ANGRY MIKE
Mets traded Jeff McNeil to the Athletics for a minor league player Monday afternoon, continuing their overhaul of a 2025 roster that was one of the highest paid in MLB history. McNeil was a fan favorite in select circles, which is why social media was on fire with anti-Stearns sentiments pretty much all day. At the end of the day, trading McNeil was inevitable, for the simple fact that his salary, lack of defined starting role, and limited upside made him expendable.
The 2025 roster had multiple players making very high salaries, which didn’t translate to the success needed to justify keeping their salaries. The Mets bench last year was arguably one of the most expensive group of players and it was clear Stearns and Cohen were not going to repeat that mistake for the 2026 season. The Mets have signaled a clear change in organizational philosophy, with Mets’ brass deciding to move forward with a different nucleus of players going forward. We already know which veterans will form the “experienced older soldier” component of the Mets new nucleus. Trading McNeil signals the Mets willingness to create additional opportunities for key youngsters to have the opportunities they need to establish themselves.
McNeil had an up and down career for the Mets, after a solid rookie season, his best season was 2022, when he won the National League Batting Title. The Batting Title promptly earned him a multi-year extension that winter, but unfortunately his production and ability to stay healthy quickly declined. It’s no secret McNeil and franchise shortstop Francisco Lindor did not get along. Pete Alonso sealed his fate when he rejected the above market extension Cohen offered after a mediocre 2023 season. After Branson Nimmo was traded, and an unwillingness by Cohen and Stearns to make any effort to retaining Alonso, the writing was pretty much on the wall for McNeil.
Love him or hate him, McNeil only invoked those two sentiments during his Mets career. Out of respect to the fans who supported him, I’m going to highlight the things that made him a fan favorite. He was seen by his supporters as a team-first player, who played multiple positions, and was an above-average offensive performer for a player often relegated to a utility role. He provided sound defense at multiple positions, and his willingness to learn to play center-field this past season, is another reason why they considered him a team-oriented player.
The Athletics get a solid veteran bat, who is also from California, who should provide stability to the young nucleus of stars the Athletics are developing. If McNeil starts off well, I fully expect Billy Beane to trade McNeil for any type of prospect haul he can get from a potential contender. The likelihood of McNeil finishing the year with the Athletics is fairly low, as the Athletics are not the type of franchise who’ll pay $11 million dollars for a player with his offensive profile. Beane is a hustler and he’ll make sure to put McNeil in a position to succeed by batting him in between Jack Wilson and Nick Kurtz, so McNeil has the ability to put up the best numbers possible, so he can sell high.
ATHLETICS RECEIVE:
JEFF MCNEIL
$5.75 Million cash
$2 Million Buyout of 2027 Salary -> Mets will also pay
METS RECEIVE:
YORDAN RODRIGUEZ - RHP
Mets acquired Yordan Rodriguez from the Athletics, whom the Athletics signed out of Cuba, as an international free agent for $400,000. RodrÃguez spent the summer of 2025 playing for the Athletics DSL squad, and he had decent numbers in his professional debut.
Height -> 6’3
Weight -> 190 pounds
D.O.B. -> 01.29.2008
2025 STATS: 8 Games | 1 Game Start
15.1 IP | 20 K | 11 H | 5 ER | 8 BB | .208 BAA | 1.24 WHIP
32% K-RATE || 13% BB-RATE
Was dominant against RHB -> held the to a .175 BAA | 17 K | 12 IP
Rodiriguez’ prospect profile is all about projection, projection, and more projection. He’s 6’3, but he has a smooth low-effort delivery, which saw an impressive uptick in velocity this past summer. He sat comfortably in the low 90s and suddenly started topping out at 96 MPH. Rodriguez also flashes the potential for a plus slider, which he didn’t use as often, but when he did the spin rates maxed out at 2700 RPMs with sharp late break. Rodriguez enjoyed a solid debut to his professional debut and the Mets should be bringing him stateside this summer and assign him to the FCL so they can tinker with his delivery and arsenal to see how they can start creating their version of Frankenstein.
Overall it’s a solid developmental piece for the Mets farm system, as the ingredients are there for them to help him develop further and potential raise his prospect profile. High-leverage RP might be the best case scenario, but it’s far too early to tell. This trade was executed to provide the Mets with further payroll flexibility for this season, but more importantly open up playing time opportunities for the variety of younger talent the Mets have ready and waiting.
5 comments:
McNeil was one of my favorites. The first time I saw him at the plate, he seemed to me to be another Daniel Murphy. Always had a plan. Unfortunately, unlike Murphy, he could not develop his power and the modifications to his plate approach to add power subtracted from his uncanny ability to hit the ball where the defense wasn't. I knew this day was coming, so I was prepared for the announcement. I hope Rodriguez becomes another solid arm in the Mets rotation some day.
The purchase of an 11 year old means nothing
This is a 1000% cold, heartless salary dump.
Couldn't be handled worse
Yes, a new home for McNeil was needed to be found but it didn't need a Guantanamo Bay type extraction
Everything changed for him when infielders had to stay on their own side of the field
As I read yesterday, the surgery McNeil had plus his September swoon affected his market. Plus, the Mets wanted to jettison the money and I’m sure teams weren’t going to do them a favor, so Stearns took the best deal out there. Rising Apple yeaterday had the most information that I have found online, and I think they will make him a starting pitcher.
From The Athletic yesterday:
“What they’ve done tells you how big a s— show their clubhouse was,” said one rival executive who was granted anonymity for his candor. “The guessing is over. It was a disaster.”
Whether or not the issues were as bad as that executive suggests, one longtime National League scout said it’s obvious that president of baseball operations David Stearns is making a concerted effort to shift the clubhouse culture.
As one Mets person put it, “We definitely tidied things up in our house. Now it is time to do more rebuilding.”
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