The Mets have agreed to a minor league contract with reliever R.J. Alvarez, according to the club’s transactions log at MLB.com. Minor league free agents are still permitted to sign non-roster deals during the lockout, and the MiLB season will begin on time in spite of today’s announcement the MLB campaign will not open as scheduled.
Alvarez has appeared in a pair of big league seasons, suiting up with the Padres and A’s between 2014-15. He combined to work 28 innings over 31 outings, posting a 7.39 ERA while struggling with walks and home runs. Alvarez averaged 95.2 MPH on his fastball during that time, however, and he induced swinging strikes on a decent 12.1% of total offerings.
Since his time in the majors, Alvarez has bounced between a few Triple-A affiliates. He spent last season in the Brewers system, working to a 4.08 ERA in 35 1/3 innings with their top farm team in Nashville. The right-hander fanned a solid 26.5% of batters faced at that level but issued walks at a slightly elevated 10.8% clip. That’s more or less in line with his career work at the minors’ highest level. He owns a 4.20 ERA in parts of six Triple-A seasons, pairing a 26.8% strikeout percentage with an 11.7% walk rate.
I’ve been waiting for this signing all off season! We finally got him! Let’s Go Mets!
This guy is the relief Minor League version of Edwin Jackson.
Then I guess you’re saying this guy has a few good seasons in him lol
Good Minor League seasons.
He was fun to watch in the minors, a lil bit animated and threw the cheddar
He had a few good major league seasons in case you didn’t know
Why even bother signing, reporting, caring?
My sentiments exactly
If it’s good enough to post a comment, and you’re a reader … then why wouldn’t it be good enough to write about, if you’re a writer? Every single time there’s some very minor piece of news reported, there’s always a couple of you guys that criticize the site for reporting it. If you only want significant transaction news, then go check out mlb.com or something of that nature. Instead, you take the time to comment on a piece of news that you’re complaining isn’t significant. It’s weird.
My reply was to the fact that there probably won’t even be a season and the reporting is ignoring the elephant in the room – you know, the lockout.
Fair
I like this signing. I’m all about signing as many of these no risk fliers as we can. If even one of them pans out, we added a crucial bullpen piece for nothing. It happens all the time in baseball with relievers. These guys figure something out and then all the sudden become good. Maybe it only lasts a year, but sometimes it lasts longer. Either way, why not?
Nice ERA.
Roy Emilio. So basically, Roy junior, I guess. Sorry. Had to look that up. RJ