The Mets announced that infielder/outfielder Vidal Bruján, left-hander Bryan Hudson and catcher Ben Rortvedt have been designated for assignment. All three are out of options and had to be bumped off the 40-man roster if not on the active roster. Left-hander Richard Lovelady and infielder/outfielder Jared Young will get Opening Day roster spots, per Mike Puma of The New York Post. Rortvedt always seemed likely to be squeezed out as the third catcher behind Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens.
Bruján, 28, was once a prospect of note with the Rays but he has struggled to produce in the majors. That has led to him exhausting his options, therefore pushing him to fringe roster status. He played for the Cubs, Baltimore and Atlanta last year. Over the winter, he rode the transaction carousel some more, going to the Twins via a waiver claim and then the Mets via a small trade. He came into camp and hit .273/.400/.273 in 40 spring plate appearances.
It seemed there was a chance for him to stick on the roster to start the year. The Mets optioned Ronny Mauricio not too long ago, seemingly content to roll into the season with Bo Bichette as the de facto backup to shortstop Francisco Lindor. That would allow the club to keep Mike Tauchman on the bench and prevent him from triggering his opt-out. But then Tauchman suffered a meniscus tear, taking him out of the running for a roster spot.
The Mets have decided to give that spot to Young, which has bumped Bruján into DFA limbo. Back in November, Bruján and Atlanta avoided arbitration by agreeing to a deal that pays him $850K in the majors and $500K in the minors. If the Mets put him on waivers in the coming days and he goes unclaimed, he would have the right to elect free agency since he has at least three years of service time. But since he has less than five years, he would have to walk away from that money in exercising that right, meaning he would most likely decide to stay in the minors with the Mets.
It’s a similar situation for Rortvedt. He and the Dodgers avoided arbitration back in November by agreeing to a contract worth $1.25MM. He then went to the Reds, back to the Dodgers, and then to the Mets via waivers this winter.
For the Mets, they already had Alvarez and Torrens on hand but Rortvedt gave them a fallback plan if one of those two suffered a spring injury. They stayed healthy so Rortvedt stayed in the #3 spot on the depth chart. Since he’s out of options, he has been pushed into DFA limbo today. Like Bruján, Rortvedt would have the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers but probably wouldn’t since he would have to leave his money on the table.
Hudson, 29 in May, gave the Brewers 62 1/3 innings with a 1.73 earned run average in 2024. He struck out 26.8% of batters and limited walks to a 7.4% clip. He got some help from a .148 batting average on balls in play and 94.2% strand rate but his 3.60 FIP and 3.22 were still good marks. But in 2025, he struggled and got sent to the minors, later going to the White Sox via waivers. He finished the season with a 4.80 ERA in 15 innings.
The Sox designated him for assignment in February and flipped him to the Mets for cash. He didn’t have a good spring, allowing six earned runs in 3 1/3 innings. He exhausted his final option season last year and therefore had a tenuous grip on his roster spot. The Mets are going with Lovelady instead, bumping Hudson off the roster.
Unlike Bruján and Rortvedt, Hudson hasn’t qualified for arbitration. He wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers in the coming days. If some other club does acquire him, he can be retained for five full seasons.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Cue the fans lose their minds over utility and last BP option that will be in flux 100x this season. And won’t matter how many times “Minter will be back in May” is repeated.
10cent: I’m not losing my mind but tell me why they didn’t give Pache a shot instead of Young?
Comment from I believe Mendoza was – LH bat off bench. I thought Stearns would scour the relased players today but maybe time was running short. I’d wager he and Lovelady will be on on the DFA carousel before mid month.
Dodgers claim Rortvedt in 3… 2…
The big news here is that Richard Lovelady made the OD roster. It’s rare to see a post here where he hasn’t been DFAd or claimed for the umpteenth time in the past 3 years.
he seems to be just good enough to keep pitching in the majors… always as a non roster invite but keeps making the team… and he’s making a nice living at it
Well, presumably this guarantees him a full year of MLB minimum salary, unless he has a split contract. But it seems like he keeps getting taken and doesn’t end up in the minors. For the Mets, he’ll probably be gone when Minter is ready unless he shocks everyone and performs well enough to keep.
Hudson > Dick
Dumb move
And Brujan is better than Young. But these aren’t moves to lose sleep over.
Bill: see above. Why not Pache instead of Young?
Not that one, because the last guy on the bench is less important than the last guy in the pen.
why do the mets have the weirdest collection of former cubs
Benny biceps back to the Dodgers!
It’s not the end of the world, but I do not like bullpen building where the end guy is only on there to fill a slot and that they hope won’t have to pitch.
There are a myriad of other ways they could have gone where you don’t mind if the last guy on the bench gets into a game.
They could easily put Christian Scott on there and then regimented his usage a bit.
There are other guys with options…
If Young plays too much, he is likely costing Benge and Baty at bats. Would have liked to have seen Mauricio as the last bench guy.
Mauricio needs to play everyday, not rot on the end of the Mets bench again. Young is not going to take any ABs away from Benge and Baty.
Jdaw: why would you want Scott to lay around when he can develop in Syracuse?
Because he has already been to the show and shown good things.
He can placehold for Minter. They should be able to “schedule” longer stints for Manaea, Myers and Scott the first few times through since starters are going to go shorter stints.
Then you can rotate the higher leverage arms without blowing them out.
Stearns did this last year and Mendoza ended up overusing the five decent arms and largely ignored or misused the other 3.
Young is a luxury and Lovelady is terrible. It’s back to The Baty & Vientos Show. Mauricio should be the supersub. Awful bench.
Dodgers have entered the chat.