The Mets have announced a series of roster moves, including selecting the contract of right-hander Connor Grey. Additionally, catcher Tomas Nido has been cleared to return from the COVID-19 IL, retaking his place on the roster. To make room on the active roster, left-hander Nate Fisher has been designated for assignment and right-hander Jose Butto has been optioned down to Triple-A Syracuse. Left-hander Rob Zastryzny was designated for assignment to open up another spot on the 40-man.
Grey, 28, was selected by the Diamondbacks in the 20th round of the 2016 draft. He got as high as Triple-A in Arizona’s system but was released in May of 2020. After reaching free agency, he signed a minor league deal with the Mets. This year, he’s made 12 appearances for the Triple-A Syracuse Mets, 11 of those being starts. In 93 innings, he has a 5.52 ERA, 17.9% strikeout rate, 9.5% walk rate and 49.3% ground ball rate.
Fisher, 26, was just selected to the club’s roster yesterday with the feel-good story of having been out of baseball and working at a bank just over a year ago. He threw three shutout innings for the Mets, helping them secure a 10-9 victory in a seesaw battle. Unfortunately, he will have to relinquish his roster spot after that Cinderella story. He’s logged 72 innings in the minors this year between Double-A and Triple-A, registering a 3.37 ERA with a 23.2% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate.
It’s a somewhat similar trajectory for Zastryzny, 30, who was just selected to the Mets’ roster two days ago. He pitched one inning for the club on Saturday before being optioned yesterday and designated today. He’s thrown 47 1/3 innings for Syracuse this season with a 3.61 ERA, 28.4% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate.
With the trade deadline in the rearview mirror, the Mets will have no choice but to put Fisher and Zastryzny on waivers, either the outright variety or the release variety. Zastryzny has been previously outrighted in his career, meaning he would have the ability to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency if he clears waivers. Fisher, on the other hand, would not have that right.
Tim Healey of Newsday first relayed that Grey had a locker in the Mets clubhouse. Mike Puma of the New York Post tweeted the news of Butto’s optioning and Fisher’s DFA (Twitter links).
Congrats Phillies, you just got beat by a pitcher who was DFA’d the next day.
You’re boring.
Someone will pick up Fisher after his performance yesterday
Tampa Bay Rays probably
I could see TB claiming him.
The Mets triple A club will pick up Fisher. He doesn’t have the option to reject an outright assignment. He could be back up in September.
Fisher will be grabbed by someone. Lefties are a premium, & Mets need another 1 who can get hitters out. Mets will regret this DFA.
So much for the good feel story thanks to mets front office.
Agree agree agree
No way Fisher clears waivers. Mets will regret DFAing him. Lefties making minimum at a premium especially if you guys out, which Joely rarely does.
Well, he cleared waivers. He wasn’t a top prospect, wasn’t putting up crazy stats in the minors, and doesn’t have the type of velocity clubs look for in relievers these days, even though he’s a lefty on a team without a lot of options for those. As a Braves fan, it would have been funny if they claimed him just to troll the Mets and limit their lefty options in the minors, but they just don’t have the extra room on their 25 or 40 man roster, like most teams don’t at this point. That’s why the Mets made this move now, as opposed to in a week when rosters expand.
Unexpected at best…
They’re gonna DFA Fisher after that performance?
Man I was just reading about this guy yesterday. A year ago, he was a loan officer at a bank. Kind of a Kurt Warner-ish story. Hope he gets another shot somewhere.
Marlins next Closer?
Western New York product in Grey! Rooting for him!
Baseball can be so cruel.called up one day and help team win and dfa the next.
If the Mets win the World Series, does Fisher get a ring?
I’ve been down this rabbit hole. Really, there are no rules. It’s up to ownership. I’ve always wondered if mid-season trade acquisitions and send offs get rings. It’s a case by case type of thing.
Yes, the teams usually decide that. They almost always give everyone a ring that was with the team during the season.
Wasn’t it Darren Oliver that made it to the World Series against the team he was acquired from during the season? Any way, he got a ring no matter who won that year.
In 2011 Arthur Rhodes was released by the Rangers and signed with the Cardinals; he would’ve gotten a ring regardless of which team won.
@CardsFan6969
Thanks. Arthur Rhodes was who I was thinking of. I knew it was a lefty reliever at the end of his career.
