Mets trade Minter, bringing son of fan favorite to Queens in return (source)
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NEW YORK -- For four seasons, Benny Agbayani was a fan favorite in Flushing, a playoff hero who resonated with so many around Shea Stadium.
A quarter-century after parting ways with Agbayani, the Mets have acquired his 19-year-old son.
In the first of what should be several deals leading up to the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline, the Mets dealt left-handed reliever A.J. Minter to the Twins for infield prospects Bruin Agbayani and Billy Amick, a source told MLB.com. The clubs have not officially confirmed the deal.
Agbayani, ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Twins’ No. 29 prospect who will rank 22nd in the Mets’ system, was born in 2007 -- six years after his father played his final game for the Mets. He was the Twins’ sixth-round Draft pick last year out of St. Louis School in Honolulu.
Trade details
Twins receive: LHP A.J. Minter
Mets receive: INF Bruin Agbayani, INF Billy Amick
Unlike his dad, Bruin Agbayani is a left-handed infielder. Like his dad, Bruin has strong bat-to-ball skills with enough power to be dangerous. He has played in only 10 games this season due to a right shoulder injury, but before being drafted, Agbayani was the Hawaii Gatorade Player of the Year. He was ramping back up with a throwing progression at the time of the trade.
In the Mets’ system, Agbayani will look to replicate the career of his father, a 30th-round Draft pick who hit .282 with an .833 OPS over 322 games with the big club. The elder Agbayani is perhaps best known for the walk-off home run he hit in the 13th inning of 2000 National League Division Series Game 3 against the Giants.
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Amick, 23, will not have a prospect ranking in the Mets’ system. He showcased plenty of pop in Double-A this season, with 23 homers in 379 plate appearances, but that came along with a .217 average and 108 strikeouts.
Those two represented the return for Minter, who appeared in just 36 games over two seasons in Queens.
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A stalwart of Atlanta's bullpens from 2017-24, Minter parlayed that success into a two-year, $22 million contract to join the rival Mets before the 2025 season. But a month into that contract, he tore his left lat muscle off the bone, necessitating surgery. It took Minter until this May to make it back, and when he did, his velocity was down a couple ticks from his pre-surgery form.
Minter still managed to record outs even with diminished stuff, going his first 14 outings without allowing an earned run. But he produced a 6.00 ERA over his final nine Mets appearances, and as a pure rental who can become a free agent after this season, his value was limited.
In addition to Minter, the Mets are expected to trade impending free agents Brooks Raley, Clay Holmes, Freddy Peralta and Tyrone Taylor in the coming days, along with perhaps multiple other members of their last-place roster.