After losing much of their starting rotation depth in a few days’ span last week, the Mets moved to bolster that unit Tuesday and then shifted toward their beleaguered bullpen before the 6 p.m. trade deadline.
They weren’t the sexiest of moves considering some of the high-end arms on the market, but Paul Blackburn fills a need for the rotation.
The Mets acquired the right-hander from the Athletics for minor league pitcher Kade Morris.
The Mets also landed reliever Huascar Brazoban from the Marlins for minor league shortstop Wilfredo Lara, and acquired reliever Tyler Zuber from the Rays for minor league pitcher Paul Gervase.
The influx of arms will provide options for manager Carlos Mendoza as he looks to navigate injuries that have walloped the rotation and bullpen.
Before the All-Star break the Mets acquired reliever Phil Maton from the Rays and last week traded with the Mariners for reliever Ryne Stanek. The lone bat acquired was Jesse Winker from the Nationals on Saturday.
Blackburn, 30, owned a 4.42 ERA in nine starts for the Athletics — he spent time on the injured list with a stress reaction in the fifth metatarsal in his right foot.
His addition will allow the Mets to keep Jose Butto in the bullpen, for the short term at least, while also giving the team flexibility with Tylor Megill.
Also a possibility is the Mets will use Blackburn as part of a six-man rotation.
Blake Snell, Tarik Skubal, Garrett Crochet and Chris Bassitt are among the high-upside pitchers that weren’t traded at the deadline. All would have come at a significant cost.
“I think there was some pretty aggressive pricing this year,” Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said before the Mets’ 2-0 win over the Twins at Citi Field. “But we certainly anticipated that going into this thing. We have a situation with a lot of teams trying to add and teams for various reasons that were reluctant to sell. That’s a pretty clear dynamic that is going to yield the type of deadline that we had.”
Stearns said he received inquiries about players on his roster who are in the final year of a contract, but he wasn’t anxious to sell with the Mets in position to compete for the postseason — the team began the night tied for the NL’s second wild card.
Stearns was also in no hurry to part with top prospects.
The Mets appeared set in the rotation last week, but Christian Scott’s elbow soreness following his July 21 start in Miami was diagnosed as a sprained ulnar collateral ligament.
The rookie is shut down for at least another week, but Tommy John surgery remains a possibility.
Senga was activated from the injured list on Friday, but in his season debut sustained a calf strain that is expected to keep him sidelined for the remainder of the regular season.
“You are never going to replace a pitcher like Senga at the deadline,” Stearns said. “So we just tried to figure out how best to fortify our team around it and it meant in the rotation and bullpen to ensure we had enough arms and some flexibility in various roles.”
Blackburn is under club control through 2025, giving the Mets a potential rotation piece for next season. Luis Severino and Jose Quintana are both headed to free agency after this season and Sean Manaea can opt out from his contract.
A ground-ball pitcher, Blackburn has struck out 38 batters in 51 innings this season. He averages 92 mph with his four-seam fastball and also utilizes a cutter, changeup, slider, curveball and sinker.
“He’s an incredibly consistent pitcher who fills the strike zone and has an interesting approach to what he does,” Stearns said. “He is going to fit into our rotation very nicely.”
Stearns said it hasn’t been decided yet if the Mets will employ a five-man or six-man rotation.
Brazoban and Zuber both have minor league options remaining, giving the Mets flexibility with Reed Garrett, Dedniel Nunez and Sean Reid-Foley on the injured list.
Brazoban, 34, appeared in 20 games for the Marlins and pitched to a 2.93 ERA.
Zuber, 29, spent time with the independent Long Island Ducks this season before the Rays purchased his contract in May and assigned him to the minor leagues.
He appeared in two games for the Rays.
“I think bullpen performance is really volatile and bullpens evolve over the course of the year,” Stearns said. “We tried to be responsive to the needs of our pen.”
