- 9 minutes ago
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:03how are we doing everybody it's Tyler Ward aka Wardy here and in our latest breakdown on all
00:08things New York Metropolitans for the street out flushing podcast here on the New York Post
00:12Sports YouTube channel or wherever you get your podcast we're going to go ahead and deep dive
00:16ex-mets that could find themselves returning to flushing queens for the upcoming season I know
00:21yeah you heard that correctly we're going to get into these players and ultimately why
00:25the Mets may very well find themselves circling back in their respective markets
00:29and how maybe the bridge just hasn't burned out for all with the following players a lot to get
00:33into in this one so let us know your thoughts down below hit that like and subscribe one for more
00:38Mets content here on the New York Post Sports YouTube channel and of course thank you all so
00:42much for chiming in so to get right into our conversation let's begin here with the reliever
00:46you know when I think of former Mets relievers that have continued to pitch and pitch well
00:51I think of a handful obviously since leaving the Mets over the last couple years but there is one
00:56that definitely sticks out as someone who post traded line continued his dominance better than
01:00most and that of course had to have been AJ Minter as we know AJ Minter's story with the New
01:05York Mets
01:06sadly did not go really as planned the Mets signed him entering the 2025 season but really did not pitch
01:12much more than a handful as he was down with ailment and that was also the previous offseason where he
01:18was
01:18returning from a hip injury that had him out the entire second half of the 2024 season his final year
01:24in Atlanta
01:24Braves uniform so AJ Minter finally healthy in the year 2026 begins his regular season with the New York
01:31Mets with a north of 15 or so inning beginning to the year without allowing an earned run ironically
01:37the first home run and run he gave up this season was to Matt Olson of the Atlanta Braves his
01:43former
01:43teammate but AJ though was nails and between the New York Mets and the Minnesota Twins in which the Mets
01:49acquired a big bopper of a home run hitter who strikes out a lot but hits a lot of bombs
01:54too and
01:54Billy Amick as well as Bruin Agbiani Benny's son in a trade for AJ who was a rental reliever
02:0045 total total innings this year for the veteran south pod the unage of 32 an 8k per nine to
02:07a
02:07dazzling 1.58 walks per nine the home run rate was up this year at 1.77 and that continued
02:13as he went
02:14on to the Minnesota Twins and gave up bombs to guys like Aaron Judge in the second half a two
02:18and a half
02:19ERA a 3.8 expected ERA 4.4 FIP and a four expected FIP listen this is AJ's real first
02:25big sample back
02:26since you know this first half of the 2024 season because he only pitched 11 innings with the Mets
02:31before going down with ailment in 2025 AJ was fantastic here embraced the environment embraced
02:37the market for you know a guy that long time Atlanta Brave becomes a New York Met and finds himself
02:43having
02:43success he embraced what it meant to be a Met he really enjoyed his time here so did his wife
02:47from
02:49and I really loved AJ's uh end of tenure comments stating how you know what if he can bring back
02:55a
02:55nice little prospect or two he'll be happy to do that for this Mets team so no LL between the
03:01two
03:01sides no bridge burned and if AJ does have the appetite to go back to Flushing Queens uh this is
03:06absolutely I think a relationship that could be rekindled because it does feel like that there's a
03:11level of unfinished business and speaking of unfinished business going on from AJ Minter let's get on to
03:17another reliever today but this would be the lone player in today's discussion which the Mets would
03:21actually have to trade for after they traded him away and yes it's Luke Weaver now I know you may
03:27say to yourself Tyler what are you talking about why would the Mets acquire Luke Weaver after trading
03:32him away well I don't know why don't you enlighten me why they wouldn't the Mets are already eating a
03:36fat
03:36chunk of that contract in which Luke will be owed around 11 million dollars next year as is
03:41and Luke was Jekyll and Hyde this year when with the New York Mets he was unhittable around like a
03:46one and a half or so ERA he didn't allow a single run for what felt like north of two
03:50effing months
03:51with how good he looked and then he gets straight to the Pirates and a deal for Sammy Stifora the
03:56New
03:56York native infield prospect who we're very excited about and the farm myself included uh we go on to
04:01see Luke have a very unfortunate turn events happen one he sustains insane poison ivy which Luke
04:08explained himself best on just how bad it was for him to endure to the point that basically he had
04:13sleepless nights nights continued for about a month straight at least after being traded to the
04:18Pittsburgh Pirates in a very bizarre situation furthermore then we saw Luke obviously not pitched
04:23to his comfortability or to his dominance Jekyll and Hyde in which or how he was performing with
04:28the Mets versus what he did with the Pirates a Pirates team that did not even make postseason play
04:32and when we look at Luke Weaver this season again combining the two sides when he was so much better
04:36with the New York Mets he still finished the year with a 2.69 combined ERA and a three expected
04:41ERA
04:42a sub three FIP a three and a half expected FIP that's good for a 1.4 war season we're
04:47just under
04:4710k per nine to a fantastic 2.3 walks per nine and a sub one home run per nine a
04:530.75 which has
04:54absolutely been something that's killed him in the past especially someone who's got more of a workload
04:58as a starter because he's just usually throwing meatballs but Luke Weaver though he was awesome
