Grading the White Sox-Mets Huascar Brazoban Trade: Mets Move Key Reliever for Younger Pieces

The New York Mets are continuing their massive deadline sale by stripping away another piece of their strong bullpen. During the overnight hours, the Mets shipped Huascar Brazoban to the Chicago White Sox in exchange for two minor league pitching prospects, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic.

White Sox acquiring RH reliever Huascar Brazobán from Mets for Class AA RHP Gabe Davis and Class AAA RHP Zach Franklin, sources tell @TheAthletic.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 3, 2026

Rosenthal was the first to report the deal, as this was the Mets' third trade in the past few days after sending Freddy Peralta to Tampa Bay and A.J. Minter to Minnesota. Unlike those two players, who were on expiring contracts, Brazoban had three years of club control remaining after this season.

2026 was something of a breakthrough for Brazoban, who turned a dominant World Baseball Classic showing into a key role in the Mets' bullpen. In 46 games for the Mets this season, Brazoban went 5-2 with a 2.56 ERA and 1.01 WHIP, generating 1.6 Wins Above Replacement while striking out 49 batters in 52.2 innings pitched.

It does seem a bit peculiar to move on from that kind of reliever with a lot of club control left but Brazoban's age is likely a factor here. Brazoban was a late bloomer and will turn 37 in October, making those three years of club control less valuable than they would be for another player in a similar circumstance.

Who did the Mets get back from the White Sox for Huascar Brazoban?

The Mets added two pitching prospects from the White Sox in the Brazoban trade. The bigger name is Gabe Davis, Chicago's fifth-round pick in 2025 out of Oklahoma State. Davis, a collegiate teammate of current Mets Carson Benge and Nolan McLean, is a 6-foot-9 starting pitcher who is currently pitching for the White Sox' Double-A affiliate in Birmingham.

The 22-year-old is struggling there, going 0-5 with an 8.31 ERA in 10 starts, but Davis had a dominant turn for High-A Winston-Salem. Davis has shown good command, compiling a 70:24 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 62 innings pitched, and has two strong pitches: a fastball that can touch 100 miles per hour and a plus slider.

Finding a third pitch will be key to helping Davis become a big-league starter, but that fastball-slider combo gives him a good reliever floor. This acquisition is an upside play for the Mets, who can add Davis to their pitching pipeline. Davis was the 18th-ranked prospect in Chicago's top 30, according to MLB Pipeline.

The other player the Mets got was Zach Franklin, who didn't rank in Chicago's top 30 prospects but is close to big-league ready while pitching for Triple-A Charlotte. Franklin is 2-2 with a 4.37 ERA in 33 appearances, but the figure that jumps off the page is Franklin's 60:14 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 45.1 innings pitched.

With plenty of openings set to pop up in the big league bullpen, don't be shocked if Franklin is pitching in Flushing sooner rather than later. Franklin is eligible for the Rule 5 Draft this winter, so the Mets would need to add him to their 40-man roster to protect him from it.

Grading the trade

Given the stated goal of trying to contend in 2027, it doesn't seem to make too much sense to move on from Brazoban, who could have helped the Mets' bullpen for the next three seasons. Brazoban's age and career-best performance may make this an outlier, however, so Stearns operated with a sell-high model here and got younger arms with upside.

There wasn't a universe where the Mets were getting back a prospect inside an organization's top 10 for Brazoban, given his age and role, so this is probably about as good as Stearns could have done. Whether it will be used to restock the farm or help the Mets in 2027 remains to be seen.

Grade: C+

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