The Mets are trading reliever Huascar Brazobán to the White Sox for prospects Gabe Davis and Zach Franklin, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. Chicago already has an opening on the 40-man roster.
Brazobán is having a career year at age 36. The righty tossed a scoreless frame with a couple strikeouts in Sunday afternoon’s loss to the Marlins, a nice conclusion to his time in Queens. That lowered his earned run average to 2.56 across 52 2/3 innings. Brazobán is getting ground-balls at a strong 52.6% clip while fanning a slightly above-average 23.7% of batters faced.
The Dominican-born Brazobán has a big arm, averaging 96-97 mph on his fastballs. He works most heavily with his sinker, so it’s more of a ground-ball profile than one that gets a ton of whiffs. Brazobán’s best pitch is a low-90s changeup that moves similarly to the sinker, making it difficult for hitters to identify out of his hand.
Brazobán has been pitching medium to high leverage relief in a generally solid New York bullpen. He doesn’t have great control and has issued a lot of walks to left-handed hitters over his career. That’s still the case this year, as he’s walked 11% of opponents overall and 13 of the 96 lefty batters he’s faced. Despite the fringe command, he has been durable and generally effective since the Mets acquired him from Miami two summers ago.
The White Sox included Seranthony Domínguez as a salary offset in their deal for starter Luis Castillo on Saturday. Domínguez had an underwhelming half-season in Chicago and had fallen down the leverage hierarchy in recent weeks. Brazobán should be an upgrade in a setup role alongside Jordan Hicks in front of primary closer Grant Taylor. The Sox are fairly well-positioned from the left side with Sean Newcomb and Bryan Hudson.
Brazobán, who was also tied to the Pirates this weekend, is the second reliever and third pitcher dealt by the Mets this week following the A.J. Minter and Freddy Peralta trades. Clay Holmes, Brooks Raley and potentially Luke Weaver should follow by Monday evening. Holmes is expected to decline his $12MM player option, while Raley is an impending free agent. Weaver is signed for next season at $11MM, so the Mets could hold him, but they may prefer to sell high while he’s a top target for contenders.
New York theoretically could have held onto Brazobán as well. He’s affordably under club control for three additional seasons. Brazobán had a winding career arc that included a few years in independent ball before he made his MLB debut at age 32. He’ll be eligible for arbitration through his age-39 campaign and is making just $1.05MM this year. He’s owed just $316K for the stretch run.
More to come.
