Mets Trade A.J. Minter to Twins for Prospects Bruin Agbayani, Billy Amick as Deadline Sell-Off Begins

The rebuild is officially underway in Queens. The New York Mets, mired in last place in the National League East, have traded left-handed reliever A.J. Minter to the Minnesota Twins in exchange for infield prospects Bruin Agbayani and Billy Amick, sources told ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Thursday night. It’s the first domino to fall for a Mets front office widely expected to keep selling through Monday’s 6 p.m. ET deadline.

New York enters deadline week buried at 40-57, 16 games back in the NL East, a stunning collapse for a roster that sat a half-game out of second place at this same point a year ago. With the postseason picture all but out of reach, moving a rental-caliber veteran reliever for controllable young talent is exactly the kind of deal rebuilding front offices are supposed to make — and it likely won’t be the last one the Mets execute before Monday.

Why the Mets Moved On From Minter

Minter signed a two-year, $22 million contract with the Mets before the 2025 season, but a lat injury wiped out the back half of that first year and delayed his 2026 debut into late May following surgery. Since returning, the 32-year-old lefty has been arguably the best version of himself in years, working to a 2.35 ERA across 23 appearances with 20 strikeouts. For a Twins bullpen looking to add a proven left-handed arm for a playoff push, that kind of form makes Minter a legitimate difference-maker down the stretch — and for the Mets, a soon-to-be free agent bringing back thin trade value on his own made this the right time to cash in.

The return brings New York two players with real long-term intrigue. Bruin Agbayani, a sixth-round pick by the Twins in 2025 out of St. Louis School in Honolulu, is a left-handed-hitting infielder who carries an emotional storyline all his own: his father, Benny Agbayani, was a fan favorite for the Mets around the turn of the millennium. Billy Amick, a second-round pick by Minnesota in 2024 out of Tennessee, has been raking in his age-23 season at Double-A, hitting .217 with 23 home runs and a .338 on-base percentage while logging time at both first and third base. Neither name profiles as a finished big leaguer yet, but both give the Mets system fresh depth at positions the organization can use.

What It Means for the Betting Markets

This trade is a low-key but meaningful data point for anyone tracking futures markets on both sides of this deal. The Mets’ collapse — from a near-.500 club a year ago to last place with essentially no playoff equity remaining — has already been baked into markets that had all but written New York off before the deadline arrived, and a clear sell-off signals books and bettors alike can expect New York’s win total and division markets to keep drifting toward “non-competitive” territory the rest of the way. For anyone still holding futures tickets on the Mets to avoid the division cellar, subtracting a quality reliever from the roster is not a positive input.

On the other side, the Twins’ pursuit of bullpen help lines up with a club that entered deadline week firmly in the wild-card conversation, sitting within a game of the field for one of the American League’s final playoff spots and carrying meaningfully better odds to reach the postseason than a Mets team fading fast. Adding a lefty who has pitched to a sub-2.50 ERA since returning from injury is the type of marginal roster upgrade that can move a bullpen ERA prop or a team’s remaining win total by half a game over a six-week stretch — the kind of shift sharp bettors track closely once trade-deadline additions start reshuffling late-inning roles. With more Mets moves reportedly on the way before Monday’s deadline, expect further ripple effects across both teams’ season-long markets as the full scope of New York’s sell-off becomes clear.