Mets Acquire LHP Gregory Soto from Orioles

According to SNY’s Andy Martino, the Mets are in agreement on a trade with the Baltimore Orioles that will land them left-handed reliever Gregory Soto in exchange for pitching prospects Wellington Aracena and Cam Foster. The deal was later confirmed by Jeff Passan of ESPN.

Soto, 30, is a hard-throwing reliever who has made multiple All-Star teams in his career and has served as a primary setup man for the Orioles. Overall, Soto owns a 3.96 ERA with a 1.29 WHIP and 10.9 K/9 on the season. In total, he has appeared in 45 games and thrown 36 1/3 innings. Soto is a rental, given that he will reach free agency this winter.

Soto primarily comes at hitters with a sinker and slider combination, which he supports with a four-seam fastball and a sweeper. His sinker is his primary pitch, being thrown over 51% of the time this season, and his slider complements it at 35% of the time. His fastball is used more often than his sweeper, but neither pitch was used over 10% of the time this season.

On average, his sinker sits at 96.5 MPH, his slider at 86.6 MPH and his four-seamer comes in at almost 98 MPH. He’ll now be paired with Brooks Raley as the Mets’ two southpaw options out of the bullpen.

Of note, Soto does have closing experience in his past. He saved 48 games for the Detroit Tigers between 2021 and 2022 while making the AL All-Star team in both seasons.

For the most part, Soto has limited loud contact this season. He’s allowed just four barrels and surrendered only two home runs. His downfall, however, has been walks. His BB/9 jumped up to 4.5 this season, almost a full walk better than his 2024 mark (3.6).

As for the return, the Mets part with two right-handed pitching prospects. Aracena was a fast riser through the system, recently ranked as the No. 15 farmhand in New York’s system by Metsmerized’s Mike Mayer in his Mid-Season Top 50. Foster, a 14th-round selection in 2022, was not ranked on that list.

Bullpen has been widely reported to be the Mets’ priority this deadline, and David Stearns added a legitimate arm with just six days remaining until the July 31 deadline. The Mets have room to continue to add to their bullpen over the coming days.

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