The Mets Fire Sale Begins As They Trade Jeurys Familia To The A's For Prospects
MLB- The Mets’ process of selling off veteran parts officially began on Saturday. The team finalized a trade to send reliever Jeurys Familia to the A’s for two prospects, third baseman Will Toffey and reliever Bobby Wahl, plus $1 million in international slot money.
Toffey, 23, was Oakland’s 17th-ranked prospect. He was batting .244 with a .741 OPS at the organization’s Class A Advanced Stockton affiliate. Wahl, 26, made his Major League debut during a brief stint with the A’s last summer. Capable of throwing in the mid- to upper-90s, he owned a 2.27 ERA in 34 appearances with Triple-A Nashville.
Well it appears that the Familiacoaster has taken Mets fans for its last ride of loopty loops that can cause anybody to lose their lunch. #MetsTwitter and Frank The Tank can finally breathe a sigh of relief. I’ll admit that Familia drove me nuts too, but some Mets fans forget that finding a lights out closer isn’t exactly easy to do. For all the agita Familia gave us, he did close the door more times than not. Familia registered 94 saves and a 2.20 ERA over the two years the Mets made the postseason in 2015 and 2016 before struggling last year with a 4.38 ERA after a suspension due to a domestic abuse accusation and injuries while putting up a decent 2.88 this year.
But Familia’s legacy in Queens will be the terror he struck in Mets fans hearts while attempting to close games out and the three (3) blown saves he was charged with in the World Series. Granted Familia’s teammates didn’t pick him up in some of those games, but if he tosses perfect frames in any or all of those contests, that World Series could have turned out completely differently. Or not because that team seemed to be fucking cursed from the time Alcides Escobar hit an inside-the-park home run during the Royals first at bat of the series. I still can’t believe they lost that World Series despite leading like 90% of it. But the Royals had gigantic balls and kept making #contact which allowed the Mets to beat themselves. Okay I have to stop talking about it because the thought of Alex Gordon taking Familia’s quick pitch deep into the Kansas City night and Lucas Duda’s throw home in the 9th inning of Game 5 is getting me depressed. Here’s to one last ride on the Familiacoaster.
The most amusing part of this trade is that it was with made with the Oakland A’s, a team so notoriously cheap and frugal that they made a goddamn book and movie about it. That team made a trade with a team whose mailing address ends in NY and acquired a closer that can be good if not ulcer-inducing for the price of a minor league reliever, their 17th ranked prospect, and a meh $1 million in international money. You would think for all his flaws, Familia could maybe fetch more than that with the trade deadline 10 days away despite being a rental, even if it meant the Mets had to eat some of his contract like John Ricco said ownership had approved. Well, I’ll let you guess which team is eating the rest of Familia’s deal: The Moneyball team from Oakland or tge team that plays a few miles away from the New York Yankees.
Wilpons gonna Wilpon. Always.
Now the Mets have to find another closer as we enter the dark times again. Luckily I know a guy that just got cleared to come back next season if he can stop pumping his body full of roids.
STOMP ON’EM JENRRY!!!
NOW HIT’EM WITH THE MOONWALK!!
*Please note that Jenrry Mejia was not suspended for PEDs during the writing of this blog but could have gotten busted injecting horse steroids into his eyeballs during the seconds it takes between hitting Publish on the blog and it appearing on the site