(Jacob Resnick)
The New York Mets have announced the team has traded LHP Josh Smoker to the Pittsburg Pirates for minor league LHP Daniel Zamora.
On Friday, the Mets designated Josh Smoker for assignment to make room for Jose Reyes on the 40 man roster. This left the Mets one week to either trade Smoker or risk losing him to a waiver claim. Given Smoker’s velocity, high strike out rate, and his being a left-handed pitcher, Smoker made for a likely waiver claim.
Over the past two years, Smoker has made 74 appearances for the Mets going 4-2 with a 5.02 ERA, 1.619 WHIP, and an 11.7 K/9.
There was some hope the 2018 season could be a breakout one for Smoker as he seemed to settle in with the Mets in the second half as he posted a 2.63 ERA.
In exchange for a possibly improved Smoker, the Mets did obtain Zamora.
The 24 year old left-handed pitcher was the Pirates 2015 40th round draft pick out of Stony Brook University.
Last year, Zamora made 39 appearances with 37 of them for the Bradenton Marauders of the Florida State League.
Overall, he was 2-4 with a 1.76 ERA, 1.225 WHIP, and a 10.1 K/9. Zamora would limit left-handed batters to a .232/.284/.261 batting line.
Interesting that this kid pitched at Stonybrook. I wonder if this pickup can be traced to the fact that the Mets seem to have significant scouting presence in their back yard. Didn’t they draft another kid last year from Matz’s high school, Melville Ward? Or maybe they see it as a real positive if they know a kid grew up in the area, he’ll be more likely to be able to handle playing in NY.
Either way, Sandy appears to have played the 40 man roster crunch well, picking up a lefty arm instead of nothing. I haven’t seen any reports on what kind of ball this kid throws.
I mean hey the Mets decided to part with smoker regardless so I’m also happy they got SOMETHING for him. And this guy had nice stats. Let’s see how it all shakes out.
highly unlikely. The Mets draft 40 kids every year, then sign another 10 to 20 as non-drafted free agents. Plus the ones they acquire thru trades. Once in a while, one of them happens to be from long island. It doesn’t mean there’a any direct cause or relationship between those two facts.
While I’m not exactly heartbroken over the loss of Smoker, I am curious, even annoyed, as to why they waived Smoker rather than Reynolds. They’vve added three position players this off season, and removed three pitcher to make room for them. The most recent additions of both Reyes to the Mets, and Ty Kelly to the Vegas roster make Reynolds’s presence on the 40-man roster even more pointless. Including the November cuts, this makes 4 times Reynolds should have been cut, yet he’s still here. Starting to wonder who it is in the Mets ownership or front office that Reynolds is blackmailing.
Yeah i just don’t get it. I figured Smoker serves more of a purpose than Reynolds at this point. Maybe bc TJ Rivera wasn’t going to be ready they kept him. But they re-signed Ty Kelly so :::Shrugs shoulders::
Yes, and with Smoker gone, the only lefty in the pen is Blevins who’s far more useful as a guy who can pitch in a variety of situations than as a LOOGY. Seacrest, Regnault, and Roseboom the lefties in AAA, and none of them has even been invited to major league camp [yet].