The surging Oakland Athletics have added to their already strong bullpen.
Saturday afternoon the A's reportedly acquired righty Jeurys Familia from the Mets in exchange for prospects Bobby Wahl and Will Toffey, as well as reportedly $1 million in international bonus money. The A's are also reportedly covering all of Familia's remaining salary, per The Athletic.
We’ve acquired minor league infielder William Toffey, RHP Bobby Wahl and international bonus pool money from Oakland in exchange for RHP Jeurys Familia. #Mets
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 21, 2018
Familia joins a strong Oakland bullpen that includes All-Star closer Blake Treinen and rookie setup man Lou Trivino. Treinen has a 0.48 ERA with 61 strikeouts in 48 innings this season, and he's gone 24 for 27 in save chances. Trivino has a 1.22 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings, and he regularly works multiple innings. Familia will presumably absorb some of that workload.
Even after Friday's loss, the Athletics are 21-7 in their last 28 games, the best record in baseball since June 15. That hot streak has pushed Oakland to within striking distance of the second AL wild-card spot. They are 55-43 overall and four games behind the Mariners for a postseason spot. The two teams still have 10 head-to-head games remaining this year.
Familia, 28, has pitched to a 2.88 ERA and 3.07 K/BB ratio in 40 2/3 innings this season. For his career he's got an ERA+ of 143 across parts of seven big-league campaigns, all with the Mets. In 2016, Familia saved an MLB-leading 51 games and made the All-Star team. He's owed the balance of a $7.93 million salary for 2018, and he's eligible for free agency this coming winter.
Familia's trade of course raises the matter of to what extent the Mets will seek to rebuild. In recent days, they've downplayed the chances of trading away the likes of Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard. Dealing a closer in his walk year doesn't necessarily change that, but it does make the Mets a team to watch as we work our way toward the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline.
Toffey, a third baseman, is the more notable of the two prospects heading to the Mets. The 23-year-old is hitting .244/.357/.384 with five home runs in 48 Class A games this season. MLB.com ranked him as the 17th-best prospect in Oakland's system before the trade and notes "some evaluators wonder if Toffey has enough bat speed to hit for the average and power demanded of third basemen at higher levels."
Wahl, 26, had a cup of coffee with the A's last season and allowed four runs in 7 2/3 innings. He owns a 2.27 ERA in 39 2/3 innings in Triple-A this season, almost all in relief. MLB.com does not rank him among MLB.com's top 30 A's prospects.
