Mets acquire lefthanded reliever Gregory Soto from Orioles
Baltimore Orioles relief pitcher Gregory Soto. Credit: AP
SAN FRANCISCO — The Mets' bullpen bonanza has begun.
Days after president of baseball operations David Stearns indicated that the team would focus on bolstering their bullpen at the trade deadline, the Mets made their first move in that direction, acquiring Orioles lefthander Gregory Soto in exchange for minor-league pitchers Wellington Aracena and Cameron Foster.
Soto, a two-time All-Star with the Tigers, will join Brooks Raley, newly reinstated from the injured list after returning from Tommy John surgery, as the second lefty in the bullpen. The trade deadline is on Thursday; on Friday, Stearns said he “had had on and off discussions with Baltimore for the past few weeks” and was able to land on a deal the night prior.
“It’s a big arm,” Stearns said. “He’s pitched in leverage spots. We were looking to help complement our bullpen from the left side. It’s not always easy to do that this time of year . . . I thought it was important [to get a lefty]. You never know whether you’re going to be able to line up and I don’t know how many lefty relievers are actually going to be traded this deadline so we weren’t certain, but with the injuries we’ve had from that side of the pen [A.J. Minter and Danny Young] over the course of the season, the importance that an arm from the left side can potentially have down the stretch and hopefully into October, it was certainly something we wanted to accomplish, ideally.”
Stearns added that the Mets were still talking to teams about further upgrading a taxed relief corps.
“We’re not going to close the door on other aspects of the team, but as we’ve said all along, the bullpen is the priority,” he said.
Going into Friday night's game against the Giants at Oracle Park, the bullpen had pitched 396 innings, seventh-most in baseball, while starters have pitched 518 1/3 innings, seventh fewest. Stearns said that they hope to get more length out of their starters — something that might occur naturally as Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea get built up after lengthy injured list stints.
Stearns didn’t fully rule out adding a starter at the deadline, but said he was comfortable with the current crop of five. Paul Blackburn (shoulder) should also rejoin the team relatively soon; he has another rehab outing Sunday, manager Carlos Mendoza said.
“Acquiring starting pitching this time of year is pretty difficult, and I don’t know how many ‘raise the ceiling’ type of players are going to be traded in that segment,” Stearns said. “If those guys are available, we’ll be involved.”
Stearns said they’d continue to explore adding more offense, potentially at the centerfield position currently manned by Tyrone Taylor and Jeff McNeil, but said that those two players have “skillsets that complement each other, so I’m comfortable with that."
“I don’t think we need to” add another bat, he said. “I think we have the offensive players that can help us score a lot or runs and who can help turn the lineup over . . . We’re taking pretty good at-bats and by and large, I’m growing increasingly comfortable with the length of our lineup and the contributions we’re getting from the bottom half of the lineup. That being said, we have to figure out a way to score more runs.”
Going into Friday, the Mets were slashing .242/.322/.411 — 21st, 13th and 11th in baseball in each category.
Meanwhile, Soto, 30, has a 3.96 ERA in 45 games with the Orioles this season, with 44 strikeouts and 18 walks in 36 1/3 innings. A significant strikeout threat and a serviceable ground-ball pitcher, Soto, however, has been prone to command issues — his walk rate is in the 11th percentile in baseball.
He throws a sinker, slider, four-seamer and sweeper, with fastballs hitting the mid- to upper-90s. He’ll be a free agent at the end of the season. He’s yet to join the team.
In Aracena, 20, the Orioles get a righthander from Low-A St. Lucie who was the team’s No. 28 prospect,and has both started and pitched out of the bullpen. Baseball America notes that he’s one of the hardest throwers in the Florida State League, topping out at 101 mph, along with a 93-mph cutter. In 17 games with the St. Lucie Mets, eight of which were starts, he has a 2.38 ERA with 84 strikeouts in 64 1/3 innings, along with 35 walks.
Foster, a righty, had a 1.01 ERA in 26 2/3 innings with Double-A Binghamton but was shelled in two outings with Triple-A Syracuse, allowing seven runs in 3 2/3 innings.
“This is a guy who’s been in this league pitching in high leverage and not to mention that he’s a lefty that can get lefties out, but righties” too, Mendoza said of Soto. “The biggest thing is his ability to come into games where there’s high leverage and there’s pressure there, so [he’s] obviously a piece that’s going to help us and I’m excited about it.”
Adding a complement to Raley “allows me to deploy them, maybe one earlier in the game and then the other one for later innings,” Mendoza said. “It’s easier when they’re both available to match [them] up against some of the lineups that we’re going to be facing.”
Laura Albanese is a reporter, feature writer and columnist covering local professional sports teams; she began at Newsday in 2007 as an intern.
