The Mets are in agreement with infielder Grae Kessinger on a minor league contract, reports Mike Puma of The New York Post. A client of O’Connell Sports Management, he’ll be in camp as a non-roster invitee. He’d be paid at a $900K rate if he makes the MLB roster, according to The Post’s Jon Heyman.
Kessinger is a former second-round pick who played in 48 games with the Astros between 2023-24. The right-handed hitting utilityman batted .131 with one home run over 70 trips to the plate. Kessinger has had a light bat throughout his minor league career as well, batting .234/.335/.361 over 403 games. His Triple-A production is more respectable but came in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League.
Houston designated Kessinger for assignment last offseason. They traded him to the Diamondbacks, who optioned him to Triple-A to begin the season. He played in 11 minor league games before being designated for assignment in the middle of April. Kessinger was on the injured list at the time, so the D-Backs released him. The team never announced what injury he had suffered, but he remained unsigned for the rest of the season.
In any case, it seems the 28-year-old is healthy again and will take aim at a bench spot in Queens. He’s unlikely to provide much offensively but can play anywhere on the infield. Kessinger joins Christian Arroyo and Jackson Cluff as non-roster infielders behind Ronny Mauricio and the out-of-options Vidal Bruján. Tsung-Che Cheng would also be in the mix if he gets through DFA limbo. The Mets designated him for assignment last Wednesday, meaning he’s currently on waivers. They should announce tomorrow whether he has been claimed or cleared, in which case he’d also get a non-roster invite to Spring Training.
The B and C fields will be full in spring training. They have like 5 guys getting time at first.
Graet
How old it makes me feel that most of you probably don’t remember his grandfather.
Don Kessinger…I used to have his baseball card.
Kessinger was the Cubs SS in one of the earliest games my father took me (and my 2 younger brothers) to at Fulton Co. Stadium. Iirc, the Braves won 2-1 in 10. Felipe Alou dribbled a base hit over 2B between Kessinger and Beckert to score the game winner. I’ll never forget the Cubs epic collapse in 1969 that allowed the Mets to win the East and defeat my Braves in 3 to go to the Series. Cubs withered and blew a 9 1/2 game lead on August 16th. First year of Divisional play.
As a 13 yo Mets fan in ’69 (fan of them from the beginning), that was truly an amazing year. I could finally talk back against all my Yankee friends. 💪😎
One thing I always did each year back then was pick a second National League team to root for in case they made the Series against the Yankees. That year I had picked the Cubs, because of Santo and Banks, primarily. But I was full of so much joy that year as the Mets went on their run and rapidly overtook the Cubs. And then they ran the table to win the Series. That was a special year for me.
I once got a foul ball hit by Don Kessinger at Fulton County Stadium…1970 I think. Yes that ’69 Cubs team blew a 9 and a half game lead and lost the division by EIGHT games I think. Unbelievable swing in just a month and a half. Will never forget the black cat that came onto the field and supposedly cursed the Cubs for the rest of the year. I attended the first NLCS game ever played..1969…Tom Seaver vs Phil Niekro…Aaron hit homers in each of the three games but the Miracle Mets still swept us.
Leo Durocher literally burned that team out. All day games, and hardly any days off for the players.
I looked up his grandpa’s stars and was mystifiedby his lackluster dWAR even during years he won the GG. Guess it was mostly the eyeball test when the managers and coaches only looked at about 4 simple defensive metrics. Don’t forget about Don’s son, Grae’s uncle, too. But my money is on the Wallach family.
Don Kessinger, Glenn Beckert, Ron Santo and the amazing Ernie Banks. What an infield!
Not really. Ernie was past his prime and Kessinger was a weak hitter. They couldn’t sync up to have good performances in the same season.
That 1966 team was terrible, but it was guys like Billy Williams and Adolfo Phillips who carried the offense after Santo. Hickman even had an uncharacteristically great season in 1970 when they should’ve topped the Pirates for the division lead. One may question Durocher’s career as a manager.
I watched his only homer on July 4th against the Rockies in 2023. That or the fact that he saved the game against the Padres by making a great defensive play should be his career highlight. Good luck in the Queens.