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Jared Porter Placed On Ineligible List

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In January of this year, revelations about Jared Porter’s harassment of a female reporter surfaced not long after he was hired as the Mets general manager. The news brought issues of sexual harassment in baseball into the spotlight, prompting questions not only about the Mets’ hiring process, but about accountability throughout baseball — a process that is still very much in the beginning stages. Once Porter’s sexual misconduct was made public, he was fired by the Mets, just weeks after his hiring date.

Major League Baseball began an investigation into the case at that time, and today announced that Porter has been placed on the league’s ineligible list. Porter will be eligible to apply for reinstatement following the 2022 season. Those are, of course, the official terms; it would seem highly unlikely that Porter has much of a future in baseball, even if he is eventually reinstated.

Commissioner Rob Manfred released the following statement: “My office has completed its investigation into alleged inappropriate conduct by Jared Porter.  Having reviewed all of the available evidence, I have concluded that Mr. Porter violated MLB’s policies, and that placement on the Ineligible List is warranted.  We are committed to providing an appropriate work environment consistent with our values for all those involved in our game.“

Roster Notes: Mariners, Tigers, Indians, Rockies, Mets

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The Mariners have reinstated Marco Gonzales from the paternity list, the team announced. Donovan Walton has been optioned to Triple-A to create the roster spot. Gonzalez was gone for just a couple of days, and he’ll step right back into his rotation spot. Walton, meanwhile, has appeared in 21 games and posted a .205/.254/.365 line.

Let’s make the rounds and check in on some roster moves and injury updates…

  • The Tigers and Indians will play a doubleheader today, meaning both teams get to add a 27th man for the day. The Indians have brought up infielder Owen Miller, per Mandy Bell (via Twitter). The Tigers, meanwhile, will add Derek Hill, who only recently has been healthy enough to return from the injured list.
  • Ryan Castellani has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A, the Rockies announced. Castellani made one start for the Rockies this year, tossing 3 1/3 innings and allowing two earned runs. The 25-year-old will look to put together more productive outings in Triple-A where he owns a 7.82 ERA across 35 2/3 innings.
  • Mets infielders Jonathan Villar and J.D. Davis will both begin rehab assignments with the Syracuse Mets today, tweets Tim Britton of The Athletic. What began as a hand contusion has ended up keeping Davis out for all but 14 games of the season thus far. Villar filled in ably for much of the year, but he, too, went down with a calf strain. Both now appear to be on the mend.

Mets Designate Jerad Eickhoff For Assignment

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The Mets announced they’ve recalled left-hander Thomas Szapucki from Triple-A Syracuse. Righty Jerad Eickhoff was designated for assignment to create active roster space.

It’s the first big league call for Szapucki. New York’s fifth-round pick out of a Florida high school back in 2015, he’s been regarded as one of the more promising pitching prospects in the system for the past few years. Szapucki carved up low minors hitters over his first few pro seasons, drawing praise from scouts for low-mid 90s velocity and a pair of quality breaking balls. Unfortunately, he required Tommy John surgery in July 2017, knocking him out of action for almost two seasons.

Szapucki returned in 2019 and performed well across two levels of A-ball before earning a brief promotion to Double-A at the end of the season. Obviously, he didn’t log any game action last year due to the COVID-19 forced cancelation of the minor league season. Instead, he spent all of 2020 at the alternate training site, where reports suggested his velocity had fallen into the high 80s.

The injuries and diminished velocity took a small hit to Szapucki’s prospect status. He entered 2021 as Baseball America’s #16 farmhand in the organization, while Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs slotted him tenth in the system. Both outlets offered continued praise for his curveball, and Longenhagen noted that Szapucki’s velocity had bounced back into the low 90s during Spring Training 2021. He’s tossed 34 2/3 innings with Syracuse this season, working to a 4.41 ERA with a decent 23.8% strikeout rate but an elevated 13.8% walk percentage. Szapucki could be an option for a Mets rotation that lost Joey Lucchesi to Tommy John surgery last week.

When Lucchesi first went down, the Mets turned to Eickhoff. They were plenty familiar with the 30-year-old, who pitched for the division-rival Phillies from 2015-19. Eickhoff looked like a competent back-of-the-rotation starter early in his Philadelphia tenure, but he struggled over his last three seasons there and didn’t pitch in the majors last year.

