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The Mets will have a third left-handed option for their rotation this season.
In an effort to create rotational depth, the club acquired Joey Lucchesi from the Padres on Monday as part of a three-team deal including the Pirates. In trade, the Mets sent minor glow Endy Rodriguez to Pittsburgh. The Padres, meanwhile, acquired pitcher Joe Musgrove from the Pirates for four prospects.
Lucchesi, 27, only played three games for the Padres last season. A year earlier, he had gone 10-10 with a 4.18 ERA and a 1.222 WHIP in 30 starts for the team.
He spent most of last season at the Padres’ alternative training site, as the team watched the young pitchers. In his three appearances last season, Lucchesi threw a 7.94 ERA.
The move gives the Mets yet another left-starting potential, joining David Peterson and Steven Matz, for their rebuilt rotation. The arrival of Lucchesi will facilitate the movement of Seth Lugo to the enclosure of the Mets.
As it stands, the Mets have Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, Marcus Stroman, Peterson, Matz, Lucchesi and Lugo as rotation options to start the season. The Mets are also hoping Noah Syndergaard will return in June from Tommy John’s surgical rehab.
Lucchesi still has options in the minor leagues, so even if he wasn’t on the Mets’ roster in spring training, he would provide depth to Triple-A Syracuse. He does not become eligible for arbitration until the next offseason.
Lucchesi was stretchy at the Padres due to their wild off-season frenzy, which included the additions of Yu Darvish and Blake Snell to their rotation, in addition to Musgrove.
But the Mets, under new owner Steve Cohen, team president Sandy Alderson and general manager Jared Porter, have rebuilt their own rotation.
It started with Stroman, who accepted the club’s qualifying offer worth $ 18.9 million for this season and continued with the addition of Carrasco, who arrived in the deal that brought Francisco Lindor from Cleveland.
Matz is the wild card in the rotation mix. The southpaw threw a 9.68 ERA last season and was demoted to the reading box, but the Mets offered him a contract this offseason and the parties agreed to a one-year contract for 5, $ 25 million.
Although Lugo has declared his preference to pitch as a starter – he was pushed into the role last season due to need – his best work came from the reliever box, where was among the top relievers in the NL. in 2018 and 19.
Always on the lookout for the potential depth of the starting rotation, the Mets plan to spot a showcase Tuesday in Miami with veterans starting Julio Teheran and Anibal Sanchez.
The Mets’ big offseason also included the signing of wide receiver James McCann to a four-year contract worth $ 40.6 million and relief Trevor May to a two-year contract worth $ 15.5. millions of dollars.
But the Mets might not be finished, as they remain in the race to sign George Springer, the best free fielder in the market, and Brad Hand, a quality left-handed reliever. The Blue Jays are Springer’s only other known contender, whom the Mets would like to install as a center-back, allowing Brandon Nimmo to play on the left. Hand, who has been linked with multiple teams, became a free agent after Cleveland, in lost pay mode, turned down his 2021 option.
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