MLB Trade Grades: Mets address biggest weakness with least-surprising deadline move

The MLB trade deadline is approaching quickly and the stove is starting to heat up faster than many anticipated. July 26 has been full of trades from teams all over the league. The Seattle Mariners are a team that continues to find themselves in the middle of all of these discussions.

Earlier on, they acquired reliever Yimi Garcia from the Toronto Blue Jays. Now, we know whose spot Garcia will be taking in the Seattle bullpen.

Per Andy Martino, the New York Mets are in agreeance on a deal with the Seattle Mariners to acquire their right-handed reliever Ryne Stanek.

For more news and rumors, check out MLB Insider Robert Murray’s work on The Baseball Insiders podcast, and join the discord to get the inside scoop as we near the July 30 MLB trade deadline.

MLB Trade Grades: Mets acquire reliever Ryne Stanek from the Mariners

Here's the full deal:

The market for relievers this season has been incredibly high. We have seen some top relievers come off the board for top 15 and even top 10 prospects in any given organization. These trades are also two-for-one deals where the selling team is acquiring an extra prospect in the trade as well.

This deal is a more traditional, one-for-one, reliever for back-end top 30 prospect trade. We have seen plenty of trades just like this in the past.

Stanek, on an expiring contract, was celebrating his 33rd birthday when he was dealt to the Mets. He's currently worth -0.4 WAR while holding an ERA just above 4.00. He's recorded seven saves on the year and has struck out just over a batter an inning.

Thomas, 24, is a run-first prospect that's ranked 30th in the Mets organization. He's slashing .265/.318/.387 on the season split between Double-A and Triple-A. Notably, he's struggled since being brought to Triple-A, where he's slashing .235/.286/.377. He is a solid fielder with great speed though.

The Mariners were going to need to make room for Yimi Garcia at some point, so finding a way to make a trade for Stanek works well for them. This issue is that the relievers around the league have been netting some incredible returns, so it seems as though they could have gotten a little more for any Major League relief arm, no matter the level of talent.

The Mets got a pitcher that they can slot into their bullpen from day one. Hopefully, New York will see some improved pitching from Stanek when they move him to a lower-leverage role than what he was under in Seattle.

Mariners trade grade: C+
Mets trade grade: B