I think the players can vote on it. One story, after winning the WS the players were wondering about a player who had been on the team earlier in the year but wasn’t there for the playoffs. Should we give him a ring? they wondered. Sure, said Bob Ueker, I’ll call him.
@Cosmo2
Yeah, I’m not sure how it works, but usually everyone gets a ring because I don’t think players or ownership ever rejects the notion.
It would suck though if it did happen to someone. It would have to be someone that was really hated by the team. I’m guessing it would be someone like fictional baseball player Jack Parkman not getting a ring if the Guardians won the year he was traded to the White Sox.
What is it with the Mets and their complete disregard for the value and need of lefty relievers. DFA’ing Fisher after his performamce yesterday and their need of southpaw relievers is a headscratching move. I’m sure Seattle or maybe Atlanta will pick him up.
It seems to be working out so far.
He wasn’t lights out in triple A. Every team has like a dozen relief prospects like him. The value of lefty relievers has gone down a lot since the 3 batter minimum was instituted. He’ll probably just end up back in triple A for the Mets. Teams make decisions based on analytics and scouting, not on small sample sizes and feel-good stories. There will be a lot of roster churn on a lot of teams through the end of the season.
They really couldn’t if gotten rid of Trevor May? Nogosek? Joely Rodriguez? Its obvious that Eppler has been overmatched as a GM. Nate Fisher should of been given more chances
LFG, u beat me to it!! Joely and May should be DFA’d as they are both crap…Keep Fisher
More negativity from the big Mets fan. Eppler has so far built a first place team. You should just pick another team. You’re a clown.
@DaOldDerby All Eppler has done is out spend every other GM. The bullpen was our biggest weakness at the deadline. All he got was Givens and made the excuse that “we are getting Trevor back soon” Ok, so? Trevor May has been awful all year. There were plenty of relievers out there that Eppler could have gotten. The Phillies gave up practically nothing for David Robertson. Now, I’m not say he was the answer but, anyone with a brain could see he messed up. Just because the Mets are in first place doesn’t mean they can’t improve. This bullpen isn’t viable for the postseason as it stands right now. Diaz and Ottavino’s arms are close to falling off at this point, due to them being so overworked because they are the only competent relievers we have in the bullpen. Your the type of fan thats happy when your team’s bullpen blows almost every game I guess
But outspending still counts. He brought in the right guys for the most part. All you do is post negative comments about the Mets. You’re worse than the trolls because you claim to be a fan.
Fisher should not have (or “of”) been given more chances than any of the others you mentioned. He’s completely unproven. Those other guys aren’t performing, for sure. But are you really gonna drop them for a guy who has almost no MLB experience? May is coming back from an injury & is under a big contract so he’s going to have a long leash. Nogosek is on the DL so he’s not going anywhere for now. Rodriguez is a lefty coming off a good performance. They aren’t good by any stretch. But do you really want to drop one of them in favor of a guy who likely won’t be picked up by anyone & could easily be back in Syracuse next week? It’s obvious that you’re overmatched when it comes to logic.
@Bill M when Nate Fisher is picked up by another team, I hope you respond in the comments “hmm I guess I was wrong”. Lets see how “logical” your take still stands after a couple days
@LFGMets: Fisher wasn’t picked up by another team, so I can’t respond “hmm I guess I was wrong.” He’s back at Syracuse, as I predicted. Anyone with half a brain could see this coming. You’re clueless.
@Bill M You were still wrong about Trevor May and especially Joely Rodriguez. Rodriguez came in and blew the Yankee game that the Mets could of won. This team still needs bullpen help and Eppler failed to adress it at the deadline
Bill, Joely is crap and his career numbers have always been horrendous and May was awful last year as well. Fisher or anybody would be better than these two…..
May had a 3.59 ERA with 83k in 62 innings last year. I’m sure many teams would take that type of “awful”
Trevor May was good for the first month of the season last year when he didnt give up a run in like 15 innings, the rest of the year he was blowing almost every game. The season stats don’t show everything.
Yankees well played Game beating the Mets 4 -2 and Max Scherzer Loss # 100 instead of Win # 200.
Mets looked tired after that Game yesterday in Philly and the DH Saturday. Yankees playing small ball with strong throw strikes pitching. Lindor error cost Mets Run # 4.
Moose aka Marc Malusis formerly Moose and Maggie on WFAN is now a sports anchor on PIX Channel 11.