Eickhoff’s return with the Mets lasted just two starts. Across ten innings, he allowed five runs on eleven hits (including an alarming four homers) with six strikeouts and four walks. The Mets will have a week to trade him or place him on waivers. Should Eickhoff clear outright waivers, he’d have the right to reject a minor league assignment and become a free agent.

Minor MLB Transactions: 6/27/21

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The latest minor moves around the league:

  • Right-hander Joe Harvey has elected free agency after clearing outright waivers, according to his transactions log at MLB.com. The 29-year-old reliever was designated for assignment by the Rockies earlier in the week. He hasn’t pitched in an MLB game this season, but he combined for 21 1/3 innings of 4.22 ERA/5.25 SIERA ball with Colorado and the Yankees between 2019-20.
  • Outfielder Mason Williams has also elected free agency after clearing waivers earlier this week, per his MLB.com transactions log. The 29-year-old garnered brief time with the Mets this season, appearing in 17 games while the big league team was dealing with a series of outfield injuries. Williams has reached the big leagues in each of the past seven seasons- logging time with both New York clubs, the Reds and the Orioles along the way- but he’s only tallied a total of 289 MLB plate appearances. The left-handed hitter owns a .265/.308/.366 line with four home runs at the highest level.

Mets Place Jonathan Villar On 10-Day Injured List, Recall Travis Blankenhorn

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The Mets placed infielder Jonathan Villar on the 10-day injured list with a sore right calf, per MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (via Twitter). In a corresponding move, Travis Blankenhorn has been recalled from Triple-A. The Mets officially made the move after game one of today’s doubleheader against the Phillies.

Villar was somewhat of an afterthought as a winter addition this past offseason, but injuries to Jeff McNeil and J.D. Davis thrust Villar into a central role. Villar has started 47 of the Mets’ 70 games, mostly at third base, a position he hadn’t played since 2016. He’s been passable defensively, if not exactly a revelation with -2 Outs Above Average and -1 Defensive Runs Saved. Villar has long been considered a subpar defender, though capable enough and versatile, which is more or less exactly what he’s been on that end for the Mets this season.

Where Villar typically hopes to add the most value is on the offensive end. He’s delivered with a .246/.333/.410 line through 208 plate appearances, good for a 110 wRC+. Villar’s bat will be missed, though McNeil’s recent return should provide enough thump to maintain the status quo – if not improve upon it.

Luis Guillorme will likely take on some of Villar’s responsibilities. Despite a mark of -3 DRS in just 72 2/3 innings at third base this season, Guillorme is considered to be a glove-first contributor who should ultimately bolster the Mets’ defense in Villar’s absence. He doesn’t, however, offer as much with the bat. That said, he’s certainly been decent enough with a career 99 wRC+ and 118 wRC+ mark in 62 plate appearances this year.

Blankenhorn, 24, could also be an option. The well0-traveled Blankenhorn has often seen his name scrawled across the MLBTR pages this season. Since being recalled to the Twins active roster on April 20th, Blankenhorn was optioned, designated for assignment, claimed by the Dodgers, designated for assignment, claimed by the Mariners, optioned, DFA’d again, claimed by the Mets, and optioned again. The Pennsylvania native made a pretty good argument for keeping him permanently on the Mets roster, however, by slashing .389/.538/.944 in 26 plate appearances spanning seven games for the Syracuse Mets.

 

Mets Claim Chance Sisco

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The Mets have claimed catcher Chance Sisco off waivers from the Orioles, per team announcements from both clubs. The Orioles had designated him for assignment last week. The Mets moved J.D. Davis to the 60-day injured list to clear a roster spot for Sisco, who has been optioned to Triple-A Syracuse for the time being.

Today’s claim brings to an end Sisco’s tenure with the Orioles, who selected him in the second round of the 2013 draft. The left-handed hitting backstop raked up through Double-A over the next few seasons, eventually earning himself a place on top prospect lists. Baseball America ranked Sisco among the back half of the league’s top 100 minor league talents entering the 2017 and 2018 campaigns, with the expectation that Sisco would cement himself as a bat-first regular behind the dish.

