Mets To Select A.J. Ewing
The Mets are calling up top outfield prospect A.J. Ewing, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. He should make his big league debut tomorrow when the Mets welcome Jack Flaherty and the Tigers to Citi Field. New York will need to create space on the active and 40-man rosters.
It’s an aggressive promotion the Mets are hoping will spark life into an offense that ranks 29th in scoring. The 21-year-old Ewing opened this season in Double-A. New York just promoted him to Triple-A Syracuse on April 27 and will give him an MLB look after 12 games there.
Ewing was a fourth-round pick out of high school in the 2023 draft. The Mets selected him with the #134 overall selection, their compensation for losing Jacob deGrom, and signed him away from a commitment to Alabama. It turned out to be an excellent find for New York’s scouting department, as Ewing’s plate discipline and athleticism have vaulted him up prospect lists.
The lefty-hitting Ewing has hit .290 with an on-base percentage close to .400 over parts of four minor league seasons. He’s out to an even better start this year, running a .339/.447/.514 line over 132 plate appearances between the top two levels. Ewing has walked nearly 17% of the time against a 15.2% strikeout rate. He’s also 17-18 in stolen base attempts, one year after he swiped 70 bags during his climb from Low-A to Double-A.
There are some parallels with the Mets’ decision to have Carson Benge break camp after he’d played just 24 Triple-A games. Benge had an ice cold start to his MLB career but has been one of the team’s best hitters over the past couple weeks. He has officially graduated out of prospect status, leaving Ewing as the Mets’ best prospect in Baseball America’s most recent update of the league’s Top 100 minor league talents. BA slotted Ewing the #33 prospect in the game. MLB Pipeline ranks him 78th overall and second in the system behind right-hander Jonah Tong.
Listed at 6’0 and 160 pounds, Ewing doesn’t have immense raw power. He has 15 professional home runs, just five of which have come since the start of the 2025 season. Baseball America and Keith Law of The Athletic each wrote over the offseason that Ewing makes more hard contact than the home run total might suggest, though his approach is geared more toward line drives and getting on base than hitting for power.
Ewing had some strikeout concerns early in his minor league career. He has toned that down considerably over the past year-plus, but he’ll face a much bigger challenge against MLB pitching. There’s no question about his athleticism, though, and Ewing’s plus-plus speed should make him an asset on the bases and give him defensive value.
Drafted as a second baseman, Ewing moved to the outfield in 2024. He has made four starts at second this year but is primarily a center fielder. He should step into the everyday center field role between Benge and Juan Soto for the time being. The Mets placed Luis Robert Jr. on the injured list in late April with a disc herniation. His return timeline is uncertain. They’ve divided center field between Tyrone Taylor and Benge — with MJ Melendez drawing into the lineup in right field — since Robert went down.
Taylor’s glove has made him a favorite of president of baseball operations David Stearns, but he has a .219 OBP through his first 76 plate appearances. Melendez came out of the gates hot but is 3-19 since the calendar flipped to May. He spent most of last year in Triple-A for a Kansas City team that had one of the worst outfields in MLB.
Melendez and Taylor certainly haven’t been the Mets’ biggest problems, but they’re easy enough to bump out of the lineup. New York’s .287 on-base percentage is the worst in MLB, meaning Ewing would only need to carry over a fraction of his minor league production to be an improvement. If both he and Benge are performing once Robert is back from the injured list, the Mets could give him reps at second base over the scuffling Marcus Semien and trade some defense for offense.
Benge, Melendez, Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez are the only hitters on New York’s MLB roster who have minor league options. It seems safe to assume Benge and Alvarez aren’t getting demoted. Baty isn’t hitting but is the primary third baseman with Francisco Lindor and Ronny Mauricio hurt and Bo Bichette needed at shortstop. Melendez has been hitting third against right-handed pitching, itself an indictment of the rest of the lineup. There’s a decent chance the Mets designate someone for assignment tomorrow. Vidal Brujan, Andy Ibáñez and Austin Slater are all in bench roles.
