Aug. 14: The Mets placed Hechavarria on release waivers today, tweets MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. He’ll be a free agent once he clears in 48 hours.
Aug. 9: The Mets have designated infielder Adeiny Hechavarria for assignment to make room for newly signed second baseman Joe Panik, the team announced.
The 30-year-old Hechavarria joined the Mets on a minor league contract last offseason. There hasn’t actually been a huge difference between him and Panik this year. Hechavarria has slashed .204/.252/.359 (62 wRC+) with minus-0.2 fWAR in 151 plate appearances. Panik has batted .235/.310/.317 (69 wRC+) with minus-0.2 fWAR in 388 PA. Nevertheless, the Mets will go with Panik, leaving the defensively gifted Hechavarria hoping he catches on with another franchise.
Hechavarria has played second base, shortstop and third base with the Mets this season but is best known for his quality glovework at shortstop. He’s never been much of a threat at the plate, as can be seen with a glance at his .252/.288/.346 career batting line, but he could be a versatile bench addition for a club looking to upgrade its infield defense.
should have been .096 hitting aaron altherr…
They don’t play the same position
What difference does position make in this case?? If Panik plays, McNeil goes back to the OF every day – Altherr’s absence would make no difference. If they need another OF, Rajai Davis came off of the IL in Syracuse this week. He has outhit Altherr at the major league level this year, he’s a much better defender who can play a legit CF, and he’s an excellent baserunner – all the things you would want in a bench player. .
Well said. I would rather have the experience and the outfield flexibility and the baserunnjng ability of Rajai Davis, than the “power potential” of Aaron “Well below the Mendoza line” Altherr. Our pitchers IN AGGREGATE hit better than he does. WTH? The meat heads who crunch numbers don’t value the stolen base, but DUH isnt that how Kansas City had us in knots to win the 2015 World Series.
Actually it’s .075. How he’s still in the majors is beyond me…
Tim Tebow might be better than Altherr
Absolutely!
no, hech was the right move. he was due to earn a $1 mil signing bonus which could be used towards a dfa’d reliever
That analysis has very little basis in reality. If you look around, DFA’d players with salaries aren’t being claimed much. Teams are waiting for them to clear waivers so the team only has to pay him the (approx.) $165,000 at this point in the season – the prorated percentage of the major league minimum salary. The players former team would be responsible for the rest. Given the Mets history, I suppose the $1M might have been the team’s reason. But thats far different from it being “the right move”.
So much for all those people this morning saying they would rather see Hech as their 2b instead of Panik
One of the worst hitters you’ll ever see
Lifetime .250 hitter? Far from the worst
hech has a better war then panik lol go figure
Hech might be slightly better than Panik, but more than likely, neither is the answer. I do, however, think a team is more likely to catch lightning in a bottle with a guy changing teams than they are with a guy who is already on the team and not getting the job done.
In addition, Panik adds depth on a longer term basis: he still has one year of arb left, while Hech was going to be a free agent anyway.
Panik is the better hitter by a small margin but Hech is a far better defender.
Shocked by this. I thought Altherr would be gone.
I understand now that Hech was due a $1M roster bonus tomorrow, so it makes sense.
There’s always a $ reason with the Wilpons.
You should have
spelled it rea$on…..
Perfect BVW must be proud
Lol
LFGM
Roflmao
Yes also makes sense because if he gets claimed off waivers then acquiring team will pay for rest of season.
The one thing not mentioned here is that Hechavarria has been AWFUL recently he is 2 for his last 35.
The puzzling this is NO ONE needed to be designated. Franklin Kilome, a AA pitcher who had TJ surgery in late October is still sitting on the TEN day IL. He could have been moved to the 60-day to make room for Panik on the 40-man, and Guillorme, who still can’t hit major league pitching, could have been optioned down.
Yeah, why DIDNT rhey 60-day IL the guy?
It’s official. The Mets are Paniking.
Panik might just need a change of scenery. He’s won a gold glove, he puts the ball in play, he dropped some muscle from last year so he could be more agile this year. He’s a good dude. Let’s see how the next 80 days go before we make proclamations. Coming home might do him good. Low risk signing, we will miss him in SF. Good luck, Joe!
I agree with 22jclark Panik is a New York boy and played college ball at St.Johns.So returning home might revive his stroke.Also has World Series experience .
Surprising that Connor Byrne missed the 100 day roster bonus angle. The $1 million is part of the story.
Could you please start up the DFA tracker again. It is really convenient to keep track of all the roster moves around the MLB
Slightly shocked. I thought I read his deal required him to accept the assignment. Maybe they decided after what they went through with Mesoraco that they didn’t want any more bad blood.
I see what happened with Swihart. Does Hech forfeit the remainder of his $3M contract by going on release waivers?
For a 1 in 29 chance, the Dodgers will claim Adeiny Hechavarria.
He’s far better than Ruben Tejada.
A gifted shortstop,but this is the type of utility player whose position has lost out to the extra 2 or 3 relievers in the last 10-15 years.
Hope the braves sign him. SS has been horrible defensively since Swanson got hurt, and Adeiny would at least provide some stability there.
hechavarria was having almost the same season as cano, except for cano’s one big game, and at 19 million dollars cheaper.