The Marlins negotiated with the right Jordan Yamamoto for the Mets in exchange for the minor league player Federico Polanco, Mets announced Monday. In order to open a vacancy in the 40-man squad, the Mets appointed the infield player Robel Garcia for assignment. Yamamoto was assigned to the mission last week when Miami painted the dealer Anthony Bass to a two-year contract.
Yamamoto, 24, joined the Marlins as one of four players acquired in the unequal deal he sent Christian Yelich to Milwaukee. Yamamoto showed promise in a debut in 15 matches in 2019, scoring an ERA of 4.46 in his first 78 2/3 MLB frames, while eliminating a quarter of the batters he faced. Although this elimination rate was above the league average, it also reached more than the average 11% of batters it faced.
Despite this promising debut, Yamamoto’s 2020 season was a total disaster. In 11 1/3 innings, he was defeated by 23 races won in 27 hits – including an impressive eight home runs – and seven walks. Clearly, giving up almost one homer per entry does not lead to success, but it is important to note that there may have been some physical reasons for your difficulties. Yamamoto’s 2019 season ended with an IL placement due to a forearm strain, and his average 89.8 mph fastball in 2020 fell by nearly two full miles per hour.
Yamamoto may not take into account the Mets’ immediate rotation plans, but he will be a good piece of optional depth behind the top starters Jacob deGrom, Carlos Carrasco, Marcus Stroman and David Peterson. At the moment, Yamamoto and companion trade acquisition Joey Lucchesi can be the favorites for fifth place in the rotation now with Steven Matz now a Blue Jay, but the Mets could still add another veteran pitcher to their Opening Day group.
In exchange for Yamamoto, the Marlins will stay with 19-year-old Polanco – a versatile, left-handed field player who has not yet advanced beyond the Dominican Summer League. (He probably would have done so in 2020 if it weren’t for the absence of a season of the secondary league.) Polanco signed as an amateur outside the Dominican Republic in 2017 and, more recently, appeared with the Mets DSL subsidiary in 2019, hitting. 299 / .383 / .418 in 231 plate appearances. Eric Longenhagen, of FanGraphs, ranked him out of the Mets top 30 candidates earlier this year, noting that he had no projection of power and has an offensive profile geared towards contact.
Garcia, 27, made his MLB debut with the Cubs in 2019 after a highly unusual path to The Show. The former Indian farmer was out of the 2014-18 affiliate ball before the Cubs saw him playing for a professional team from Italy. They brought him into a minor league pact, and Garcia displayed the power of the light tower at Triple-A in 2019 – 21 home run in 296 plate appearances – before being summoned.
The Cubs gave Garcia 80 plate appearances in 2019, and he responded with a warm average of 0.208 and 0.275 in the base percentage, but he still hit 0.500 thanks to five home runs, two doubles and two triples in that short period of time. Garcia also punched 35 of those 80 appearances on the board, so while the brute strength he possesses is easy to see, there is some obvious work to be done in his approach to the board. He still has a secondary league option left, so a team that needs some inner depth of field with their right hand could roll the dice with its considerable raw power. The Mets have a week to change it, try to overtake it through definitive waivers or release it.