Ewing entered the season as a Top 100 prospect at each of BA, MLB Pipeline and ESPN. He therefore meets the criteria to win himself a full year of service time if he finishes top two in Rookie of the Year voting. (The Mets cannot receive an extra draft choice because they didn’t call him up by the middle of April.) He’d otherwise fall short of a full service year and be under club control for six seasons beyond this one. He’ll be on track for early arbitration as a Super Two player during the 2028-29 offseason, but future optional assignments to Triple-A could change that trajectory.
Image courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images.
Mets Outright Eric Wagaman
The Mets have sent infielder/outfielder Eric Wagaman outright to Triple-A Syracuse, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.
Wagaman, 28, has never appeared in a big league game as a Met. He was claimed off waivers at the end of April and optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. He was briefly recalled at one point but then was optioned again without appearing in a game.
It’s possible the Mets had this outcome in mind when they claimed him. They only rostered him for about a week. Since this is Wagaman’s first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency. The Mets will therefore get to keep him in the system without him taking up a roster spot.
Both Wagaman and the Mets will presumably be focused on getting him into a nice groove at the plate. From 2022 to 2024, he made 897 plate appearances in the minors. His 9.5% walk rate and 16.9% strikeout rate in that span were both strong figures. He hit 35 home runs. He produced a combined batting line of .276/.348/.473, leading to a 131 wRC+, indicating he was 31% better than league average.
That got him up to the majors late in 2024 with the Angels and he spent the entire 2025 season in the big leagues with the Marlins. But between those two clubs, he slashed .250/.293/.381 for a wRC+ of 85. His strikeout rate was still good but he wasn’t drawing walks as much as he did on the farm. He also hit just 11 home runs in 588 plate appearances.
It’s clear that teams still see some potential. The Marlins designated him for assignment in December but they were able to get minor league pitcher Kade Bragg from the Twins in a trade. Wagaman scuffled in Triple-A to start this year, hitting .159/.284/.254 in 18 games. That led to him being designated for assignment again, this time claimed by the Mets.
If Wagaman can get back to that strong form he showed from 2022 to 2024, the Mets could consider calling him up if they have a need in the majors. Wagaman has experience at the four corner spots, though he’s played mostly first base. The Mets have the worst record in baseball at 15-25 and would be in position to sell guys at the deadline if they don’t turn things around. That’s not a position the club wants to be in but the upside is that they can experiment with fringe guys down the stretch to see if anything clicks.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Mets Sign Xzavion Curry To Minor League Deal
The Mets have added right-hander Xzavion Curry on a minor league agreement, according to his MLB transaction tracker. The veteran appeared briefly with the Marlins last year. He opened this season with Tigres de Quintana Roo of the Mexican League.
Curry has pitched in parts of the past four seasons with the Guardians and Marlins. He joined the Rockies’ organization midway through 2025 on a minor league deal, but didn’t reach the majors. Curry stumbled to a 7.97 ERA over eight starts with Triple-A Albuquerque.
Cleveland took Curry in the seventh round of the 2019 draft out of Georgia Tech. The righty missed all of 2019 with injury, then didn’t pitch in 2020 with the minor league season getting canceled. He would finally make his pro debut in 2021. Curry made quick work of the lower levels of the minors and reached the big leagues by 2022. He struggled in two starts that year, but emerged as a reliable member of the bullpen the following season. Curry posted a 4.07 across 95 innings in a swingman role.
Miami nabbed Curry off waivers in August 2024. He pitched well in nine appearances (one start), allowing six earned runs over 18 innings. Curry didn’t break camp with the club last season, but was called up in late March. He gave up a couple of runs over three frames and was sent back to Jacksonville in early April.
Curry’s pitch mix has shifted over his time in the big leagues, but the consistent theme has been a wide arsenal. He’s primarily relied on a four-seamer and two breaking balls. The veteran has also shown a changeup, splitter, and the occasional sweeper. Curry has an underwhelming 8.7% swinging-strike rate for his career. He’s struck out just 15.5% of the big leaguers he’s faced. Curry’s 4.38 career ERA comes with an xFIP and SIERA above 5.00.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Cubs Exploring Early Market For Starting Pitching
2:29pm: Levine quickly walked back his report, citing a Cubs source in adding that while the team has indeed been exploring the rotation market at large, they’ve yet to have specific discussions with the Mets regarding Peralta.
