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Mets trade Familia to Oakland

In the first of several expected trades for the woeful New York Mets, they sent their standout closer, Jeurys Familia, to the Oakland A’s on Saturday in exchange for two prospects, cash and international bonus pool space.

The trade was announced after Saturday’s game.

“This trade hits three major areas,” John Ricco, the Mets’ assistant general manager, said in a news release issued by the team. He is one of the three executives running the team since general manager Sandy Alderson had a recurrence of cancer. None of them were made available to reporters Saturday.

In the statement, Ricco added, “We got a major-league ready reliever our scouts recommended, a position player who was a high selection from the 2017 draft and strong prospect in the A’s system as well as receiving international bonus pool money to help in the future.”

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Familia, 28, was one of the most successful relief pitchers in Mets history, and he now gets the chance to pitch for a team in playoff contention.

He signed with the Mets organization for $100,000 at age 17 in his native Dominican Republic. After being thrust into the closer’s role in 2015, he set a single-season franchise record with 51 saves a year later and was named an All-Star. Since the start of the 2015 season, only Kenley Jansen of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Craig Kimbrel of the Boston Red Sox have had more saves in the majors than Familia.

Familia also blew three saves, not all his fault, during the 2015 World Series. He was suspended 15 games during the 2017 season in connection with domestic violence accusations involving his wife.

While the Mets need to rebuild their roster and farm system, their return for Familia raised questions. The fact that Familia is a pending free agent limited their asking price, but top relief pitchers are coveted by contending teams at this time of the season.

A day earlier, the Mets said publicly that they were willing to include cash in deals to secure a better return. Instead, the A’s are picking up the roughly $3 million Familia is owed for the rest of the season.

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The two prospects the Mets received were third baseman William Toffey, 23, who was rated the 17th-best prospect in the A’s farm system, and relief pitcher Bobby Wahl, 26, who has minimal major league experience and a history of injuries.

Unlike in the past, the Mets have spent aggressively in international amateur signings of late, and the $1 million in bonus pool allocation will help.

“I had a really good time here,” Familia said after Friday’s game. “It’s tough.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

James Wagner © 2018 The New York Times

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