What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets opened up a four-game series with a 4-2 win over the Marlins (box)
RHP Nolan McLean got the start and was solid again on the mound. He pitched 6.1 innings and gave up two earned runs while striking out six
RHP Brooks Raley got the win as trade rumors swirl. His final line was 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, and 1 K
CF Luis Robert got the big hit to put the Mets ahead late. He went 1-for-4 with 2 RBIs
3B Bo Bichette went 2-for-4 with a run scored
RHP Christian Scott visited the Hospital for Special Surgery’s children’s pavilion to meet with young patients and their families (MLB.com)
The Mets traded A.J. Minter to the Twins for INF Billy Amick and son of former Met Benny Agbayani, Bruin Agbayani
Rumor Mill 💨
RHP Freddy Peralta is still expected to start against the Marlins despite being the subject of trade rumors (MLB.com)
Play of the Game ✨
Luis Robert Jr’s go-ahead two-run single in the eighth inning on Thursday night was the difference in the ballgame for the Mets. The Mets never looked back as they won for the fourth time in five games.
The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
ICYMI: On the latest edition of the Just Mets Podcast, Andrew was joined by Alex Cintron to discuss Carlos Beltran’s induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
SUBSCRIBE: YouTube | Apple Podcasts | Spotify
Down on the Farm 🌾
DH Mike Tauchman (Triple-A): 3-for-3, R
C Daiverson Gutierrez (No. 22 prospect, High-A): 2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
SS Elian Peña (No. 3 prospect, Single-A): 2-for-4, R, 2B, RBI, K
BOX SCORES
Single-A SLU | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (47-63) vs. Marlins (55-55)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Where to Watch: WPIX
Starters: RHP Freddy Peralta (5-9, 4.99 ERA) vs. RHP Janson Junk (4-6, 4.89 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
A.J. Minter dealt to the Twins for two prospects ✍️
by Michael Baron
The Mets’ summer selloff began after Thursday’s game against the Marlins when the Mets dealt LHP AJ Minter to the Twins in exchange for infield prospects Billy Amick and Bruin Agbayani, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN.
The Mets signed Minter before the 2025 season to a one-year contract with a player option for the 2026 season, which he opted into last November after missing most of his first season with the Mets due to a torn lat muscle he sustained in April that year. He returned to the Mets in late May of this season and has been excellent over 23 appearances with the club to the tune of a 2.35 ERA over 23 innings. His 2.35 ERA is the 20th best among all left-handed relievers with at least 20 innings pitched since his return.
Agbayani was the Twins’ 29th ranked prospect in a system that is regarded as among the best in the sport in 2026. He is the son of former Met Benny Agbayani and was selected by Minnesota in the sixth round of the 2025 first-year player draft a year ago. He sustained a shoulder injury earlier this year which has limited him to only 10 games this season, but was hitting .266/.412/.341 before he got hurt.
Amick is a corner infielder who was the Twins’ second-round selection in the 2024 first-year player draft. He is hitting .217/.338/.482 with 23 home runs and 72 RBI in 86 games with Double-A Wichita in 2026.
Overall, the Mets did quite well in their return for Minter, who is set to become a free agent at the end of the season.
The Mets were and continue to be unlikely to net a top 100 prospect for any of their pending free agent relievers. But for the Mets to be able to get two ranked system prospects at least demonstrates that not only can they do, they have the ability to re-inventory the top of their system, but can get some more high-ceiling prospects in the process this summer. Those are two things which are necessary ahead of what will unquestionably be a winter in which they’ll need to once again trade from their system to fix the major league roster.
That bodes well for their inevitable trades of relievers Brooks Raley, Huascar Brazobán, and perhaps Luke Weaver, the latter of whom has the most trade value and, in light of this deal for Minter, could yield the Mets at least one top 15 prospect considering both his performance and future value to a new club with the one extra year of control.
History shows that trade deadline expectations should be tempered ✍️
by Linda Surovich
Word came down just after midnight Thursday that the Mets traded RHP A.J. Minter to the Twins for minor leaguers INF Billy Amick and INF Bruin Agbayani.