2:10pm: The Cubs, with starters Cade Horton, Matthew Boyd and Justin Steele all on the injured list (and Horton done for the season), have inquired with the struggling Mets about the potential availability of right-hander Freddy Peralta, reports Bruce Levine of 670 The Score.
The Mets have not yet shown a willingness to seriously entertain offers on Peralta, per the report, but the early interest is nonetheless somewhat notable. It shows that the Cubs are taking a proactive approach to seeking rotation help and points to some interest in Peralta, specifically, if the Mets can’t turn their season around and eventually concede to selling off some pieces. Granted, that much could more or less have been assumed; any contending team would have interest in Peralta if the Mets made him available, and Cubs skipper Craig Counsell knows Peralta especially well from the pair’s time together in Milwaukee.
Early interest on the Cubs’ behalf speaks to the current positions of both clubs. The Cubs (26-12) are in a three-way tie with the Yankees and Braves for the game’s best record. However, they lost Horton to Tommy John surgery last month. More recently, ace Justin Steele had a setback while rehabbing from his own UCL procedure, performed last April. He’s now expected to be sidelined beyond the All-Star break. Earlier this week, the Cubs announced that Boyd had suffered a partial meniscus tear that required surgery. He’s expected to be down around six weeks, but that’s only a rough timeframe. A more concrete timetable will be established as he progresses through rehab.
The Cubs’ rotation is currently being led by a resurgent Shota Imanaga, who looks much more like the 2024 version of himself than the 2025 version. Righties Edward Cabrera, Jameson Taillon, Ben Brown and Colin Rea round out the group. It’s still a serviceable quintet, but the Cubs have lost several of their top arms and would be in dire straits with another prominent injury. Depth options include Javier Assad and recent waiver pickup Doug Nikhazy. Prospects Jordan Wicks, Jaxon Wiggins, Brody McCullough and Brandon Birdsell are all on the injured list as well (Wicks in the majors, the others in the minors).
Given those injuries, it’s only natural for the Cubs to be poking around, even if the trade market isn’t likely to really gain momentum for two and a half months or so. Similarly, it’s natural for contending clubs to be taking the Mets’ temperature as they stare up from not just the NL East cellar but the MLB cellar with a 14-23 record. They’re currently tied with the Giants for the worst record in baseball, and only five clubs have a worse run differential than the Mets’ -28.
Though the Mets’ season is on life support before we’re even into mid-May, it’s not especially surprising to hear that they’re not willing to begin considering making aggressive sell-side trades at this time. Poor as their play has been, the Mets are “only” six and a half games back of a Wild Card spot. The National League standings (all of baseball so far, really) are quite top-heavy. The 21-17 Pirates hold the final Wild Card spot at present. Even an 18-20 Nationals club is only three games back. The Mets’ odds of reaching the postseason have obviously plummeted, but there’s still 77% of the season left to play. It’s sensible to wait until at least next month to see if they can turn their fortunes around.
The Mets don’t necessarily need to surge back above .500 or even close that entire 6.5-game gap in the interim. If they’ve moved closer to .500 and picked up a few games in the standings a month from now, they’ll likely wait until July to make any decisions on their deadline approach. Conversely, if they slide further and find themselves 10 to 12 games back, they might consider jumping the market to try to get a strong return for some of their more marketable trade assets — Peralta standing as the most obvious among them.
The 29-year-old Peralta (30 next month) was acquired from the Brewers in an offseason deal sending righty Brandon Sproat and infield/outfield prospect Jett Williams back to Milwaukee. His connection to Counsell is of some anecdotal note but probably shouldn’t be overemphasized. Counsell isn’t the one making the call on any trade scenarios, and his familiarity with Peralta is a nice silver lining but probably doesn’t substantially intensify any interest from the Cubs.
Peralta has gotten out to a fine start, tossing 43 1/3 innings with a 3.12 ERA, a 23.2% strikeout rate and a 9.7% walk rate. His average fastball is down about a mile per hour. He’s lost five percentage points on his strikeout rate but only a half percentage point on his swinging-strike rate. Peralta is inducing grounders at a career-high 43.7% rate and doing a nice job avoiding hard contact (87.6 mph average exit velocity, 4.1% barrel rate). He was tagged for four runs in five innings during his Mets debut but hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a start since, compiling a 2.58 ERA in that time.
