SAN DIEGO — The Mets are adding another significant — and unique — late-inning arm to their bullpen.
On the eve of the deadline, the Mets and Giants agreed on a trade that will send submariner Tyler Rogers to Queens, The Post confirmed on Wednesday.
They are paying a big price with reliever José Buttó and prospects Drew Gilbert and Blade Tidwell headed to San Francisco, The Post’s Joel Sherman reported, in a deal that was not official and was pending medicals.
David Stearns identified the bullpen as the club’s largest need and has added hard-throwing lefty Gregory Soto and the soft-tossing, under-handing Rogers before Thursday’s deadline.
Rogers, a free agent at season’s end, nearly scrapes his right hand on the mound when he pitches. The unique angle has proven difficult to hit — he owns a 1.80 ERA this season and 2.79 mark for his career — and might help his durability.
With the slowest fastball in MLB (averaging 83.3 mph), Rogers leads the majors in games pitched (53) and led the majors in the category a season ago (77).
Against an arm angle rarely seen in today’s game, neither lefties nor righties have hit the 34-year-old well.
Rogers will slot into a bullpen that no longer houses Buttó, who hugged teammates as news spread during the early innings of Wednesday’s series finale at Petco Park.
The righty had pitched to a 3.64 ERA in 47 innings this season, a nice, multi-inning threat out of the bullpen but without Rogers’ upside and without a minor league option remaining.
In Gilbert, the Mets are losing part of the haul they received from the Astros in the 2023 Justin Verlander swap.
The center fielder was having a nice, if not excellent, season with Triple-A Syracuse (.785 OPS with 12 homers in 81 games) but likely was below Jett Williams in the hierarchy of Mets prospects who could become everyday center fielders.
Tidwell debuted this season and flashed good raw stuff in four games. A starting pitcher ranked as the 10th best in the system by MLB Pipeline, the 24-year-old pitched to a 4.22 ERA in 79 innings with Syracuse this year.
