Not a starter from the A’s, as many Yankees fans and Mets fans might hope, but the two teams did make a deal for a pitcher on Sunday – with each other.
The Yankees and Mets both officially announced early Sunday afternoon that the Yanks have dealt LHP Joely Rodriguez to Queens for RHP Miguel Castro, swapping a pair of middle relievers across town.
The Mets had been looking to add a left-hander to their bullpen all winter – Chasen Shreve and Alex Claudio were in camp as non-roster invitees – so Rodriguez gives them that stability, while Castro gives the Yankees another strong arm in the back end.
Rodriguez, 30, had a 2.84 ERA in 19 innings as a Yankee last year after being acquired in the Joey Gallo trade, and after the team bought out his $3 million 2022 club option for $500K, they re-signed him to a one-year, $2 million deal with $50K in incentives for reaching 30, 40, 50, 60, and 70 games – basically saving themselves somewhere between $250K and $500K in payroll.
Castro, 27, had a 3.45 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 70 1/3 innings over 69 appearances for the Mets last season, and has a 4.13 career ERA in parts of seven seasons with the Mets, Orioles, Rockies, and Blue Jays. He is a true rental for the Yankees, as he is in his final arbitration season and signed for $2.62 million last month.
While not unheard of, Mets-Yankees deals are rather rare, as this is just the sixth Brian Cashman has made as Yankees GM in the last 25 years – and only the fourth involving a major-leaguer for any other player swap. However, with Steve Cohen now owning the Mets and former Cashman lieutenant Billy Eppler at the helm as GM, more could be possible moving forward.
The last deal period between the teams was almost four years ago: April 10, 2018, when the Yankees acquired L.J. Mazzilli for Kendall Coleman in a swap of minor-leaguers. The previous deal before that was a cash trade, the Yankees buying RHP Gonzalez German from the Mets on Dec. 19, 2014, so the last MLB trade between the two was Dec. 3, 2004, when the Yankees sent lefty Mike Stanton to Queens for fellow southpaw Felix Heredia.
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