MMN‘s own Jacob Resnick reports the New York Mets have RHP Drew Gagnon to a minor leauge deal.
The 27-year-old pitcher was the Brewers 2011 third round draft pick out of California State University Long Beach. He was traded almost a year to the day to the Angels as part of a trade that netted the Brewers catcher Jett Bandy.
Last year, Gagnon made 10 starts and 21 relief appearances. Overall, he was 1-1 with a 6.25 ERA, 1.552 WHIP, 4.1 BB/9, and an 8.7 K/9.
After the regular season, Gagnon was assigned to Navegantes del Magallanes of the Venezuelan Winter Leagues, and he would pitch much better. In Winter League play, Gagnon made five starts and two relief appearances going 3-2 with a 2.83 ERA, 1.360 WHIP, and a 9.1 K/9.
According to Brooks Baseball, Gagnon is a four pitch pitcher throwing a 93 MPH fastball with a change, slider, and curve. Overall, none of his pitches are outstanding, and he mostly relies upon control to get batters out. As we have seen with Mets prospects like Ricky Knapp and Matthew Bowman the past few seasons, pitchers with this type of profile typically struggle in the Pacific Coast League, and judging from the stats, Gagnon was no exception.
Assuming Gagnon does not crack the Opening Day roster this Spring, he will be competing for a rotation spot on a Triple-A pitching staff that may very well contain Corey Oswalt, Mickey Jannis, Chris Flexen, and P.J. Conlon.
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Oh boy! Another big move
These great moves have me amazed…..amazed that this stuff is newsworthy at all. The Wilpons MUST SELL!!!
How can a team in the biggest mkt continue to operate this way? msg to Freddie Wilpon… SELL PLEASE!
Molina is in that discussion for the Vegas rotation as well, no?
In the discussion, yes, but only on the outer fringes. Right now, he’s probably 11th on the depth chart (behind Flexen and Oswalt but ahead of Conlon – and Gagnon). If 5 start for the Mets, and 5 for Vegas, then Molina could be the odd man out. If the Mets put a starter in the pen for long relief, then Molina could go to Vegas. Let’s keep in mind that he has only half a season of AA under his belt, and he struggled in his first several starts at that level. It would not be unreasonable for the Mets have him start the season in Bingo again for a couple of months before moving him to Vegas.
I’m not sure if Gagnon is a serious factor for the rotation. He’s spent more time in the pen than starting the last couple of years. Seems like he’ll probably be thrown in wherever the team has a need or an opening.