The New York Mets have acquired RHP Wilmer Font from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for cash considerations or a player to be named later.
The Mets need pitching help badly, with Jason Vargas and Steven Matz off to bad starts. Vargas is in danger of losing his rotation spot, and the Mets also have a weak front of their bullpen. Font is brought in to improve that. He started five games for the Rays last year, the only five starts of his career, and was very good in them. He could fill in as a spot starter, and bullpen reliever.
Font, 29, has a 5.79 ERA with 18 strikeouts and a 3.50 FIP in 14 innings with the Rays this year. He had a 1.67 ERA in 27 innings over nine games (five starts) with the Rays in 2018. In his major league career for the Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Oakland A\’s and Texas Rangers, Font has a 6.51 ERA with 58 strikeouts and a 6.05 FIP in 65 innings.
For the Rays, Font was off to a rough start, and it clears up a roster spot for Casey Sadler, who was recalled following the trade. Except Ryan Yarbrough, who has pitched in just five games as a long reliever and has had minor league time, Font had the highest ERA of a Rays\’ pitcher, with ace Blake Snell\’s 4.31 the next closest, with a median ERA of 2.32 (between Diego Castillo and Jalen Beeks, credit to the Athletic\’s Josh Tolentino for that note via Twitter). Font hasn\’t had a long term home in his MLB career, and the Mets will be his fifth team, and sixth organization (he was a minor leaguer for the Blue Jays, but never made an MLB appearance).
CarterHud 