The Mets have requested unconditional release waivers on right-hander Paul Blackburn, according to Mike Puma of The New York Post. Blackburn was designated for assignment on Saturday when the Mets called up Nolan McLean.
A release was a likely outcome once Blackburn was bumped from the 40-man roster. With the deadline having passed, a trade was not a possibility. The Mets could have opted for outright waivers but Blackburn has five-plus years of service time, meaning he has the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency while retaining his remaining salary commitments. The Mets have skipped that formality and put Blackburn on release waivers instead.
It doesn’t seem especially likely that any club would claim him. Blackburn is making $4.05MM this year, which leaves about $900K still to be paid out. That’s not a massive sum relative to season-long MLB payrolls but would be a decent amount for just a few weeks of work. Blackburn has spent most of this season on the injured list and has a 6.85 earned run average in the seven appearances he has made, which should tamp down the interest.
If he clears waivers, the Mets will remain on the hook for the money. Any other club could sign Blackburn and would only have to pay him the prorated version of the $760K league minimum salary. That would be about $150K or so if Blackburn gets a spot somewhere quick and holds it for the rest of the year, far less than the amount required to claim him off waivers. Any amount paid by another club would be subtracted from what the Mets pay.
As mentioned, Blackburn has been injured and not terribly effective this year, but the sample size is small. Injury absences are nothing new for him, as he’s actually never even thrown 112 innings in a big league season. However, the results have occasionally been decent. From 2022 to 2024, he tossed a combined 290 1/3 innings with a 4.43 ERA, 20.2% strikeout rate, 7.5% walk rate and 44.8% ground ball rate.
His 2025 hasn’t been at that level but team may overlook that. Adding to a roster is tough now that the trade deadline has passed, yet teams always need arms as injuries pop up. Blackburn has some decent results on his track record and will be essentially free.
Photo courtesy of Jason Parkhurst, Imagn Images
Come and get your Mets rejects Mr. Anthopoulos!!!
Sure people laugh at AA but look at what Joey Wentz has been doing for Atl after being a twins reject.
Hopefully Tylor Megill can step in and have some success again. He was holding his own before the injury.
is he a FA next year or does he have control beyond this season?
Free agent
Blackburn or Megill? Blackburn is a FA. Megill has two more years of arbitration.
So then this means McLean is for sure staying up then. There was some weird talk that this might just be a spot start but it’s feeling more like a call up to stay now.
Did the Mets really trade pca? They must have gotten back a lot
@Boycott yes they did really trade PCA. They actually got back a gold glove infielder with power but poor contact skills, said player was also an allstar center fielder this season. The player did good with the Mets but his time was judged by one unfortunate incident, the incident made the club choose not to re-sign him at seasons end.
He’s referring to Javy Baez in the event anyone is wondering. And it only took 4 seasons for him to get his mojo back for Detroit, but happy he finally has. Likely the 2025 American League Comeback Player of the Year as well.
Do the Mets go to a 6th man rotation when Megill comes back or release Montas and put him in bullpen??
Thats not a black-and-white answer. And we should know by now that these things are fluid, not fixed. With days off today and last Thursday, all of the starters will be pitching on long rest this week. But the Mets start a 16-game stretch with no days off tomorrow, and will likely go to a 6-man at some point in that stretch. How soon Megill is back in time to take that 6th spot remains to be seen. Megill threw 55 pitches and struck out nine yesterday. He’s probably due for at least one more rehab start on the 22nd, probably slated for 70 pitches or so. Its conceivable he could be back on the 27th and as a 6th man.
By the time that stretch ends (Sept 4), and they work through the first five spots (Sept 9), things could change. McLean probably has an innings-limit that he may be nearing. Someone else – starter or reliever – could get injured or be pitching poorly. And Megill does actually have a minor league option remaining.
They’re not going to release Montas with another year remaining. There isn’t enough “fold equity” to justify that decision. They’re better off keeping him thru the off season and seeing if they can get him back on track. If they can’t, they can always release him next year.
Outside of McLean no other pitcher has options so there is little roster flexibility to make room for Megill. As you’ve already stated these are big ifs but assuming no injuries then I think he’s rehabbing until rosters expand in September. At which point they’d have the max 14 pitchers on the roster, only two with options McLean & Megill. There goes my theory Sproat will debut in September.
While I agree with you, maybe releasing Montas is not as far fetched as it seems.
Since we’re on the topic right now it looks like Acuna and Jared Young are the likely position player call ups come September.
The Braves or Twins will pick him up.
Braves will. Blackburn will then throw 7 innings of 2 hit baseball against the Mets.
The Braves will pick him up and he’ll pitch a 7 inning 1 run game against them the next time the clubs meet. Never fails for the Mets. Also, If the Braves could just play the Mets all season they’d most likely make the playoffs. Crazy.