Mets Ship Addison Reed Up To Boston

It’s trade deadline day, and the stove is simmering.

Dave Dombrowski and the Red Sox are getting their work out of the way early, and have traded for Mets reliever Addison Reed in exchange for three prospects.

Reed joins a bullpen anchored by closer Craig Kimbrel, who has been lights-out with a 1.24 ERA in 43.2 IP. The rest of the bullpen has been fine, with the third-best bullpen ERA in baseball, but Joe Kelly is on the DL, and Doug Fister has gotten lit up whether relieving or starting, and hell, Reed has had a 166 ERA+ this season.

Look, the bullpen can’t fix the Sox’s limp offense, but an additional bullpen arm for $2.6 million was probably an easy decision for Dombrowski.

In return, the Mets got three minor league pitchers:

The three prospects are all ranked in the top 30 of the Red Sox’s system, but it’s a weak system and none of them are on MLB.com’s top 100 prospects list.

Nogosek was a sixth-round pick for the Red Sox in 2016 and has pitched well in A-ball this season. Bautista, a Dominican reliever, has posted a 5.16 ERA in high-A. Callahan was promoted to triple-A Pawtucket in mid-May.

Pete Abraham reports Bautista and Callahan are both eligible for the 2017 Rule 5 draft.

Thus begins the Mets’ attempt to find takers for its better players today. The biggest question, though, is why isn’t anyone biting on Jay Bruce?