Credit: Stan Szeto-USA TODAY Sports
Position: LHP
Bats/Throws: R/L
Age: 6/17/1990 (31)
Traditional Stats: 32 G, 0-1, 2.30 ERA, 0.951 WHIP, 33 K, 27.1 IP
Advanced Stats: 0.8 fWAR, 2.16 FIP, 2.30 xERA, 7.3 BB%, 30.53 K%
Rundown
Andrew Chafin was drafted in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks. He began his career as a starter and after a few successful minor league campaigns, received a cup of coffee in the big leagues towards the end of 2014.
He was quickly transformed into more of a reliever the next season, and he ended up having a very solid year. Chafin made 66 appearances out of the Diamondbacks bullpen and posted a 2.76 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, and 58 strikeouts over 75 innings.
Like most of the 69-93 Diamondbacks, Chafin struggled the following year. He made just 32 appearances and posted a 6.75 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, and had 28 strikeouts over 22 innings. Despite the struggles, Chafin allowed just one home run on the season.
The southpaw bounced back in 2017 with a 71 appearance campaign. He allowed just five home runs, issued just 11 walks, and struck out 61 batters while posting a 3.51 ERA in 51 innings.
He made 77 appearances each of the next two seasons, pitched to a combined 3.44 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 2.96 FIP, and struck out 121 batters. With the three batter rule being put into place, Chafin struggled during their first half of the 2020 season.
He was traded to the Cubs at the deadline, where he put together a decent small sample size. He re-signed with Chicago on a one-year, $2.25 million deal with a mutual option for this season during the offseason.
Chafin returned to his old dominant form during the first half of the year. He was again traded at the deadline, this time to the Oakland Athletics, where he continued his strong 2021 campaign.
He finished the year with 70+ appearances again (71) and posted a career-low 1.83 ERA. He also recorded a 0.93 WHIP, 2.98 FIP, 64 strikeouts, issued 19 walks, and allowed just four home runs.
Coming off another strong year he entered free agency. He chose to sign a one-year $6.5 million deal with a player option for 2023 with the Detroit Tigers. The Mets were rumored to be interested.
He relies on four pitches; low-90s sinker, low-90s fastball, mid-80s slider, and mid-80s changeup.
Package
Last year, Chafin was traded by the Cubs to the A’s for a package of minor league outfielder Greg Deichmann and minor league right-hander Daniel Palencia.
Deichmann was a second-round pick in 2017 who had yet to make his pro debut and Palencia had only thrown 14 1/3 innings in Low-A ball before being traded. Presently, Palencia is the Cubs’ 25th ranked prospect. Deichmann debuted on their list at No. 22 but has since fallen off the prospect rankings.
Following a similar train of thought, a deal for Chafin could be centered around outfielder Jake Mangum, whose ETA is set for 2022. Mangum, a 2019 fourth-round pick is hitting .298/.355/.417 between double and triple-A this season. While he has the bat skills to get on base he lacks power, hitting one home run in 42 games.
My Thoughts
The Mets bullpen will be the downfall for them more than the lack of a designated hitter.
Seth Lugo needs to be coddled, Adam Ottavino is far from trustworthy, and they have one lefty in the pen, and that doesn’t explain half of their struggles.
Chafin is a late-inning lockdown reliever. The Mets need at least him, if not another body to show up for the stretch run. I’d pull the trigger in a heartbeat.
