Mets Shipping Out Jason Vargas to Phillies

The New York Mets acquired one starter yesterday from the Blue Jays in the form of Marcus Stroman. Today, they are shipping out another pitcher in Jason Vargas.

Andy Martino of SNY.tv is reporting that the Mets will indeed send the veteran lefty elsewhere and just a few minutes ago, Jeff Passan is reporting are the Phillies are the team that is landing him. The Mets are getting prospect Austin Bossart from the Phillies.

This move was clearly made to open up a roster spot for Stroman, whom the Mets acquired yesterday from the Blue Jays. It also opens up the question about whether or not the Mets will move out any of their other starters by the trade deadline. The biggest name has been Noah Syndergaard, who many have written will be headed to the Padres, including myself.

At the beginning of the season, Vargas, 36, had a poor start but since then has delivered solid results for a Mets team that is both in the Wild Card and out of the Wild Card. He currently carries a 4.01 ERA through 94 1/3 frames. His stats also include a 7.7 K/9 with a 3.7 BB/9. These are solid numbers for any competing team and while his ERA is not all that great, it is still low enough where he can be a solid mid-rotation starter.

As for the return, Bossart, a 26-year-old prospect, is in the middle of the rough season. This is his second season at the Double-A level. He's only hitting .195/.305/.335 with 236 plate appearances, which means he still has work to do if he wants to get promoted to the Triple-A level.

For the Mets, this trade is not about Bossart at all, because they can afford to wait on him while he develops and improves his slashing numbers. This was about clearing space for Marcus Stroman, a player that I still don't why the Mets are traded for him. We know that the Mets are 5.5 games out of the Wild Card, which means they can still ride the wave and get into the postseason or they can fall flat in August and be out of the Wild Card for good.

As for Vargas himself, he finally escapes the Big Apple. Many of you may know him as a quality pitcher who can be in the mid-rotation and get some guys out, but he's also remembered recently for being one of the two guys for the Mets who went after that reporter from Newsday, along with manager Mickey Callaway. Although that shouldn't define him or his career, in this day and era that we live in, it's clearly not a good look. Going to Philadelphia should be a change of scenery and puts him on a team that is in the thick of it in the Wild Card race. If he goes there and produces well and gets a couple of wins under his belt, then I believe the Phillies will get one of those spots.