When the New York Mets took Justin Slaten in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft and immediately sent him to the Boston Red Sox, it was a strategic way to add to the farm system. Had they kept Slaten, he would have been required to stay on the active roster for the entire 2024 season. While the Boston Red Sox reaped the rewards of him last year as a rookie reliever, they weren’t forced into keeping him like the Mets would have been.
The Mets didn’t just hand over Slaten as a favor to the Red Sox. They were able to pick up a 10th round draft pick from the Red Sox, reliever Ryan Ammons. No professional games under his belt, the Clemson graduate turned in an impressive first year pitching in relief for the Mets in Single-A.
The Mets may have sneakily snagged a good part of the future bullpen in this trade
Ammons isn’t about to fast-track his way to the major leagues even if he’s turning 24 in April. The slow progression of many later round draft picks, especially those out of college, will have money forgetting all about him for another year or two. However, Ammons did successfully graduate from St. Lucie where he began last season and continued to impress even more so with High-A Brooklyn. The ballpark might’ve helped out somewhat in Brooklyn as its reputation for holding back left-handed hitters surely helped Ammons at least a little bit.
A 2.88 ERA for St. Lucie was followed up by a 1.33 ERA performance for Brooklyn. Averaging more than an inning at a time, the organization wasn’t afraid to let him last longer. He wasn’t without his problems. An overall 6.4 walks per 9 put a negative touch on the 11.9 strikeouts per 9 he’d combine to have at both levels. He was practically unhittable for Brooklyn, though, averaging just 2.7 hits per 9 in his 20.1 innings. As frustrating as it can be, swapping a few singles for walks isn’t the worst outcome.
Slaten would have been a fine addition to the 2024 Mets roster. At 26 last season, he was 6-2 with a 2.93 ERA in 55.1 innings. He had a walk rate of 1.5 per 9 and struck out 9.4 batters per 9.
Will this become one of those trades both teams end up benefiting from in the long run? For the time being, it’s trending that way.
