The Mets made a move today getting Kelly Johnson back from the Braves for minor league reliever Akeel Morris. Morris was our number 20 on the MMN Prospect list.
Morris, 23, was the Binghamton Mets closer this season going 2-2 with a 4.62 ERA with six saves. This are not amazing number but Morris was doing great after a terrible month of April. In May, Morris had a 0.82 ERA. He has not pitched that well in June but, had a perfect ninth yesterday for his sixth save in nine tries.
Last season was a break out year for Morris as he pitched 61.1 innings between St. Lucie and Binghamton. He pitched to a 2.05 ERA with a 0.93 WHIP and 81 strikeouts. Morris made his MLB debut in Toronto allowing five runs in 0.2 innings.
The Mets will get veteran infielder Kelly Johnson back. He hit .250/.304/.414 in 49 games with the Mets, highlighted by a home run against Steven Strasburg in Washington that helped the Mets get a sweep.
This season Johnson batted .215/.273/.289 in 49 games for the Braves. He hit one home run and drove in ten. I hope Kelly Johnson will have some big hits in him for the Mets, but I don’t like losing a reliever like Morris for a guy the Mets could have signed in the offseason.
Once again, Braves outsmart the Mets in-house Genius GM. Traded a useless backup IF of a useful BP arm. Once the Mets release Johnson, the Braves once again will sign him for nothing and trade him back to the Mets in 2017 for Gilmartin or Montero. Can’t wait for the Mets Genius GM to trade Harvey for Inciarte.
lol
The more I think about it, the more I think Morris was expendable. He was on the lower tier of the 40 man roster anyway and has been struggling with his control in AA. Mets needed someone to platoon with Flores vs. RHP. We can’t be giving ab’s to a guy like Ty Kelly.
So the Mets have traded John Gant (who has pitched for the Braves this year), Rob Whalen and now Akeel Morris for two tours of Kelly Johnson, whom we could have signed in the off season the last two years?
How is it we keep fleecing the Pirates in trades and the Braves pick our pockets??????
Would any of them pitched meaningful innings for this team?
Exactly, a bubble roster guy for a contributor…
Two tours of Kelly Johnson and one of Uribe. I wouldn’t be that upset over the guys they traded. The future for Whalen and Gant were most likely as trade pieces anyway. Morris, I like, but has struggled with his command again this year and was somewhat vulnerable on the back end of the 40. There was no fleecing in either case though.
Mets never released Johnson and of course it would have been better to sign him than have to trade but it’s not like Morris is a high-end arm.
What is Johnson at this point? take a look at his numbers and tell us why the Mets should have even bothered with this guy let alone trade anything useful for him. This trade should have been for cash considerations, that’s it.