Mets get Paul Blackburn in trade with A’s at MLB Trade Deadline

Suddenly in serious pursuit of a playoff spot, the Mets made a move to bolster their rotation.

The Mets announced Tuesday afternoon that they are acquiring starting pitcher Paul Blackburn from the Oakland Athletics. The Mets are sending out right-handed pitching prospect Kade Morris, the team’s No. 25 prospect in the pipeline, in the trade.

Blackburn, 30, has been limited to just nine starts this season after missing multiple months with a stress reaction in his right foot. In those appearances, he holds an ERA of 4.41 over 51 innings. In his first start after returning from the 60-day injured list on Friday, Blackburn allowed four earned runs on five hits and one walk across five innings.

“I think this is an incredibly consistent pitcher, fills the strike zone, has kind of a kitchen sink approach to what he does,” said David Stearns, the Mets’ president of baseball operations. “And we think he’s gonna fit into our rotation quite nicely.”

The right-hander has one more year of arbitration eligibility remaining, meaning he could be a factor for the Mets in next season’s rotation. Right now, the lone guarantee for the Mets in next season’s rotation is Kodai Senga. Luis Severino and Jose Quintana are in the final years of their deals, while Sean Manaea holds a player option for 2025.

According to Stearns, the Mets did their due diligence on the top of the starting pitcher market, but nothing came to fruition.

“I think as a matter of course, we investigate everything and so we certainly had conversations all over the spectrum, all over position groupings and we’re able to get over the line on these deals,” Stearns said.

Blackburn agreed to a one-year, $3.5 million deal with the Athletics to avoid arbitration heading into the 2024 season.

Blackburn relies on his variability and control to get the job done, as he deploys a six-pitch mix, led by his four-seam fastball, cutter, changeup and slider. He also throws a curveball and sinker more than 10 percent of the time. He’s likely to factor into the back end of the Mets’ rotation.

In eight years in Oakland, Blackburn has a 4.83 career ERA. The former first round pick of the Cubs, Blackburn was the A’s lone All-Star in 2022 when he was 7-6 with a 4.28 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and 89 strikeouts in 111⅓ innings.

The 22-year-old Morris, a 2023 third-round pick out of the University of Nevada, is 4-3 with a 3.43 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 57 strikeouts in 57⅔ innings for High-A Brooklyn this season.