The New York Mets made another trade on Sunday, sending catcher Kevin Plawecki to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for right-handed starter Walker Lockett and minor-league infielder Sam Haggerty, as per the team.
Plawecki, 27, was the Mets’ first-round draft pick in the 2012 MLB amateur draft, eventually making his MLB debut in 2015.
Over parts of four seasons with the big club, the Indiana native slashed .218/.308/.330 with 14 home runs, 75 runs batted in, 33 doubles, and a 77 OPS+ rating over 237 games (804 plate appearances).
Lockett, 24, was traded to the Indians from the San Diego Padres in November. He pitched to a 4.73 earned-run average with 118 strikeouts, 33 walks, and 1.335 WHIP over 23 starts for Triple-A El Paso last season.
The Jacksonville, Florida native made his MLB debut for the Friars on June 1 last year, making three MLB starts in 2018 (9.60 ERA, 2.133 WHIP, 15.0 innings).
As per Brooks Baseball, Lockett’s pitch repertoire consists of a four-seam fastball (93 MPH), curveball, and changeup. He will take Plawecki’s spot on the 40-man roster and has one minor league option remaining as pointed out by MMO’s own Jacob Resnick. Brodie Van Wagenen had this to say on Lockett as detailed by Matt Ehalt of The Record:
“We continue to focus on acquiring young major league ready talent for 2019 and beyond. Still only 24 years old, Walker provides us valuable depth to our starting rotation.”
Sam Haggerty, also 24, is a utility infielder (shortstop, second, and third base) drafted by Cleveland in the 24th round of the 2015 MLB draft.
In 372 plate appearances split between Double-A Akron and Triple-A Columbus, Haggerty hit .239/.369/.384 with 21 doubles, one triple, four homers, and 36 RBI. He also stole 26 bases while being caught seven times.
On Haggerty, Van Wagenen said that he “is athletic with good speed and a strong arm.”