Peralta is earning $8MM this season after the Brewers picked up the second club option on an early-career extension (and subsequently traded him to New York). He’ll be a free agent for the first time at season’s end. The Mets reportedly had interest in extending him this spring, but he’s said to have preferred a seven- or eight-year, long-term deal — rather than the shorter-term but higher-annual-value deal formats on which the Mets tend to focus for pitchers.
With regard to rental players of this nature, the general thinking is that a team doesn’t have to move the player at the trade deadline if he’s a clear candidate to receive and reject a qualifying offer. Peralta is a slam dunk to do so. However, while a lower-payroll team might stand to gain a compensatory pick after the first round of the draft (i.e. in the 30 to 35 range), the Mets are in a different boat as a luxury tax payor. Their compensatory pick for Peralta turning down a QO and signing elsewhere would come after the fourth round. It’s a much lower bar to clear in trade talks, and the paltry nature of that compensation might prompt the team to more actively seek a trade in a couple months, given that any return should vastly outpace a pick in the low 130s.
Of course, all of this hinges on whether the Mets can go on a run that bolsters their playoff hopes. If they can do so, there’s a good chance Peralta won’t be available at all and that the Mets will instead look to add to the roster. That increasingly feels like a long shot, but we clearly have yet to reach the point of the season where they’re making such big-picture decisions. For now, the primary takeaways should be that the Cubs are actively looking around for arms and that the Mets, brutal as their start has been, will continue to exercise patience in the near term.
Mets, Cionel Pérez Agree To Minor League Deal
The Mets and left-handed reliever Cionel Pérez are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR.com. The Octagon client will presumably head to Triple-A Syracuse once the deal is official.
Pérez opened the season in the division-rival Nationals’ bullpen. He signed a minor league deal in free agency but won a roster spot with seven shutout spring innings. He allowed only two hits and a walk during Grapefruit League play and punched out seven batters along the way.
The good vibes for Pérez didn’t last long. He tossed a scoreless frame in his Nats debut but then surrendered runs in each of his next three appearances. He struggled on and off for the next month before being designated for assignment, clearing waivers and rejecting an outright assignment in favor of free agency earlier this week. Pérez wrapped up his five-week Nationals stint with a 6.19 ERA and more walks (11) than strikeouts (nine) through 16 frames. It’s the second straight ugly year for Pérez, who had a nice 2022-24 run in Baltimore but was tagged for 20 runs in 21 2/3 innings as an Oriole last year.
Pérez, 30, originally signed with the Astros in 2017 after defecting from his native Cuba. He scuffled through some rocky seasons in Houston and Cincinnati before breaking out with the 2022 Orioles. From 2022-24 in Baltimore, Pérez notched a 3.12 ERA with a 20.2% strikeout rate and 10.6% walk rate. He picked up 57 holds and six saves during that solid run.
Pérez has never had great command, but he kept his walk rate at a manageable level during that Orioles peak. The walks and hit batters have begun to pile back up over the past few seasons. He’s given out a base on balls to 13.5% of his opponents dating back to 2024 and has plunked another seven hitters and tossed nine wild pitches in the process. On the plus side, he did add a bit of life back to his heater during his short time in Washington, bumping his average fastball back north of 96 mph (96.2); he averaged 96.6 mph from 2021-25 before dipping to 95.5 mph last year.
The Mets rank eighth in the majors in bullpen ERA, but not because of the free agent additions they brought into the fold. Both Devin Williams and Luke Weaver have struggled in the fist several weeks of the season (albeit while posting more encouraging rate stats than their ERAs would suggest). Tobias Myers, Huascar Brazoban, Brooks Raley and David Peterson — who’s moved into the ‘pen at least temporarily after struggling in the rotation — all have earned run averages south of 2.50. Craig Kimbrel, who signed a minor league deal, has allowed three runs in 7 1/3 innings while setting down 30% of his opponents on strikes.
