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New York Mets News: Jon Niese Reunion Possible As Trade Deadline Nears

By Mark Suleymanov
Published on: 03:59 PST, Jul 16, 2016

Following a demotion to the Pittsburgh Pirates’ bullpen and brutally honest remarks about his performance from general manager Neil Huntington, left-hander Jon Niese could potentially end up with his former team.

According to Marc Carig of Newsday, sources with knowledge of the Mets’ thinking are not ruling out a reunion with the struggling left-hander. While the team isn’t necessarily going all out for him, he is a potential, buy-low option.

Niese, 29, was dealt by Mets to Pirates this offseason in exchange for second baseman Neil Walker. In 83 games, Walker has provided stellar production for the Mets, hitting 0.254/0.322/0.427 with 16 home runs and 40 runs batted in. Those 16 homers tie Walker’s power production from last season and the second half of the season has just begun.

As for Niese, in 18 starts with the Pirates, he sports a 7-6 record with a career-high 5.13 ERA through 101-and-two-thirds innings. Yesterday, while speaking to a Pittsburgh radio station, Huntington expressed his disapproval with Niese’s performance and overall regret with acquiring the veteran lefty.

“In hindsight, maybe the two fringe prospects and trying to figure out where to re-allocate the money might have been a better return [for Walker],” Huntington said Friday on 93.7 The Fan’s morning show. “That’s where the results take us.”

While Niese has never been a top-flight starting pitcher, the Lima, Ohio, native proved with the Mets to be a more-than-serviceable pitcher. From his first full season with the Mets in 2010 to his final year in Queens in 2015, Niese averaged nearly 10 wins, a 3.87 ERA, and 171 innings.

After pitching against the Mets in the first game of a doubleheader on June 7, tossing seven shutout innings, Niese spoke about facing his former club for the first time.

“That was the only organization I knew,” Niese said (via New York Post). “A lot of those guys are great over there. I got along with all of them. I definitely miss them, but I’m enjoying my time here.”

After he was traded in the offseason, Niese expressed his excitement to play with a usually defensively sound Pirates squad.

“I’m sure what I’ll appreciate more than anything is the way [the Pirates] play defense,” Niese said last December. “I’m looking forward to that.”

However, as noted by The Post, opposing hitters have a.322 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) against Niese this season. He’s also allowing nearly two home runs a game (1.8 HR/9) this season. Niese has never posted a HR/9 rate higher than 1.0 since his first full season in the majors.

While there are obvious question marks in regards to Niese, a reunion with a troubled but formerly useful commodity isn’t an unusual occurrence for the Mets this year.

Despite dealing with a domestic violence issue this offseason, infielder Jose Reyes, arguably the best shortstop in team history, was brought back after he was released by the Colorado Rockies. After an 11-game stint in the minor leagues, the switch-hitter transitioned to third base and was called up to the majors recently.

In seven games with the Mets, Reyes is hitting 0.207/0.258/0.586 with three homers and four RBIs. He has played six games at the hot corner and filled in for Asdrubal Cabrera one time at shortstop.

While the Mets are known to be looking for a right-handed reliever for the late inning, a season-ending injury to Matt Harvey and Steven Matz and Noah Syndergaard dealing with bone spurs, the Mets’ rotation holds a lot of question marks.

Also, Zack Wheeler is at least another month away in his recovery from Tommy John surgery. With Jacob deGrom and Bartolo Colon the only healthy parts of the rotation, an upgrade, even if it’s marginal, is likely.

[Photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images]

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