Mets claim Stephen Gonsalves from Twins, add Blake Taylor to 40-man roster

After introducing Carlos Beltran as their new manager yesterday morning, the Mets announced a couple of relatively small roster moves, claiming 25-year-old left-handed pitcher Stephen Gonsalves off waivers from the Twins and adding 24-year-old left-handed reliever Blake Taylor to their 40-man roster.

Gonsalves has just 24.2 innings of major league work under his belt so far, all of which came in 2018, and he had a 6.57 ERA in that time. But for a Mets organization that severely lacks pitching depth, he seems like a perfectly reasonable addition. Before the 2018 season, Gonsalves ranked 97th on Baseball America’s list of the top 100 prospects in the game, and he ranked 78th on MLB.com’s list. He did not make the Baseball Prospectus top 101 list, though. In 2019, he threw just 13.0 innings in the minors after spending most of the season on the shelf with an elbow issue, but he did return to the mound late in the season.

As for Taylor, he was the player to be named later who came to the Mets as part of the Ike Davis trade back in 2014. He had a 2.16 ERA in 66.2 innings out of the bullpen in the minors this year and followed that up with a 2.00 ERA in 9.0 innings in the Arizona Fall League. His addition to the 40-man roster prevents him from hitting minor league free agency and probably gives him a shot at some major league relief innings in the near future, especially if the Mets don’t significantly upgrade their bullpen over the course of this offseason.