Mets acquire Tyler Clippard from Athletics for minor league pitcher

The New York Mets have acquired right-handed reliever Tyler Clippard from the Oakland Athletics in exchange for Casey Meisner, a minor league right-handed starter, the teams announced on Monday. 

This comes just hours after Ken Rosenthal and Jon Morosi of FOX Sports reported that the Mets were making progress on a deal for Clippard. Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported last night that a deal for Clippard could get done by Monday. 

The Mets bullpen has not been bad this season, they are third in the Majors in ERA and eighth in xFIP, but after the Royals went far in last year's playoffs with a deep bullpen, it's been proven that relief help can go a long way for teams. 

Clippard has been a name mentioned in trade talk more recently as of late, when the A's officially decided on selling. He's a free agent following this season, after making $8.3 million in his final year of arbitration this past offseason.

The 30-year-old, despite his contract status, will be a very solid addition to the Mets bullpen, providing back-end relief experience. He's 1-3 this season with a 2.79 ERA (3.89 FIP) and a 38 to 21 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 38 2/3 innings. He's saved 17 of his 21 opportunities, marking the first time he's been used as a closer since 2012 with the Nationals. 

The Mets are showing the willingness to buy this trade deadline season, as Clippard represents the third player they've acquired this month, along with Juan Uribe and Kelly Johnson, as well as the promotion of Michael Conforto. They're 51-48 and just two games out of the NL East and 3 1/2 out of the NL Wild Card. 

In return, the Athletics got Meisner, a 20-year-old righty in Single-A Advanced this season. The Mets' third round pick two years ago, Mesiner is 3-2 with a 2.83 ERA and a 1.64 K/BB ratio this season.

--Devan Fink

---