Raley, Peterson and former starter Sean Manaea currently give Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza three options from the left side, though Manaea hasn’t pitched well. The Mets are also hoping to have A.J. Minter back soon. He’s nearing the end of a minor league rehab window and has held opponents to one earned run in 7 2/3 innings as he makes his way back from last May’s hip surgery. There’s no dire need for left-handed relief help in the Mets organization, but there’s also no harm in taking a low-cost look at a 30-year-old with a 96 mph heater who was a quality setup option for the Orioles not long ago.
Carl Edwards Jr. Elects Free Agency
Veteran righty Carl Edwards Jr. elected free agency after clearing outright waivers, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. He’d been designated for assignment by the Mets on Thursday.
Edwards had a brief stint on the active roster, pitching twice over six days. He showed well in that limited look, striking out 11 across six innings of one-run ball. Edwards issued four walks but only allowed three hits. He got swinging strikes at a massive 17.2% rate.
Those six innings matched his MLB workload last season, divided over four games between the Rangers and Angels. He failed to record an out in his lone MLB appearance in 2024. Edwards hasn’t had an extended look at the big league level since he was a member of the Nationals three years ago.
He has continued to bounce around the league via a series of minor league contracts. Edwards has been a reliever for the majority of his career but started four games for Triple-A Syracuse before the Mets called him up. He worked multiple innings in both of his MLB appearances. He should find a new minor league deal, perhaps returning to the Mets, within the coming days.
Mets Select Vidal Brujan, Designate Eric Wagaman For Assignment
The Mets are filling their void at shortstop with Vidal Brujan, who had his contract selected ahead of Sunday’s game against the Angels. The club announced first baseman Eric Wagaman has been designated for assignment to clear a 40-man spot for Brujan. Infielder Ronny Mauricio was placed on the 10-day IL with a fractured thumb, opening up room on the big-league club.
Brujan bounced around this offseason, landing with the Mets after getting DFAed by the Twins and then the Braves. He met the same fate with New York after falling short of an Opening Day roster spot, but snuck through waivers this time. The 28-year-old had a 62 wRC+ in 24 games at Triple-A Syracuse.
It’s been several years, but Brujan was once a top prospect in the Rays’ system. He debuted with Tampa Bay in 2021 and spent parts of three seasons with the club. Brujan failed to provide much more than defensive versatility and a bit of speed during his time as a Ray. He was dealt to the Marlins in a small trade in November 2023. Miami gave the infielder his longest look to date in the majors. Brujan slashed .222/.303/.319 in a career-high 278 plate appearances in 2024.
Brujan has major league experience at all four infield positions and all three outfield spots. He’s even made four appearances on the mound. The Mets need him in the infield, specifically at shortstop, and he’s been solid there. Brujan has accrued 4 Defensive Runs Saved in 363 1/3 MLB innings at the position. He posted 2 DRS in his short stint with Atlanta last season. The Mets are without star shortstop Francisco Lindor for the foreseeable future as he deals with a calf strain. Mauricio was set to take over, but now he’s injured himself.
It’s a tough blow for Mauricio, who’s also a former prospect of note. The 25-year-old didn’t make the team out of Spring Training, but made a brief cameo in early April. He came back up after the Lindor injury and assumed the everyday shortstop gig. Mauricio launched his first home run of the season on Friday. He had another hit on Saturday, an infield single that loaded the bases in a tie game. Mauricio dove headfirst into the bag on the play, resulting in the thumb injury.
Manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters, including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, that Mauricio is expected to miss 6-8 weeks. Bo Bichette slid over to shortstop yesterday after Mauricio was removed, with Brett Baty moving to third base. The former Blue Jays shortstop has played 17 innings at the position this season.
The Mets picked up Wagaman off waivers from the Twins earlier this week. He was bumped up to the big-league squad on Thursday after Luis Robert Jr. hit the injured list. Wagaman was sent right back down on Friday, with recently claimed Andy Ibáñez joining the club.
