got an 18-year-old arm, who despite struggling since coming to the Mets organization ( 6.75 ERA with a 2.063 WHIP across two starts in a combined 5.1 innings), Carreno had put up stellar numbers pitching for the black and yellow’s Dominican Summer League affiliate for essentially free.
Time will tell if Carreno turns into anything, but the Mets acquiring the young left-hander for one poor outing from Josh Walker is an absolute steal and already makes this deadline deal a victory.