To this point, however, Sisco hasn’t carried that offensive promise over to the highest level. He tallied 598 major league plate appearances with Baltimore over the past five seasons, managing just a cumulative .199/.319/.339 line. He’s popped sixteen home runs and walked at a strong 10.2% clip, but Sisco has become increasingly strikeout prone as he’s climbed to the highest level. He’s gone down on strikes in 32.3% of his MLB plate appearances. Advanced defensive metrics have panned his work behind the plate, which was also a concern for some scouts as he worked his way up the ladder.

While Sisco hasn’t yet proven a valuable big leaguer, there’s little harm for the Mets in placing a claim on an obviously talented player. He’s still just 26 years old and has a decent .264/.352/.421 slash line in 805 career plate appearances at Triple-A. As mentioned, he can also be optioned for the remainder of the year, so the Mets can keep him in Syracuse as high minors’ depth if he remains on the 40-man roster all season.

Davis’ transfer to the 60-day IL is largely a procedural move. It rules him out for 60 days from the time of his initial IL placement (May 3). He’ll be eligible to return on July 1. General manager Zack Scott told reporters (including Tim Britton of the Athletic) earlier this week that Davis could embark on a minor league rehab assignment within a week or two.

Mets Purchase Vance Worley’s Contract

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The Mets have purchased the contract of right-hander Vance Worley from the independent Kane County Cougars, as announced yesterday via the Cougars’ official Twitter feed.  Worley will report to the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate in Syracuse.

This is Worley’s second stint in the Mets organization, as he signed a minor league deal with the team back in April 2018.  He didn’t see any big league action, however, and ended up being released just two months later after elbow problems limited him to just 16 2/3 innings of work with the Mets’ Triple-A team.  That represented Worley’s last bit of on-field action until his work with Kane County this year, as a deal with the independent Somerset Patriots in 2020 fell through after the pandemic canceled the Patriots’ season.

Worley posted a 4.09 ERA/4.23 SIERA over 667 career innings with five different teams from 2010-17.  The 33-year-old is probably best remembered for his career-opening three-year stint with the Phillies, which included a third-place finish in NL Rookie Of The Year voting in 2011.  Never a hard thrower or a big strikeout pitcher, Worley nevertheless lasted eight years in the majors by keeping batters off-balance with a four-pitch (and occasionally even a five-pitch) arsenal.

With the Mets currently shorthanded by a number of pitching injuries, there’s little harm for the club in picking up a veteran arm for some extra depth.  It remains to be seen if Worley will actually get a call back to the Show, as it is possible Marcus Stroman’s recent hip issue won’t be serious enough to merit an IL trip or even a missed start.

Mets Activate Michael Conforto, Select Corey Oswalt

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The Mets announced a series of roster moves before this evening’s game against the Braves. As expected, outfielder Michael Conforto has been activated from the injured list. He is in tonight’s lineup, hitting third while playing right field. Right-handers Tylor Megill (previously reported) and Corey Oswalt have been officially selected to the roster. (Andy Martino of SNY reported that Oswalt would be promoted before the official announcement).

Righties Yennsy Díaz and Sean Reid-Foley were optioned to Triple-A Syracuse, while catcher Tomás Nido has been placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to June 22, due to a right wrist contusion. To clear 40-man roster space for Megill and Oswalt, pitchers Joey Lucchesi and Robert Gsellman were transferred from the 10-day to the 60-day injured list.

Conforto has been out since May 17 with a hamstring strain. He’ll return to the lineup for the first time in more than a month, looking to improve upon his early-season output. Conforto, who hit .261/.365/.478 between 2018-20, started this season a bit slowly by his standards. Across 135 plate appearances, the left-handed hitter managed a .230/.356/.336 line that’s been only slightly better than league average, a drop-off from his high-end production in prior years. The next few months will be pivotal for Conforto, who is scheduled to reach free agency at the end of the season.

Oswalt becomes the latest addition to a pitching staff that has been hit hard by injuries. The 27-year-old appeared for the Mets in each season from 2018-20, working to a composite 6.19 ERA/4.83 SIERA across 84 1/3 innings. He served as something of a flexible swing option, starting 13 of his 23 MLB appearances.