05:02in a Mets uniform he loved being in New York he continued his dominance in New York going back
05:07to his last couple years where he was very good with the New York Yankees and I think Weaver is
05:11absolutely someone who would embrace coming back as long as the Mets had interest again we're already
05:16eating a good chunk of his contract and he didn't pitch nearly as well for the Pirates so let's take
05:20him back let's give them a lesser prospect than Sammy Stifora and let's call it a day I don't really
05:26think it's that hard to grasp to wrap our head around so on one hand for the Pirates are like
05:32you know we're only having Luke at a fraction of the cost here why would we want to give him
05:38up but
05:38the the counter is he also didn't perform nearly as comfortably during his time when he was with
05:44uh the the Pittsburgh Pirates if he dominated just as good as he did when he was with the New
05:49York
05:49Mets and that would be a different conversation but if we look at the side by side and just as
05:54just in the statistics when he was with the Mets versus the splits of one he was with the Pittsburgh
05:58Pirates I mean they were rather significant let's pull them up pull them up right now to tell you guys
06:03in real time here uh no we're not going to look at postseason cumulative uh cumulative because there
06:09was no playoffs for Luke Weaver no matter if he was on the Mets or the Pirates this year well
06:13as we go
06:14on to see between the two sides to everybody let's pull this up here we go okay as a New
06:22York Met
06:23this past season Luke Weaver did the following if this could just pull up that would be awesome
06:28again we do not need postseason numbers we just need regular season I don't know why it keeps
06:32popping up and doing that okay as a New York Met we are looking at a 1.84 year array
06:38and 44 innings
06:39that include 25 hits allowed 10 runs 9 earned uh emphasis on the 9 earned runs here and a potent
06:46batting average of 162 and it's well under one whip as a Pittsburgh Pirate five-year array in 18 games
06:5416 innings we saw a total of 17 hits allowed and 9 earned runs so he gave up the same
07:01amount of earned
07:02runs as he did during his time with the Mets but this was literally a quarter of the sample basically
07:08so uh all I know though is that if the New York Mets have the appetite to want to bring
07:13Weaver back again
07:14we know what he can do at not only the big league level but specifically with the New York Mets
07:19here
07:19and he's someone who I don't think we need any selling as to what to expect from him and I
07:25think
07:25he'd be the first to tell you that he expects better than what he did there in Pittsburgh so uh
07:29bring me back Luke Weaver let me know how you guys feel about that in the comments down below
07:34because going on from Luke let's get on to another former New York Yankee pitcher turn New York
07:39uh Matt and that is now going to be Clay Holmes okay Clay Holmes was only traded by the New
07:43York
07:44Mets because he had value and his value was significant between himself and Tyrone Taylor
07:50they helped muster a return for the 68th best prospect in Major League Baseball Prem will be
07:54Pipeline's latest rankings and shortstop stud 21 year old Jefferson Rojas who will be at the Major
08:00League level for the New York Mets in 2027 Clay Holmes was very solid this year overall and when he
08:06returned from his injury that obviously had him out a bit such a shame that he missed as much time
08:10as
08:11he did with the fracture he still did have over 100 innings this year a right around 7k per nine
08:15a 3.7 walks per nine a 0.5 home run per nine which is awesome a 3.29 ERA
08:20a 3.87 expected ERA 3.6
08:23FIP and a 3.89 expected FIP that's just under a two-war season uh for a second consecutive year
08:29where in his first year as a true starter since his days as a Pittsburgh Pirate in the late 2010s
08:35before coming over the Yanks as a dominant reliever for them and then an up-down reliever
08:39uh we went on to see his first year with the Mets 165 innings three and a half ERA 4
08:44expected ERA
08:451.9 war and the most consistent starter you could rightfully argue from start to finish
08:50for the New York Mets in the 2025 season what was a failed year for them for Holmes not only
08:56did he
08:56express his interest in staying with the New York Mets but he expressed thorough interest and being
09:01extended and wanting to stay here and being a part of changing the tide of the narrative
09:05this is the same Clay Holmes that was not even utilized in the two postseason games in which
09:09the Cubs faltered in dramatic fashion to the San Diego Padres so for Clay who's now a free agent
09:16entering his age 34 season looking for a price range of anywhere likely from 60 to 75 plus million dollars
09:23in that Sean Minaya type of realm on a likely I'd imagine you know anywhere from two to four year
09:27deal
09:28uh the Mets absolutely have a level of interest they just didn't want to extend him and feel like
09:33that that hand was forced knowing that there's a lot of uncertainty with depending CBA and wanting
09:38to see how things would shake out for the remainder of the year after trading him so I think that
09:42they
09:42were smart by maximizing his value and I really do believe that Clay Holmes has a role as Chapman
09:472016 written all over him as someone who was traded away by the Yankees to the Cubs in 2016
09:52Chapman goes on to win the World Series with them and then the Yankees in turn land a nice little
09:57prospect by the name of Glaber Torres at the time and then once the Cubs run is done Aroles return
10:03right back to the Bronx with the Yankees so for the Mets here I definitely see a scenario where at
10:09minimum one of the following players that we discussed today that becomes a reality they
