MLB Trade Rumors: New York Mets Acquire Eric O’Flaherty, Designate Alex Torres

The New York Mets have made what they hope is an incremental upgrade, acquiring left-handed relief pitcher Eric O’Flaherty and cash from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for a player to be named later, as announced by the team.

The Mets have acquired LHP Eric O’Flaherty and cash from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for a player to be named later.

— New York Mets (@Mets) August 5, 2015

In a corresponding move, the Mets have elected to designate fellow left-handed relief pitcher Alex Torres for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man and 25-man roster.

Alex Torres is out.

— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) August 5, 2015

O’Flaherty, 30, is in the midst of the second year of a two-year contract he signed with the Athletics last season. The former longtime member of the Atlanta Braves had a strong showing in 2014, his first season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. In 20 innings, he pitched to a 2.25 ERA while keeping same-side hitters to a .233 batting average.

However, he has not been as lucky this season. In 25 games, O’Flaherty is pitching to an abysmal 5.91 ERA through 21-and-one-third innings. But most of that damage has come when O’Flaherty has faced right-handed hitters, as they are hitting him at a .420 clip. Those numbers caused the Athletics to designate him for assignment over the weekend.

Despite the ugly numbers versus right-handed hitters, he has kept left-handed hitters to a microscopic .186 average.

That is the reason for the Mets acquiring the left-hander, his ability to neutralize same-side batters. Mets’ assistant GM John Ricco spoke to Adam Rubin of ESPN New York and discussed the team’s interest and move to acquire O’Flaherty.

“We feel like a lefty reliever was something that we could use — a guy that was more of a strict left-on-left guy. And that’s what Eric really is. So we had our eye on a number of different options and this one came together pretty quickly today. It gave us an opportunity to get a veteran left-on-left guy.”

Trading for O’Flaherty is the second time in the last week the Mets acquired a reliever from Oakland. In search of stabilizing the back-end of their bullpen, the Mets acquired right-handed reliever Tyler Clippard. The 30-year-old Clippard pitched alongside O’Flaherty in the Oakland bullpen for the entire season, up until he was traded.

Therefore, he was a key source of knowledge for the Mets, who reportedly discussed their intended acquisition of O’Flaherty with him. And as Clippard tells Rubin, he liked the improvements he saw from his left-handed teammate as the season progressed.

“Eric’s coming off Tommy John from last year, and I feel like it took him a little while to get settled in throughout the season. The last two or three weeks of playing with him in Oakland, he looked like himself. His velocity was one or two ticks higher than it was previously in the year. His sinker was back. He was throwing sliders for strikes. And it was the Eric O’Flaherty that I saw in Atlanta, as opposed to earlier in the year when he was just kind of scuffling, not really throwing strikes.”

The casualty of the transaction is the 27-year-old Torres. He was acquired by the Mets just prior to the beginning of the 2015 season and figured to be a huge part of the bullpen for years to come as he is under team control for several more years. And, on the surface, his statistics this season are not awful. In 39 games, the former Ray and Padre has a 3.15 ERA through 34-and-one-third innings. It’s been his inability to get left-handed hitters out and his walk rate that impacted his season.

Left-handed hitters are hitting Torres to a .268 clip in 2015 and he’s walked 26 batters in those 34-and-one-third innings (6.8 BB/9). But he is still young and has shown promise, including last season with the San Diego Padres, pitching to a 3.33 ERA in 70 games.

The Mets will almost certainly hope to sneak Torres into Triple-A and give him the chance to correct his command. Yet, a team looking for a young, controllable pitcher with prior success might take a flier on him.

[Image by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images]