Wagaman briefly debuted with the Angels in 2024. He signed with the Marlins heading into 2025 and stumbled into a full-time gig at first base. Wagaman posted an underwhelming 85 wRC+ in 140 games with Miami. He struck out at a below-average rate and chipped in four steals, but didn’t provide the power typically associated with corner infielders, with just nine home runs and a .128 ISO. Wagaman posted a -1 DRS across 862 1/3 innings at the cold corner. The Mets have five days to trade Wagaman or place him on waivers. Wagaman is still in the first of his three minor league option years, which may encourage another team to submit a claim or work out a trade.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Mets Sign Luis Torrens To Two-Year Contract Extension
The Mets and catcher Luis Torrens have agreed to a two-year, $11.5MM contract extension, according to The Athletic’s Will Sammon. The deal breaks down as $5.75MM in each of the 2027 and 2028 seasons, as per the New York Post’s Jon Heyman, plus another $2MM is available in bonuses. Torrens is represented by Octagon.
Torrens was set to become a free agent at season’s end, but the new deal will keep him in Queens through the 2028 season. Today is Torrens’ 30th birthday, so landing the first multi-year contract of his nine-year career in the majors is quite the present for the veteran catcher. Acquired in a cash transaction from the Yankees in May 2024, Torrens has hit .225/.281/.347 over 444 plate appearances and 152 games in a Mets uniform.
Francisco Alvarez‘s injury-plagued 2025 season opened the door for Torrens to receive a lot of regular playing time. Torrens’ 92 games played in 2025 was the second-highest total of his career, after his 108 appearances with the Mariners in 2021. Over Torrens’ other seven seasons in the majors, however, he played in only 221 games, limited to backup or part-time duty.
The $11.5MM price tag may seem steep for a light-hitting backup catcher, yet Torrens is also one of baseball’s better defensive backstops. Torrens was a finalist for NL Gold Glove honors at the catching position in 2025, with Statcast crediting him with +11 Catching Runs for his excellent framing and outstanding ability to gun down baserunners. Since the start of the 2024 season, Torrens has thrown out 37 of 84 baserunners attempting to steal.
While Torrens’ extension pales in comparison to the other big contracts on the Mets’ books, it does represent another notable outlay given the team’s luxury tax situation. Because this will be New York’s fifth straight season exceeding the highest level of tax penalization, the club is paying a 110% levy on any new spending, so Torrens’ contract comes with a $12.65MM tax bill. Given how badly the Mets have struggled in 2026, the team could be deadline sellers, but it remains to be seen how much (if any) payroll reduction might take place that could impact their tax status to any great extent.
Stearns: No Plans To Make Managerial Change
The Mets are out to an awful start, which is a situation that often puts a manager in the hot seat. However, president of baseball operations David Stearns downplayed the likelihood of manager Carlos Mendoza getting the sack. “We know our record is not what we want, and we know we are capable of more,” Stearns told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. “We don’t view this as a manager problem, and we don’t intend to make a change.”
The spotlight seemed to pivot to Mendoza in the past week when manager firing season began. The Red Sox got things started by canning Alex Cora last weekend, giving the interim job to Chad Tracy. The Phillies followed suit by letting Rob Thomson go. That job was offered to Cora but he declined, so Don Mattingly has taken over on an interim basis.
Like the Red Sox and Phillies, the Mets came into the 2026 season with every intention of contending but have fallen flat in the early going. Despite having the second-highest payroll in baseball, behind the Dodgers, the Mets have the worst record in baseball at 10-21.
How much blame lies at the feet of the manager in such situations is something that has been debated throughout baseball history and that will surely continue to be the case. A skipper certainly does make some decisions that impact results, such as setting the lineup and making pitching changes, but how much those things can actually impact the win-loss is debatable. Some feel a manager’s job as a strategist is essential while others feel that role is overblown and a skipper is more about being a motivational clubhouse leader.
In the case of the Mets, one could take either side of the debate. As a team, the Mets are hitting .227/.289/.342 this year. That results in a wRC+ of 80, indicating the entire team is 20% below league average. They’re the worst team in the majors in that category. Eight guys on the team have taken at least 70 plate appearances, a group that doesn’t include Juan Soto since he spent time on the IL. Of those eight, Francisco Alvarez is the team leader with a 104 wRC+. Bo Bichette, Marcus Semien, Brett Baty and Carson Benge are all below 70.
The pitching is a bit better but still not great. Their 4.17 earned run average is very middle of the pack, putting them 15th out of the 30 teams in the majors. David Peterson, Sean Manaea and Kodai Senga have each posted ERAs north of 6.00 in samples of 20 innings or more. Devin Williams and Luke Weaver were supposed to be the lockdown bullpen arms but Williams has an ERA of 8.00 and Weaver is at 6.00.