This is just the start of what is expected to be a busy trade deadline for the organization. According to Jeff Passan of ESPN and many others over the last month or so, SS Francisco Lindor will NOT be one of the ones on the move, which was always just a ridiculous rumor, but the Mets still have plenty of other pieces to move before the deadline. Brooks Raley, Huascar Brazobán, Luke Weaver, Freddy Peralta, Clay Holmes, Tyrone Taylor, and Luis Robert Jr. are all candidates to join Minter as the pieces moved during the Great 2027 Sell-off.
In a dismal season, trying to find wins is a frustrating endeavor, and while seeing the return in trades is all the hope that is left for the 2026 season, the fanbase should probably temper their expectations a bit. First, it was 2017:
In 2023, their haul consisted of Drew Gilbert, Ryan Clifford, Luisangel Acuña Jr., Marco Vargas, Ronald Hernández, Jeremy Rodríguez, Justin Jarvis, Coleman Crow, Landon Marceaux, and Jeremiah Jackson.
The 2023 deadline is similar to this year’s group, where they have starting pitching to trade, relievers, and a few position players. That year, it was Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, David Robertson, Tommy Pham, Mark Canha, Eduardo Escobar, and Dominic Leone on the move. The jury is still out on Clifford, but the rest just haven’t panned out.
With all of the graduations to the major league team this season, the minors have taken a bit of a hit in terms of prospects. So, reloading isn’t necessarily a bad thing, especially ahead of the winter when they’ll unquestionably be heavily relying on a high-demand trade market. Those two previous deadlines were also obviously under different GMs, so it isn’t fair to David Stearns to make one-for-one comparisons. Steve Cohen also paid $60 million to upgrade their Player Development Complex in Port St. Lucie, and they are investing more in analytics, so perhaps this new regime gets better at developing prospects than in years past, which might be a contributing factor as to why a large chunk of those prospects never panned out.
Still, if the Mets intend to compete in 2027, which MLB.com reports that they do, then the bulk of that work will need to be done this coming winter, and stockpiling quantity in the farm system now for anyone of value on the major league roster can only help in that endeavor. That isn’t to say whichever prospects they get now couldn’t help the team down the line, but it isn’t likely anyone who comes back in a trade over the next three days will serve as a miracle cure for the 2027 season.
Right now, all we know is that the clock is ticking towards the deadline, and once it’s over, there is a very good chance this team will look radically different than how they started the season. That probably isn’t a bad thing at this point - it’s hard for this team to be significantly worse than they are now, but there’s a good chance they could be a lot more interesting, even if they aren’t contending. It will be interesting to see how they backfill these vacancies on the roster which are coming with the prospects they call up, how they are deployed, and how they develop over the season’s final two months at the big league level.
Hopefully, this team will learn from its mistakes, and we won’t get a repeat in 2027, and instead, they will be buyers at the deadline instead of sellers.
Around the League 🚩
The Orioles traded for C Jake Rogers from the Tigers (ESPN)
Twins 1B Kody Clemens hit a walk-off grand slam with two outs and on an 0-2 count with the team down 3 runs (MLB.com)
More details emerged from Giants OF Harrison Bader’s scooter crash with a fire truck that put him out for the season (The Athletic)
Yankees 2B Jazz Chisholm Jr. exited the game early with a hamstring cramp in their loss against the White Sox (The Athletic)
Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani was out of the lineup as a precaution with a sore knee (ESPN)
Looks like a decent return for Minter and you can never have too many Agbayani’s
Ms. Surovich & Mr. Baron:
Off topic, somewhat. Thanks for this (and in Abstentia today, Mr. Buzzkirk). Just my opinion, but your collaborative work is exceptional. Still feeling my way around Substack (though I mouth off here occasionally). Your work brings the potential for the platform (and its economic model) together is ways I hope others emulate.
Met fans are fortunate to have you. NY Sports “beat journalism” with all its grand tradition! Young, Mushnick, Lupica and a bunch of others would be proud.
Steve