Mets Morning News: Crosstown reliever swap

Meet the Mets

The Mets traded reliever Miguel Castro to the Yankees for lefty reliever Joely Rodríguez in a rare crosstown swap, which is pretty much even when it comes to the salaries of both players. “We had been talking a little bit about some of the excess left-handers that the Yankees have had,” Mets general manager Billy Eppler said. “Clearly, left-handed relief was something that we were looking for. We were able to find a trade partner, and oddly enough, it was across town.”

Max Scherzer will throw a bullpen session tomorrow and that will help determine when he might be available to pitch, according to Buck Showalter.

Jacob deGrom spoke to the media for the first time since the diagnosis of a stress reaction in his scapula, saying he is “really frustrated” with the situation. “I came into camp feeling really good,” he said. “I felt like my elbow and shoulder were in a good spot and then to hear a stress reaction in the bone was definitely something I was not expecting, so the level of frustration is really high right now.”

But, he also said that this does not change his intention to opt out of his contract after this season.

When asked if he would be ready to potentially start on opening day, Tylor Megill said, “Oh yeah. Oh yeah. It’s another game, another start. Treat it as that.”

Thomas Szapucki will be the Opening Day starter for Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday and Mike Montgomery will pitch the second game of the season.

Around the National League East

After backlash induced by reporting from the Advocates for Minor Leaguers, the Nationals are reimbursing their minor leaguers for clubhouse dues they collected this spring.

The Miami Marlins acquired pitchers Tanner Scott and Cole Sulser from the Orioles in exchange for a Comp B draft pick, Antonio Velez, Kevin Guerrero and a player to be named later.

Nelson Cruz is a veteran voice in a young Nationals clubhouse, writes Andrew Golden of the Washington Post.

“I’ve faced those guys. Those guys are tough outs,” Zack Wheeler said about the new look Phillies lineup. “Facing teams throughout my career with deep lineups is really hard, and that’s what we have now, a deep lineup. I like our chances with that.”

Around Major League Baseball

Carlos Beltrán—now a TV analyst for the YES Network—did an interview with Michael Kay about the Astros sign-stealing scandal. “We did cross a line,” he admits. But he also says, “No one stopped it.”

The Padres acquired Sean Manaea and Aaron Holiday from the Oakland A’s in exchange for Euribiel Angeles and Adrian Martinez.

It’s no secret that the Padres have been trying to trade Eric Hosmer for some time now—the latest iteration being the now-dead deal with the Mets that would have sent Dominic Smith to San Diego. Dennis Lin of The Athletic wonders how much longer this can go on.

Free agent reliever Trevor Rosenthal is drawing a lot of interest from teams, according to reporting from Jon Heyman. He missed the entire 2021 season due to injury, but pitched well in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

Outfielder Mitch Haniger and the Seattle Mariners agreed to a one-year, $7.75 million deal to avoid arbitration.

White Sox starter Lance Lynn has a slight tear in a tendon by his knee and will be shut down for two weeks and then ramp up slowly in a process that may have him sidelined for eight weeks or so in total.

The Blue Jays traded Reese McGuire to the Chicago White Sox for Zack Collins.

Yesterday at Amazin’ Avenue

Chris McShane previewed Jacob deGrom’s season, which is now loaded with question marks and Linda Surovich previewed J.D. Davis’ season, which has question marks for entirely different reasons.

This Date in Mets History

The Mets hit a whopping six home runs in one game on this date in 1988.