Scouting the Mets Return for Addison Reed

Deadline day kicked off with the Red Sox prying Addison Reed away from the Mets. Below is analysis of the prospects sent to New York in the trade.

Red Sox get

  • Addison Reed

Mets get

All three of the prospects acquired by New York project as relievers. The 22-year-old Callahan and his deceptive, over-the-top arm action had a dominant, walk-less month at Double-A to start the year before a promotion to Triple-A Pawtucket. Since arriving in Rhode Island, he has since struggled a bit with command. He has struck out 36 hitters in 29 innings at Triple-A, but has walked 13. He sits 94-97 and has a short, fringey slider in the 87-90 mph range, and a below-average change-up. Both secondaries project to average and Callahan projects in a middle relief role.

Bautista, a 22-year-old Dominican, is the most explosive of the three, sitting 95-99 mph and touching 100 with his fastball. He was signed back in April of 2013 at age 18 and then missed time that year due to a positive PED test. The following year, Bautista’s career began at age 19 in the Dominican Summer League and he has, more or less, been behind the developmental eight-ball since then. He owns a 5.16 ERA at High-A, largely because of wildness and ineffective secondary offerings — his slider flashes above average, but is mostly fringey, and the change-up is below average. But his arm strength is enticing.

Nogosek was a 2016 sixth rounder out of Oregon. He began his first full pro season as Low-A Greenville’s closer and dominated there until late June, when he was promoted to High-A Salem. Nogosek’s pitching regimen started to include multi-inning outings shortly before the trade. He struck out 18 hitters in 17.2 innings with Salem, walking 10. The righty sits 90-95 mph and will flash a plus slider. He pitches aggressively and projects to have average command.

Of the three, Bautista has the highest upside because he has the best arm. If he ever tightens up his slider he could be a set-up man. Callahan is, obviously, the closest to yielding major league value. Nogosek has the best secondary pitch of the group and the best command projection, too, and is probably the most stable long-term bet of the three, though his lower arm slot might cause platoon issues at upper levels and limit his role.





Eric Longenhagen is from Catasauqua, PA and currently lives in Tempe, AZ. He spent four years working for the Phillies Triple-A affiliate, two with Baseball Info Solutions and two contributing to prospect coverage at ESPN.com. Previous work can also be found at Sports On Earth, CrashburnAlley and Prospect Insider.

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Moltarmember
6 years ago

One thing Warthen is good at is developing sliders. If that is the biggest need for Callahan and Bautista, this could be a worthwhile gamble for the Mets (assuming Warthen isn’t the sacrificial lamb shown the door in October).

brood550
6 years ago
Reply to  Moltar

I would hope Collins and the training staff responsible for preventing and treating injuries are all canned. That training staff couldn’t keep a goldfish alive.

Moltarmember
6 years ago
Reply to  brood550

What the Mets *should* do and what the Mets *will* do have rarely aligned in the Wilpon era, so who knows.

Roger McDowell Hot Foot
6 years ago
Reply to  brood550

Training and medical staff complaints aside, I don’t see what Collins has to do with it.

Roger McDowell Hot Foot
6 years ago
Reply to  Moltar

“Dan Warthen slider” were the first three words to occur to me after reading these profiles as well. It makes a lot of sense for the Mets to be picking up other organizations’ relief arms whose biggest problem is their secondary pitch.