Mets Make Two Waiver Claims; Place D’Arnaud, Flores, Three Others On Revocable Waivers

The Mets have made waiver claims on two unknown players, Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News reports, though they haven’t been able to work out a trade with either player’s team.  One of the players is a relief pitcher, which isn’t surprising given how the Mets were unable to land a desired bullpen upgrade prior to the August 1 trade deadline.  Teams have 48.5 hours to work out a trade once a player is claimed, and it is unclear if that deadline has already in the case of either player claimed by the Mets, or if the club still has time to work something out.  The fact that trades were being discussed between the two sides implies that the Amazins had at least some interest in the players, and the claims weren’t made just to block a rival club.

In other Mets waiver news, Ackert hears from an industry source that the club has also placed five players on revocable waivers: catcher Travis d’Arnaud, infielder Wilmer Flores, utilityman Ty Kelly and relievers Erik Goeddel and Josh Edgin.  The New York Post’s Mike Puma reports (Twitter link) that the Mets will eventually put their entire roster on waivers throughout August, a procedural move commonly used by several teams so they can either gauge the market for several players or keep hidden the identities of the players they’re actually interested in trading.  As a team can pull back any claimed player, it costs the Mets nothing to put their entire club on the waiver wire.

Still, d’Arnaud’s presence in the first wave of Mets waiver placements is notable given that the catcher has already been linked to one high-profile trade rumor prior to the deadline.  New York reportedly offered d’Arnaud to the Brewers both straight-up and as part of a trade package for Jonathan Lucroy, prior to Lucroy eventually being dealt to the Rangers.  D’Arnaud has shown glimpses of his hitting potential when healthy, though those instances have been rather few and far between, as d’Arnaud has been plagued by multiple injuries over his brief MLB career.  While it’s understandable that the Mets would be interested in parting with d’Arnaud for a proven star like Lucroy, it’s fair to wonder if the Mets are considering parting ways with d’Arnaud entirely since he can’t seem to stay healthy.