Mike Puma of the New York Post reports the New York Mets have traded right-handed pitching prospect Franklin Sánchez to the Miami Marlins for right-handed relievers Jeff Bringham and Elieser Hernández.
Sánchez, 22, signed as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic on October 31, 2019. With the COVID-19, pandemic, he would not make his professional debut until the 2021 season. This past season, he split time between St. Lucie (13 games) and Brooklyn (four games). Overall, he was 2-2 with a 3.79 ERA, 1.374 WHIP, 5.3 BB/9, and a 10.6 K/9.
#Mets relief prospect Franklin Sánchez touched 100 mph in the Arizona Fall League today but picked up both of his strikeouts on his cutter.
— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) October 10, 2022
He's 6-foot-6 with nasty stuff, though walks have been an issue. pic.twitter.com/htr6CcVjrw
Sánchez was highlighted by MMN‘s own Michael Mayer. In discussing him, Mayer said, ” The 21-year-old has been up to 100 mph this year. He has a 3.29 ERA, 34 strikeouts, and has yet to allow a home run in 27 innings this season. The 6’6” right-hander is also throwing a cutter in the mid-90s.”
In exchange for Sánchez, the Mets obtained the aforementioned two relievers who were both designated for assignment by the Marlins. Notably, Bringham, 30, and Hernández, 27, have options meaning the Mets will not have to carry either player on the 2023 Opening Day roster. As noted by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, the Mets could envision Hernández taking over the role held by Trevor Williams as Williams is expected to pursing starting opportunities in free agency.
Hernández made 10 starts and 10 relief appearances for the Marlins last season. He was 3-6 with a 6.35 ERA, 1.428 WHIP, 3.2 BB/9, and an 8.7 K/9. While he did not perform demonstrably well in either role, he notably struck out 10.9 batters per nine as a reliever. It should also be noted left-handed batters feasted off of him hitting .273/.361/.641 off of him in 147 plate appearances.
https://twitter.com/PitchingNinja/status/1295068786928824329?s=20&t=4hpPbI1WjXO4QWwlRoZ6jw
Hernández was originally a Rule 5 pick by the Marlins from the Houston Astros organization in 2019. As per Baseball Savant, he is predominantly a fastball/slider pitcher. He has a low velocity, low-spin fastball which is often hit hard. His slider has been a weapon for him, but so far, it hasn’t been enough for him to have success at the Major League level.
Brigham had more success than Hernández during the 2022 season after missing the entirety of the 2021 season for unknown reasons. Brigham started the year in Triple-A, and he would make his Major League season debut on July 24. Over 16 appearances, he was 0-1 with one save, a 3.38 ERA, 1.333 WHIP, 3.8 BB/9, and a 10.5 K/9.
All told, this was a move clearly designed to add some of the upper levels reliever depth to the Mets system. It was mostly designed to give some in-season flexibility to permit them to have more pitchers they can more freely move back-and-forth between Queens and Syracuse. Mostly, they traded away upside in the future for depth today. 