Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

Trade Deadline season is officially underway with the New York Mets acquiring designated hitter/first baseman Daniel Vogelbach from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday. New York sent Pittsburgh right-handed relief pitcher Colin Holderman in the deal. A potential trade for Vogelbach was first discussed by Metsmerized’s Michael Mayer earlier this week, who heard from a source that the Mets had touched base with the Pirates about Vogelbach. Today, it came to fruition.

It has become apparent over the past few weeks that the priority for the front office was to upgrade at the designated hitter position. Especially in light of reports earlier this week that the team are actively discussing trying to move Dominic Smith.

Well, the Mets have ticked one of those boxes today having traded for Vogelbach from the Pirates. A first baseman, the slugger can fill the designated-hitter role perfectly and he should be a solid addition for this ball club. While not as sexy a name as the likes of Josh Bell or Nelson Cruz, Vogelbach is a very solid bat to utilize against right-handed pitchers.

His numbers don’t jump off the page at first. He’s slashing .228/.338/.430 with a .769 OPS this season to go along with 12 home runs and 34 RBI in 237 at bats. However, he does excel against righties. Against right-handed pitcher this season, he has 12 homers, 10 doubles, a .365 OBP, .869 OPS, 132 OPS+ and 149 wRC+. This wRC+ figure ranks 15th in the majors. He also owns a career .817 OPS against righties and 55 of his 61 career home runs have come against right-handed pitchers.

Daniel Vogelbach’s Baseball Savant page indicates a very strong hitter.

It is important to understand that the designated hitter position was a real area of need that the Mets had to address. Among team’s designated hitters, the Mets have the 6th lowest wRC+ against RHP this season (82 wRC+). Among 178 hitters with a minimum 200 PAs against right-handed pitchers this season, Vogelbach is tied for the 15th-highest wRC+ (149). To add to this further, Vogelbach’s 11 home runs as a designated hitter are tied for the second-most in the National League with Phillies’ star Bryce Harper.

So, Vogelbach greatly strengthens a real weakness for the Mets and that can’t be overlooked when assessing this deal. In other words, he murders righties and that’s exactly what the Mets need from their designated-hitter position.

Also worth pointing out, Vogelbach is under team control through 2024. He owns a $1,500,000 team option next season, and is arbitration eligible in 2024. He is not a rental.

In fulfilling one of the team’s needs, the Mets did not have to pay an awful lot. Holderman appeared in 15 games for the Mets this season with a 4-0 record and a 2.04 ERA. However, he proved to be an expendable piece given the overall needs of this team. Furthermore, relief pitchers are a pretty replaceable commodity.

Overall, general manager Billy Eppler, who explained that Vogelbach, “could be a presence in the order,” and the Mets understood that you need power bats in order to go on a deep run in the postseason and, while more will be needed, Vogelbach is a nice start. He’s a proven slugger who makes solid contact, he hits the ball hard, he can get on base, and he is a monster against right-handed pitching. This is a nice start to the trade deadline for the Mets. Especially given, they are not expected to be close to done as the above tweet indicates.