12:53pm: The Nationals claimed Coste, reports Brian Costa of the Newark Star-Ledger.
7:53am: The Mets placed catcher Chris Coste on waivers, reports Adam Rubin (via MetsBlog). Coste signed a big league deal worth $650K back in December. Rubin says Coste is likely to accept an assignment to Triple A if he clears waivers.
Coste, 37, hit .224/.301/.317 in 230 plate appearances for the Phillies and Astros last year, catching 352 innings. Coste went 3 for 14 with a walk this spring.
On Saturday, ESPN's Jayson Stark said the Mets were hoping to move an excess catcher like Coste or Omir Santos for Triple A pitching depth. The Mets have Rod Barajas, Henry Blanco, Santos, Josh Thole, and Shawn Riggans on the depth chart.
That depth chart already looks like AAA depth.
As much as I liked Coste when he played for the Phillies, if he can’t beat out that kind of competition, it now looks as if the carriage has turned back into a pumpkin regarding his career. Hopefully he takes a cue and begins his magaerial career in the minors.
hmmm idk why the Nationals claimed him.. they have pudge, wil nieves, jesus flores and derek norris. Unless they think he can out perform nieves for the backup catcher spot? cause pudge is the starter this year and flores and norris are our catchers of the future so idk wat to make of this.
I doubt Norris would be up this year at any point, at least before September call-ups.
Barajas and Blanco are solid defensively.. Probably better defensively than most of the catchers in the N.L They’ll bat 7th or 8th in the lineup, a combination of 20 hrs this season out of the 2 would be great. Josh Thole, for those of you who don’t know is the future catcher for the Mets for years to come.. He is a .290 + bat from the left side and only needs a season of polishing down in AAA. Santos and Riggans are dl fill ins and can contribute at some point this season.
coste will never be a starter in the MLB… i hope he doesnt expect to be one at his age, or with his ability
Barajas is a marginal starter.
Thole is still developing and will be one of the games better catchers.
Sanots Blanco, and Riggans you’re right about.
….it wasn’t a big league deal. It was a minor league deal where he only got paid that money if he made the MLB roster. The reason he had to go on waivers was because the Mets tried to remove him from the 40 man roster.
and regarding what now? Likely Thole and Santos go to AAA (The way it probably should’ve been all along), and they rely on their actual coaches to finish teaching Thole how to catch. Plus, the Mets will surely have several veterans arms on their AAA roster like a Sean Green or a Pat Misch who he can use for learning things like pitch selection, ect.
Suprisingly, MLBTR is mis-reporting there.
“Coste, meanwhile, was put on the 40-man roster after agreeing to a one-year “split” contract that will pay him roughly $500,000 for making the major-league roster and less in the minors.”
Read more: link to nypost.com