Von Purple Hayes will chime in How did the Phillies lose yesterday to the Mets who were giving the Game away? Yankees put on a clinic on how to beat the Mets Don’t walk guys and make the defensive plays. These Mets are not the ’69 or ’86 Teams Not Close! LOL
Congrats Moose on your new position. Long time listener to you on WFAN and you earned this.
You are filling the shoes of Sal Marchiano who retired some time ago from this position. Having bumped into him socially back in the day best of Luck!
Lol. Moose is pretty good to be fair. I’m a fan.
Mets are really good, but you’re 100% right on the walks and errors. The Phillies crumbled. Those clutch Mets homers are a lot less damaging if two runners weren’t walked previously. But I will also say, Mets are a top 3 team in baseball. So they deserve credit and respect too.
Von Purple Hayes,
I don’t think the Mets are that good actually not in comparison to the ’69 & ’86 Mets that I knew. Buck has them winning with alot of smoke & mirrors by having the Team work the counts and walking and taking advantage of other Team’s defensive flaws. The Yankees showed last night how to beat the Mets. Throw strikes and make the Plays.
I give Buck alot of credit he has this Team overachieving but with the right approach they are very beatable.
When the Mets lose the division lead, people will wonder what happened.
1. They are no longer playing the Phillies to gift them 15 wins
2. Teams stopped making errors. Just looking at the last 3 series, Mets won game 3 against the Braves because of the errors late in the game. The Philly games all season were gifted due to errors. Yesterday’s game, the only 2 runs they scored were after the error. Give credit they take advantage of other teams mistakes, but they can’t depend on that in the playoffs.
3. The team is not as good as people think for the above reasons + the roster is not that good.
@I’mOzunaFromTheBravesSorryMyDawg As a long time Mets fan and many others I know we all agree that ” the roster is not that good”
I am surprised they are even still in first place? Alonso has 1 HR in last 56 AB’s and batting around .160. Although obviously a good player he is not showing me like Judge a guy that will hit in the big games against big teams. He went 1-15 in the last Braves series and 0-4 against the Yanks. Eppler did not do enough in the off-season and even less at the deadline.
But all that being said I am enjoying the Mets as always and will pull for them as a Wild Card
Why are you comparing him to Judge anyway? You are setting yourself up for disappointment by doing that. With that being said, the Mets don’t have star players on the roster other than their top two pitchers, who are aging (and one of them is being pampered currently). You know who the Mets remind me of? The Giants of last season. The Dodgers just couldn’t beat them for the division because everything went right for them last season. So what happened at the end? They lost to the team that they beat for the division. Mets are not that different from the Giants. At some point, there luck will run out.
With that being said, the Mets will do whatever it takes next season to buy a ring. So even though I expect the Mets to fall apart at some point this season, they might actually be more dangerous next season depending on their moves. The Braves time will run out at some point. No one can win division titles every season.
@I’mOzunaFromTheBravesSorryMyDawg
Spot on… I thought the Giants also benefited from the shortened 2020 season in 2021. All their aging stars like Buster Posey had career type years after getting some “rest” in 2020. Braves have a solid plan and young talent and you know you can’t buy happiness; aka the Mets.
As a long time Mets fan I remember the Braves of the 90’s so I have a more grounded opinion of my team the Mets. I give Buck a lot of credit for keeping things going as long as he has. Recent Mets managers and this team would have collapsed already. Hey thanks for the reply and enjoy dude you have a great team to root for. As for me I am a life long Mets fan so it is what it is no changing now.
Good to know that Moose is not on the Loose. LOL
I didn’t know he was on PIX 11 until I watched the news after the Game last night just as I didn’t know that Sal Marchiano was on PIX 11 when he came to one of my hangout bars on 2nd Ave. 38th St. by the Midtown Tunnel one Halloween after I had watched the Parade and after he wrapped up his TV Broadcast.
Nice feel good story of the summer. Now GTFO kid.
The Mets are now forever cursed because some bum named Chris Russo said the Mets are the best team in the East and already said the Mets will win the WS. Just saying, he thought the Brewers, Dodgers, and Astros will all beat the Braves last season. I seriously don’t remember the last time this guy or his idiot cohost Alanna Rizzo ever pick the Braves to win anything.
Hopefully, the Yanks win tomorrow.