Mets left-hander Jerry Blevins has cleared revocable trade waivers and is eligible to be dealt to any team, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). It’s unclear whether Blevins only recently passed through waivers unclaimed or it happened earlier this month, but any interested parties would need to acquire Blevins before Sept. 1 (Saturday) in order for him to be eligible for the postseason. The veteran lefty joins a growing list of players reported to have cleared revocable waivers.
Blevins, 34, has pitched to a 3.86 ERA with 8.7 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, 1.01 HR/9 and a career-low 21.9 percent ground-ball rate through 35 innings. He’s had a strangely ineffective season against left-handed opponents, however, as same-handed batters have clobbered Blevins to the tune of a .297/.384/.508 batting line. That’s a significant departure from the norm for the veteran Blevins, who has held lefty batters to a putrid .212/.273/.319 slash (even including this year’s struggles).
A free agent at season’s end, Blevins is playing the 2018 season on a $7MM base salary. He’s still owed about $1.23MM of that sum over the final few weeks of the season — a steep sum for a handful of appearances for a specialist bullpen piece. However, now that Blevins has gone unclaimed, the Mets are also free to include some cash in a potential deal in order to help facilitate a trade.
Rosenthal also suggests that infielder Wilmer Flores, whom Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported to have cleared waivers last week, is another potential trade piece over the next 36 hours. Flores is controlled through next season, so there’s no real urgency to move him as there would be with Blevins, but he’s a solid bat capable of fielding multiple infield positions, making him a potential fit for contenders on the hunt for a right-handed hitter.
I like Wilmer, but saying that he’s “capable of fielding” multiple infield positions is really stretching the definition of both ‘capable’ and ‘fielding.’ He’s not awful at 1B. However, even if he used to be a stopgap at other positions, he isn’t anymore. His throwing has become such a liability (even at first). You could put him at third or second in an emergency and he probably wouldn’t let a ball hit right at him go through his legs.
You hit it pretty well. I personally never understood the affinity that our fans have for the guy. Good hitter against lefties (with exception to this season), but fielding just as bad, if not worse, than Daniel Murphy. Having Flores playing 1B and Bruce is just blocking Dom Smith and Alonso, regardless of what this idiotic front office says. Dom should be playing regular innings at 1B instead of these two players who don’t factor into the future of the team.
Agreed. I guess with Bruce there is the argument that you might see if he can do it, since they’re kind of stuck with him. I still don’t get signing him—nothing against him, he’s serviceable on the right team if healthy, just not the Mets.
Jerry “Be Home By” Blevin(s).
A play on the ol’ Bert Blyleven, if you will.
“O-do-be Young Again” McDowell still the best…..
All this little stuff…..America wants to know…..Did Refsnyder clear???????
Seems like the Mets are uncomfortable with anyone on the team hitting over .270.