NEW YORK — The New York Mets acquired right-handed reliever Trevor Gott from the Seattle Mariners on Monday in exchange for lefty Zach Muckenhirn.
New York also picked up righty Chris Flexen in the deal and immediately designated him for assignment. Flexen, earning $8 million this season, was designated for assignment by Seattle last week with an 0-4 record and a 7.71 ERA in four starts and 13 relief appearances. The Mets are responsible for the $3.9 million left on his deal and they have seven days to trade or release him.
If he passes through waivers unclaimed, Flexen could also elect to become a free agent or accept an outright assignment to the minors with the Mets, where he began his professional career.
The Mets’ bullpen ranks 21st in the majors with a 4.26 ERA, one of many culprits for a woeful season. New York is 38-46 despite a projected $360 million payroll, the highest in the sport’s history.
The 30-year-old Gott, who recently came off the injured list, will be joining his sixth team in eight big league seasons. He was 0-3 with a 4.03 ERA for the Mariners this year. He’s signed for $1.2 million and can become a free agent after the 2024 season.
Muckenhirn, 28, made his major league debut for the Mets this year and had a 6.00 ERA over three appearances. He has an 0.88 ERA in 16 outings with Triple-A Syracuse, striking out 19 in 30 2/3 innings.
Flexen was drafted and developed by the Mets and pitched for New York from 2017-19, going 3-11 with an 8.07 ERA in 27 games (11 starts). He spent a season in the Korea Baseball Organization before finding success with the Mariners in 2021, when he went 14-6 with a 3.61 ERA in 31 starts. He was 8-9 with a 3.73 ERA last year in 22 starts and 11 relief outings.
Seattle manager Scott Servais described the trade as a change-of-scenery opportunity for the pitchers involved.
“This gives Chris Flexen an opportunity to get rebooted there,” Servais said in San Francisco before his team played the Giants. “Trevor Gott, he did some good things for us. I thought he made some really nice improvements. That was a really good pickup for us in the offseason. But this is an opportunity for those guys to go elsewhere. In the meantime, we get a player back and we will use a couple of different players to fill that extra bullpen spot as we go forward.”