10:12didn't burn all these bridges they just want to maximize value and they also gave these guys
10:16better opportunity actually going to playoff run I'm sure Clay appreciated that as I'm sure did
10:20David Peterson even with how wishy-washy he was for the Mets this year as he was the first big
10:24domino to fall for them and guys that they traded you know to begin the selling if you will of
10:29the
10:292026 send-off so going on from Clay Holmes who I'm very much in favor of because I think he's
10:35a perfect
10:35veteran to blend with the McLeans the Scots the Thorntons the Tons and the eventual Santucci's of
10:41the world but I also think for what you would have to give up to land him price-wise it's
10:47just very
10:47beneficial because you know what he's going to bring not only as a starter but in New York he can
10:53pitch
10:53in New York he has been one of the more steady starters for the Mets the past year and a
10:56half
10:57regardless of him getting a little bit older he doesn't have a lot of mileage on his arm because
11:01again he's been a reliever for the majority of his career and at the absolute worst to say things
11:05really didn't work out with Clay he is someone who I'm sure would dominate as a reliever again if you
11:08really had to transition him back there but either way though as a starter option he would be a perfect
11:13fit in this rotation currently and it wasn't like the Mets wanted to trade Clay it's that they felt
11:18inclined to because they kind of got an offer that they couldn't refuse and I do not blame them
11:23whatsoever for taking Jefferson Rojas and trading away two rentals that the Mets could still bring
11:28back should there be mutual interest which leaves us with last but most certainly not least Tyrone
11:34Taylor the other piece to this puzzle of a trade Tyrone is entering his age 33 season and was a
11:40man
11:40possessed when he got traded to the Chicago Cubs he batted well over 300 he was literally nuts he
11:46battled a north to 400 if not the entire time and between the two teams this year 97 games and
11:50241
11:51player appearances is the smallest sample he's had since 2023 a 279 batting average with 325 on base
11:57a 502 slug batted 27 above league average as a batter and the second highest worst season in his career
12:03at 1.5 as a plus offensive and defensive player not only was Tyrone an absolute man possessed for the
12:09Cubs after being traded there like he was putting up PCA numbers offensively it's not even funny how good
12:14he looked in his limited sample but Tyrone's an elite defender as well so you saw him of course have
12:19the fantastic range that he did when he was getting the outfield starts and with the only pinch hit at
12:24bat that he had in the wild card round he had himself a big boy hit why because that's Tyrone
12:28Taylor that's how in game two other lost the Padres so Tyrone 11 home runs 36 runs scored 38 RBIs
12:35so I think he definitely juiced things up a little bit between it being a walkier and also it being
12:41a
12:41great environment or there was playoff momentum going on I think both things are true I think
12:46Tyrone will likely not put up these numbers next year unless he has that same small sample but I
12:51also will say this as long as he wants to come back to the New York Mets I'm fine with
12:55giving him a
12:56sample as big as this because that's that's more than content for your fourth outfielder you know
13:00Nick Morabito I definitely have optimism in for what he could be at the major league level and that
13:04may very well be the biggest reason as to why Tyrone Taylor doesn't return to this New York Mets team
13:09but if Tyrone has an appetite to be in the same role as he has been the last couple years
13:12with Mets
13:12as more of an appetite for that then maybe what he would be getting elsewhere because there is a
13:17comfortability with the Mets they know him so well and knowing Soto is going to get more DH reps as
13:21he gets older that'll benefit a guy like Tyrone to get some starts here or there maybe to wrap up
13:25a
13:25series or in certain matchups against lefties especially if he puts up whopping splits the way
13:30that he did here this was literally the best season of his career in K percentage at 17 percent
13:34the last like five years of his career is average 21 to 25 percent in strikeout percent so very
13:40impressive stuff for Tyrone to not only eliminate his strikeout rate but really look like an effective
13:44player still maybe even better than what the Mets stuff that they initially had so if Tyrone doesn't
13:49get a more guaranteed option opportunity elsewhere and if he does have that level to want to come
13:54back to New York again this is a guy that we know can play here as a high-flying outfielder
13:58who is a
13:59perfect blend and balance with the AJ Ewings and the Carson Benges of the world and is someone who
14:04was beloved in the clubhouse and we know has that type of energy that is beneficial to the club when
14:10they're really trying to ride momentum you know Tyrone was part of the good in the Mets down the
14:14stretch in 2024 and bested Harrison Bader as getting more of those starter reps in 2020 uh 2024 2025 Tyrone
14:22was no bueno not good at all and then in 2026 we saw a rejuvenated Tyrone Taylor especially when he
14:28returned from injury for that final number of weeks before me traded to the Cubs but Mets fans
14:32we want to hear your thoughts in the comments down below of all the players that we broke down today
14:36which ones do you think are best to return the New York Mets in 2027 after initially being parted
14:41with please let us know thank you all so much for watching and be on the lookout for more content
14:46regarding the New York Mets and all things all things New York sports here on the New York Post
14:51sports YouTube channel this is your latest podcast for straight out flushing and this is your guy Tyler
14:55Ward signing out peace out everybody