A.J. Minter has been lost for the season, as manager Carlos Mendoza tells reporters (including Mike Puma of The New York Post) that the southpaw will undergo surgery to repair a torn lat next Monday. The Mets revealed last week that surgery was under consideration. Minter understandably attempted to exhaust other options over the past few days, but he unfortunately won’t be able to avoid going under the knife.
Mendoza also provided an update on designated hitter Jesse Winker, who landed on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain this evening. Winker was diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain — one of moderate severity — and will be down for six-to-eight weeks (via Abbey Mastracco of The New York Daily News).
It’s the second consecutive injury-shortened season for Minter. The veteran reliever underwent surgery to address a left hip issue last August, ending his final year as a member of the Braves. He reached free agency for the first time over the winter. New York signed him to a surprisingly strong two-year, $22MM contract that included an opt-out after the first season. They gambled that Minter would return to form as an above-average setup man after a healthy offseason.
The early returns were encouraging. Minter couldn’t have performed much better over his first 13 outings. He allowed only two runs on six hits and five walks through 11 innings. Minter fanned 15 and recorded seven holds without surrendering a lead. He was Mendoza’s most trusted option from the left side.
Minter has been an excellent reliever throughout his career. He combined for a 3.28 ERA while striking out more than 29% of opposing hitters over parts of eight seasons with Atlanta. Minter had topped 50 innings each season between 2021-23 before dealing with significant injuries over the past two years.
New York had relied on Minter and Danny Young as their only left-handers through the first month. Both pitchers are now done for the year, as Young required Tommy John surgery over the weekend. The Mets selected the hard-throwing but erratic Génesis Cabrera to give Mendoza at least one southpaw in the bullpen. Cabrera is miscast as the top lefty on a contender, making that an area the Mets are sure to monitor over the coming weeks.
Minter is making $11MM this season. He’ll surely exercise the matching player option and hope for a healthier second year in Queens. He’s already on the 60-day injured list, as New York transferred him over when they selected Cabrera’s contract last week.
Winker may eventually end up there as well, as he’s expected to miss close to two months after tweaking his oblique in yesterday’s loss to St. Louis. He suffered the injury on a throw in a rare outfield appearance. Winker has been the Mets designated hitter against right-handed pitching. That may now fall to Brett Baty, who was recalled in the corresponding move for his IL placement. Baty was optioned a few weeks ago when Jeff McNeil returned from the IL, limiting his path to playing time at second base. Baty had just a .204/.246/.352 line over 58 plate appearances before his demotion. He’d been ice cold to begin the season but had begun to swing the bat well just before McNeil’s activation.
Ouch!
Ouch indeed! He’s been superb, it’s a big blow. A major acquisition by Stearns this winter goes by the wayside. Losing Winker is easier to accept. Hope that Baty can take advantage of his opportunity.
This is making their signing of Brooks Raley last week look like a smart move.
Da metz are metzing 😆
Right! Players are getting injured, something that other teams don’t do.
Baty is awful. I’d rather put Keith Hernandez at the plate. Baty has 9 lives and he’s terrible every time he gets a shot.
Ah, remember Dante Bichette? Couldn’t hit for his first thousand plate appearances. Baty deserves the opportunity he’s getting because he’s produced in AAA and in spring training. .
They have instituted stricter drug testing since Bichette was playing. Keep Bichette away from your little sister.
@mahalkita True, but sending him down when he was heating up in order to give Marte the short side of the DH platoon was a dismal move.
Thanks to being surprisingly decent at 2B and 3B, Baty was more valuable through his demotion than Marte, and their bats hardly differed. Baty on the 26-man also frees up Acuna for what rates to be above average defense in the OF. It’s hard to see what Stearns sees in Marte. If not for his contract there’s no way Stearns would have constructed the roster this way, and that $19.75m to Marte is a sunk cost, which he knows full well.
Baffling, really, when the downside appears to be breaking even while the upside is substantial.
Don’t forget to LOL today …
Another classy response from Lil Bro Chucky. Guy gets injured and you laugh.
Minter is lights out when healthy. Problem is recently he’s never healthy
agree to disagree with that
Mets need to trade for Steven Matz.
Why? So in June he can sit next to Minter and play “where’s you boo boo?”
Nope, Jojo Romero not Matz. No salary issues to dance around.
How about Arenado/Helsey/Jojo Romero for Diaz (salary relief), Baty, and Benge? Cardinals dump future salary in Arenedo, downgrade at closer for 1 first rounder that has lost some shine (Baty) and 1 that still looks good (Benge). For the Mets, Helsey is big upgrade on volatile Diaz and Arenedo provides good defense and has looked ok with the bat this year. Pretty sure Mets fans are willing to move on from the Baty experiment if they have a proven replacement. Romero is a big get as lefty set up. Would Arenedo waive his no-trade to play in NY? Very questionable but I like this offer from Cardinals perspective
Mets would be more likely to include Marte than Diaz if you’re only looking for salary offset – he’s a little more expensive but done after this year (Diaz has an opt out but 3 seasons left if he doesn’t exercise it.)
That being said, I don’t think they’d move Benge in this type of deal. I think they’re more inclined to move someone who’s close to MLB-ready but blocked currently, so maybe a guy like Drew Gilbert? Lower upside than Benge but at this point I’d say he has a higher floor.
Ah, I didn’t see Diaz had more years to opt in to. Marte would work for my taste. Maybe Tong or Clifford instead of Drew Gilbert? Victor Scott looks great this year and they aren’t giving up on Jordan Walker.
Especially if Marte is part of the return, as Gilbert wouldn’t have a clear path to at bats here either.
I don’t agree that Gilbert is being blocked. He hasn’t really even proven himself at triple-A yet, let alone earned a major league promotion. If and when he does, there’s plenty of room for him as a part-time player. He can spell Nimmo in left while Nimmo DH’s or dabble in center (where he’s actually not regarded as a good defender) at times. And even if he comes up, it doesn’t mean he will stick on his first go.
And Marte is only here on borrowed time. If it comes to a point where Gilbert is breaking the door down, the Mets will be fine dumping Marte and moving on.
Colin Poche, baby! Mets are welcome to him.