Las Vegas 51s (Triple-A)

Pitcher: Bobby Wahl

The 26-year-old Wahl came over to the organization in the Jeurys Familia trade and made his Mets debut Thursday against the Braves. It wasn’t his major league debut, as he appeared in seven games for Oakland last season, but this figures to be the beginning of an extended stay for the right-hander.

Wahl fits the Mets relief profile to a T, throwing a mid-90s fastball and a sharp slider. His fastball sits 95-98 and will touch triple digits with above-average movement. The slider sits in the mid-80s and is his go-to out pitch. He’s effectively a two-pitch reliever, though he does have a change that shows signs of usefulness. Wahl could be a high-leverage option sooner rather than later, or he could be ticketed for a career in middle relief. It all depends on how his below-average command plays at the major league level and how well he can suppress walks.

Hitter: Jack Reinheimer

The Mets scooped up Reinheimer off waivers after the Arizona Diamondbacks needed to do some roster shuffling with their trade deadline acquisitions. The light-hitting utility man was a fifth-round pick of the Mariners in 2013 but spent the past four seasons in the Diamondbacks organization.

Reinheimer offers a similar skill set to utility players already on the Mets 40-man roster, making the waiver claim highly questionable. His best skill is his versatility, as he’s capable of playing every infield position, as well as some outfield. He has some contact skills, but he has well below-average power and doesn’t project as an impact bat in the majors. Clearing a 40-man spot for Reinheimer likely cost Kevin Kaczmarski his roster spot, a bad tradeoff for an organization seemingly always in need of outfield depth in the upper levels of the minors.

Binghamton Rumble Ponies (Double-A)

Hitter: Will Toffey

Toffey was the other prospect to come over from Oakland in the Familia deal. A fourth rounder out of Vanderbilt last year, Toffey has already reached Double-A despite middle-of-the-pack numbers in A-ball. He’s reportedly dealing with a serious shoulder injury that will require surgery this offseason, leaving many wondering why having him play through an injury for a month is necessary.

Toffey doesn’t fit the traditional third base profile – he’s hit before power- but he could develop into a second-division regular if everything breaks right. Wahl was the so-called “prize” of the deal though, so anything Toffey contributes would be considered a bonus.

Pitcher: Franklyn Kilome

The real prize of the Mets deadline dealings, Kilome has tantalizing stuff that he hasn’t been able to fully piece together yet. He owns an explosive mid-90s fastball and a potential plus-plus curve, two offerings that give him a fallback option in the bullpen if it ultimately never comes together as a starter. Kilome’s command is what’s currently holding him back, as he’s averaging over 4.50 BB/9 in Double-A for the second straight season.

The Mets will try to develop Kilome as a starter and that they should, as there’s still starter potential here. The Phillies clearly weren’t convinced he’d ever reach his ceiling, but the Mets actually have a decent track record developing pitchers with this sort of profile. It was the perfect buy-low opportunity and the Mets rightly took advantage. Here’s hoping the player development staff can get Kilome back on the right track.

Brooklyn Cyclones (Short-Season-A)

Pitcher: Jaison Vilera

Vilera hasn’t allowed an earned run since July 5, a streak spanning four starts and 26.2 innings. With a pristine 0.78 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 46 innings, Vilera has certainly put his name on the map this season.

The 21-year-old right-hander is running a 50% groundball rate to go along with his 10.96 K/9. He features a fastball/changeup combo that’s simply too advanced for short-season ball. Vilera shouldn’t be in Brooklyn any longer and the Mets would do well to promote him to Columbia before seasons end.

GCL Mets (Rookie Ball)

Pitcher: Simeon Woods-Richardson

He’s only made three appearances this summer but SWR is showing the premium velocity that enticed the Mets to draft him in the second round of this year’s draft. The pre-draft reports noted inconsistent velocity that often dipped into the 80s, but I’d heard he popped late and the early returns confirm that.

Woods-Richardson has been sitting in the mid-90s, even touching 99 a handful of times in a relief appearance in July. He’s also cleaned up his delivery some, as it doesn’t feature the same violence it did just a couple of months ago. All positive signs for the 17-year-old who will likely pitch the 2019 season in Brooklyn, though he does have an outside chance of reaching Columbia.

Photo credit: Brad Penner – USA Today Sports 

News broke late Friday night of an impending trade with the Athletics for closer Jeurys Familia, which was finally finalized at 3:50 p.m Saturday, just as the Yankees scored their seventh run of the ballgame. The Mets were reportedly seeking prospects in the higher levels of the minors and that’s what they will receive in Bobby Wahl, a reliever with MLB experience who’s currently in Triple-A. He’ll sit in the mid-90s and touch triple digits with his fastball to go along with a hard breaker. The Mets have a type of reliever they love to target, and Wahl fits the same mold as Gerson Bautista, Eric Hanhold and others the team has recently acquired via trade.

The other player coming to Queens (eventually) is Will Toffey, a fourth-round selection by the A’s in last year’s draft. He played his college ball at Vanderbilt but holds just a .733 OPS in his first 373 minor league at-bats, split between short-season and Advanced-A. He doesn’t fit the typical third base profile -he’s more of a line drive hitter than a home run guy- but he’s got a chance to become a second-division regular.

The Mets also acquired an apparently $1 million of international pool money, which isn’t enough to stop this from being a disappointing haul overall. The Mets already have this type of relief pitcher in the system and have been reluctant thus far to even use them. Toffey doesn’t currently project as an impact player at the major league level. There’s not much good to say about this deal, folks.

Anyway, Old Friend Yoenis Cespedes returned to the lineup Friday night but had some interesting and revealing postgame comments. He’s dealing with an issue in both heels that can only be corrected with surgery, which holds an 8-10 month recovery time. Cespedes is unlikely to ever play healthy without the surgery, and there’s no better time for him to have it than right now. The Mets are out of contention and need a healthy Cespedes if they truly want to compete next season. Running a broken down player who has worked incredibly hard to return into the lineup in the midst of a lost season is very Mets.

The even bigger story is that the Mets are publicly saying they were unaware of the chronic heel issues. This seems highly unlikely, of course, as they’ve given Cespedes two separate physicals before acquiring him and had to be aware of the severity of the injury. Manager Mickey Callaway was completely unaware of Yo’s postgame comments, which just confirms the many suspicions about the lack of communication between the front office and the coaching staff.

As for the actual baseball game, Steven Matz was tagged for five earned runs in five innings of work. Both relievers who pitched Saturday, Tim Peterson and Anthony Swarzak, each allowed a run as well. The final score was much closer than the game actually was, as Aroldis Chapman couldn’t find the strike zone and almost allowed the Mets to tie things up in the ninth inning. Yankee manager Aaron Boone pulled his closer for Chasen Shreve, who secured the final three outs and earned the save. Michael Conforto homered and Amed Rosario added another three-hit game to his resume, but the Mets only picked up five hits on the afternoon.

Photo credit: Andy Marlin – USA Today Sports