Mets shed salary, ship LHP A.J. Minter to Twins

The New York Mets started their fire sale by shipping left-handed reliever A.J. Minter and what’s left of his $3.4 million salary to the Minnesota Twins.

ESPN’s Jeff Passan and Will Sammon at The Athletic reported both the trade and the Mets’ return.

Minter turns 33 in September and was in his second season with the Mets after spending his first eight with NL East rival Atlanta. He has a 2.35 ERA in 23 games this season, though he is mildly overachieving. His xERA is nearly a run and a half higher at 3.63 while both his FIP and xFIP are both a shade north of 4.00.

Minter is also posting a career-worst 7.83 K/9 this season, though that’s likely from a downtick in fastball velocity. The veteran southpaw also missed the first two months of the season with lat and hip injuries.

In return, the Mets received two infield prospects: Billy Amick and Bruin Agbayani. Amick is a 23-year-old corner infielder who is batting .217 at Double-A Wichita in 2026, but with 23 home runs. Maybe a potential Brett Baty reboot?

Agbayani, on the other hand, should be something of a familiar face to Mets fans. His father, Benny Agbayani, played four of his five MLB seasons in Flushing and was a fan favorite. A utility infielder, Bruin is still only 19 years old and has only played in ten games this year.

And on Minnesota’s end, the Twins’ bullpen gets a much needed boost. Twins relievers have the fourth-worst ERA in baseball at 4.92 and allows over 4.6 BB/9.

A.J. Minter, meanwhile, allows less than a walk per nine innings. He leans on his cutter while mixing in a four-seam fastball and changeup. Maybe the Twins sense a comeback in him, as he owns a career K/9 of 10.7.