New York passed Oswalt through outright waivers in February, and he’s spent the 2021 season with Syracuse. He’s made six appearances, none of which has eclipsed 3 1/3 innings, working mostly as a multi-inning reliever. Given that he hasn’t really been stretched out this year, Oswalt seems more likely to serve as long relief depth than as a true starter, although it’s possible he could work as an opener or tandem starter of some sort. Megill, on the other hand, has worked as a more traditional starter in the minors and is ticketed to start tonight’s game against Atlanta.

Gsellman went on the IL with a lat strain earlier this week, and he never seemed especially likely to return anytime soon. General manager Zack Scott told reporters (including Tim Britton of the Athletic) that Gsellman won’t even begin a throwing program for at least six weeks. That likely ruled him out until late August at the earliest, so there’s little reason for the Mets not to transfer the righty to the 60-day IL with the need for 40-man roster space. Lucchesi, meanwhile, will undergo Tommy John surgery tomorrow and miss the rest of the year (and most or all of 2022).

Nido has tallied 91 plate appearances this season, hitting at a passable .238/.297/.393 clip. A recent MRI on his injured wrist didn’t reveal any structural damage, manager Luis Rojas told reporters (including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com) this afternoon. Nevertheless, it seems he’ll need a few days to recuperate. Patrick Mazeika is on hand to back up starter James McCann in the interim.

Marcus Stroman Optimistic He Can Make His Next Start

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June 23, 3:08 pm: Stroman is still dealing with soreness in his hip, but he’s hopeful he’ll be able to make his next start, manager Luis Rojas tells reporters (including Thosar).

June 23, 11:15 am: Stroman underwent an MRI today, and MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports that the imaging came back clean. There’s no structural damage for Stroman, which should rule out a lengthy absence. Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News tweets that Stroman is day-to-day.

June 22: Mets right-hander Marcus Stroman left this evening’s start against the Braves in the second inning after a visit from the trainer. The club later announced he’s dealing with left hip soreness. Yennsy Díaz came on in relief to replace him.

There’s no indication at this point that his departure was anything more than precautionary, but it’s nevertheless a concerning development. Given the current state of their rotation, the Mets can scarcely afford a lengthy absence from Stroman. Jacob deGrom has been otherworldly, and Taijuan Walker has been very good in his own right. Even before Stroman’s departure, though, there was plenty of uncertainty at the back of the rotation. David Peterson has struggled to a 5.31 ERA, and the final spot is already a question mark. Joey Lucchesi will undergo Tommy John surgery this week, with veteran Jerad Eickhoff and prospect Thomas Szapucki among the potential replacements. Tylor Megill, who has performed well over three starts at Triple-A Syracuse, is among the players under consideration for a promotion, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com (Twitter link).

At 37-30, the Mets are leading the National League East by four games. The front office looks likely to be on the hunt for starting pitching in the coming weeks, and that urgency will only be heightened if Stroman requires an IL stint. It’s also a critical year for Stroman, who is scheduled to hit free agency at season’s end after accepting an $18.9MM qualifying offer last winter. To this point, his decision to bet on himself has looked wise, as Stroman has tossed 85 2/3 innings of 2.31 ERA/3.55 FIP ball.

Mets To Select Tylor Megill

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The Mets are planning to select the contract of right-hander Tylor Megill, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com was among those to pass along. He’ll start tomorrow evening’s game against the Braves.

New York’s eighth-round pick in 2018 out of the University of Arizona, Megill entered 2021 in the back half of the Mets top thirty prospects, in the estimation of both Baseball America and Eric Longenhagen of FanGraphs. He can run his fastball into the mid-high 90s, per evaluators, with generally average secondary stuff. Both BA and FanGraphs suggest Megill’s more likely to settle in as a reliever long-term, but he’ll break into the majors as a starter.

Over parts of three minor league seasons, Megill has worked to a solid 3.41 ERA with a stellar 32.1% strikeout rate and an average 8.8% walk percentage. The 25-year-old has been fantastic in the high minors this year. Between Double-A Binghamton (26 innings) and Triple-A Syracuse (14 1/3 frames), he’s worked to a 3.35 ERA with a whopping 36% strikeout rate and a better than average 7.3% walk rate. That performance has earned him his first big league call.

Megill isn’t on the 40-man roster, so the Mets will need to make a corresponding move to formally select his contract. That can be done by transferring lefty Joey Lucchesi to the 60-day injured list. Lucchesi will undergo Tommy John surgery on Thursday.

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