An endless debate could be had about what role Mendoza plays in those numbers. One side could argue a manager should find ways to wring better results from his players. The other camp could say the manager can only do so much if the players aren’t performing. Stearns has been consistent in his viewpoint. “I think Mendy’s doing a very good job,” Stearns said two weeks ago, per SNY Mets. “I think Mendy is putting players in position to succeed and we need to go out and play better.” Today’s comments echo those.
It will be unwelcome news for those who want heads to roll but it seems the Mets don’t view the manager as the key issue, at least for now. If the struggles continue, it’s possible the club’s desire to make a change will grow.
Mendoza is in the final guaranteed year of his three-year contract. They won 89 games in 2024 and went to the NLCS. Last year, they were on an even better pace for most of the year. They were 62-47 through July but had an awful August and September, going 21-32. That put them at 83-79 and just outside the playoff picture. Mendoza’s deal has a club option for 2027. The events of the coming months will determine if that seems likely to be picked up.
Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images
Mets Claim Andy Ibáñez
The Mets have claimed infielder/outfielder Andy Ibáñez off waivers from the Athletics, per an announcement from the A’s. Francys Romero of BeisbolFR reported the move prior to the official announcement. The A’s designated him for assignment a few days ago. The Mets have an open 40-man spot after designating Carl Edwards Jr. for assignment earlier today. Ibáñez is out of options and will need to jump onto the active roster, so they will need to make a corresponding move in that regard when he reports to the team.
Ibáñez, 33, is a utility guy who provides defensive versatility. His offense has been mercurial and is currently at a low ebb. He had solid seasons in 2021 and 2023, with a swoon in 2022. Over the 2024 and 2025 campaigns, he slashed .240/.297/.355 for the Tigers. That production led to an 85 wRC+, indicating he was 15% worse than league average. Detroit could have retained him via arbitration but non-tendered him instead, sending him to free agency.
Teams around the league still believe in his potential. The Dodgers signed him to a one-year, $1.2MM deal in January. The designated him for assignment a couple of weeks later, which may seem odd, but was by design.
Ibáñez has just over three years of service time. Players with at least three years of service have the right to reject outright assignments after clearing waivers. However, if they have less than five, they have to walk away from their salary commitments. The Dodgers were hoping that the contract was enough for other teams to pass on him. Once he passed through waivers, he wouldn’t want to walk away from the $1.2MM, so he would surely stick around as non-roster depth.
The A’s interrupted that plan, claiming him back in February. He stuck around for a few weeks but hit .118/.167/.118 in 18 plate appearances. Despite that poor showing in recent weeks, the Mets are going to take a shot on him.
Ibáñez will at least provide some flexibility off the bench. He has experience at all four infield spots and the outfield corners. His shortstop work consists of just nine innings but he has over 1,000 innings at second base and almost 800 at third, with good numbers to boot. Combining that with improved offense would be ideal but it’s been a few years. His most recent above-average offensive season was 2023, when he hit .264/.312/.433 for a 103 wRC+.
The Mets have operated with narrow infield flexibility for much of this year. They opened the campaign with Francisco Lindor at shortstop, Marcus Semien at second and Bo Bichette at third. First base has been shared by a rotation of Jorge Polanco, Mark Vientos, Jared Young and Brett Baty. with Young and Baty also playing some outfield. The Mets have mostly been playing without a bench infielder. Bichette was effectively the backup for Lindor, while guys like Baty or Vientos could cover third for Bichette. Baty could also cover second if Semien missed time.
The picture has been shuffled in recent weeks. Lindor, Polanco and Young have all hit the IL recently, as has outfielder Luis Robert Jr. That leaves the Mets with Ronny Mauricio at short, while Bichette and Semien still hold their positions. Mauricio has struck out in nine of his 22 plate appearances so far this year. The Mets called up infielder/outfielder Eric Wagaman today when Robert hit the IL but Wagaman is more of a corner guy. Ibáñez gives them some more cover in the middle infield. Wagaman has options and could be sent back out when Ibáñez joins the team.
Photo courtesy of Scott Marshall, Imagn Images