The Mets announced that right-hander Luis Garcia has been designated for assignment, as reported by The Athletic’s Will Sammon just before the club’s official news release. Right-hander Joey Gerber is up from Triple-A to take Garcia’s spot on the active roster, and Gerber is already on the 40-man roster so no further moves were required.
Garcia came to New York on a one-year, $1.75MM free agent deal back in January, as the Mets became the ninth team Garcia has pitched for at the MLB level over his 14 big league seasons. Unfortunately for Garcia, his tenure in Queens got off to a rocky start, as he has a 7.11 ERA and 12.5% strikeout rate over his first 6 1/3 innings and six appearances in a Mets uniform. Four of those six appearances resulted in scoreless work, but Garcia was tagged for two runs in one inning on Opening Day, and he was charged with three runs over just a third of an inning of work in Thursday’s 7-1 loss to the Diamondbacks.
Yesterday’s 11-6 loss to the A’s saw the Mets use Garcia and four other pitchers in relief of Kodai Senga, who was chased after allowing seven runs in 2 1/3 innings. Today’s transaction could therefore be about getting Gerber’s fresh arm into New York’s bullpen, and the relative lack of flexibility within the relief corps (in terms of pitchers with minor league options) may have simply made Garcia the odd man out.
Still, it is a little surprising to see the Mets pursue the DFA route with Garcia so soon after signing the veteran to a guaranteed contract. Garcia has a .423 BABIP over his small sample size this season, so it can certainly be argued that bad luck has played a large role in Garcia’s struggles, especially for a pitcher with a 53.9% career grounder rate. Garcia’s drop in sinker velocity (from 96.9mph in 2025 to 94 mph this year) may have been of some concern to the Mets, but it isn’t unusual for pitchers to lack a bit of velo in the early going.
Garcia has had plenty of ups and downs over his long career, but he was posting solid numbers just last year, when he had a 3.42 ERA over 55 1/3 innings with the Dodgers, Nationals, and Angels, albeit with a below-average K% and BB%. Teams in need of bullpen help might look to claim the 39-year-old off waivers, though that would mean assuming the remainder of Garcia’s $1.75MM salary.
If he clears waivers and is outrighted, Garcia has more enough MLB service time to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency, while still retaining the rest of his owed salary. A new team could then sign Garcia and owe him just the prorated portion of a minimum salary for any time spent on the big league roster. The Mets would still be on the hook for the remainder of the $1.75MM, minus that prorated total.
Signing Garcia came at more of a cost to the Mets than just $1.75MM, as the total price tag came to $3.675MM when considering the 110% tax levied against New York for being in the highest tier of luxury tax penalization. In a sense, DFA’ing Garcia this early is another sign of how money isn’t really an object for the Mets, and how the team will again be keeping up a steady churn of bullpen transactions in order to continually have fresh arms at the ready.
Go back to the Angels.
With the way Lindor is playing, he’s lucky it wasn’t him.
Think he would have any problem getting picked up?
Teams always looking for depth
Lindor is a notorious slow starter in April.
I know that. You know that. He knows that. They know that. Yet no one will get him the help that he needs. Games in April count. A sports psychologist needs to come in and rewire his brain to wash away the behavior and routine of assuming that April will be a bad month..
Oh man, why didn’t the Mets think of that? Just send him to a sports psychologist and *poof*, he’s hitting .300! “Rewire his brain”! Maybe they can give him electro shock therapy and knock loose those home runs from wherever they’re hiding in his brain!
They should hire you as a consultant. If you’re so good at diagnosing the problems of players you’ve never been within 100 miles of, imagine how great you’d be with team access.
If you only knew who I was. I wish I could sit around and discuss this further with you but batting practice starts and I plan on going 3/4 today. I will never sign an autograph for you either. Stop asking.
Are you Steve Cohen?!? You can tell me. Your secret is safe with me.
I cannot. I would be heavily fined. Just like I could be fined for posting this live from the dugout, but I’m not due up this inning so I had a moment to put a ZYN in and reply,
Congrats on the ZYN sponsorship. They’re pretty selective with who they get into business with.
They need to designate Mendoza and change the locks. The guy has no passion and couldn’t manage a bullpen if his life depended on it.
Luis Garcia has been awful his whole career. I don’t understand how he has managed to stay in the MLB for so long
He’s got a career ERA+ of 101. That’s not terrible. He’s had his up moments and down. Definitely up when he’s been with the Angels, so I wouldn’t mind having him back one more time..
Why is a .423 BABIP always bad luck? Maybe, just maybe, it could be poor pitching. Straight fastballs out over the plate?
Yeah, just watching Garcia in a few games, he looked pretty bad. The article notes his drop in velo, and that could be a big factor in his poor performance vs luck.
He looked pretty good in the spring, but yeah, this was the right move to make.
There are consequences to your teammates when some teammates,looking at you Lindor, extend outs to the other team.
Lindor out of position on a DP grounder, couldn’t get the out at 1st, run scores. Next inning Senga serves up 2 long HRs and is booed off the mound. Shortest outing of Senga’s big-league career.
This afternoon Peralta pitched well only to lose 1-0. Naturally the A’s only run came on a HR.
Too early to look for scapegoats…there are reasons why which are correctable in a reasonable amount of time
Somehow Luis Garcia and Hunter Strickland always end up pitching in Anaheim.
Did Carlos Mendoza save stern or cohen’s pet cat from a burning building or something ? Seems like the blame will go everywhere except the manager. Carlos Beltran or jd Martinez can be the new manager. How come the pre game and post game press conference reporters don’t ask Mendy the tough question of: is there any blame on you for the atrocious end of last season and the collapsing offense and pitching this season ? Anyone else tired of seeing Mendy sitting there in post game conference scratching his arms and shoulders and neck and repeating tired old phrases ? Even if you don’t fire Mendy please give him some Zyrtec or Benadryl or at least some lotion so the constant scratching himself during press conferences stops. Or have him see the team dermatologist.
Must be the case. He said in post conference that hitters were having non-competitive at bats. Well, whose job is it to prepare them with a game plan ? For 3 months last year every press conference Mendoza said “we are better than this, we will do better , we have to do better, “, same thing this year. The manager isn’t able to connect with these players. He’s an imposter manager. Other than Soto, who is self managed, no one else is successful here . That’s why Diaz probably left . Lindor should be embarrassed; $35 million salary and not having your head in the game. Just like every year, Lindor will get his hits, HR, and rbi in either blowout games or meaningless games. Clearly he’s a head case or something is wrong with his lower back again. Find him a good sports psychologist or spine doctor for him.
no info/thoughts on Gerber in the article
He’ll find his way back on the Angels somehow
Angels, your move.
When you spend $300 million on payroll can’t you sign 4-5 solid relievers ? Why would you leave relievers to chance? Hope isn’t a plan and Mets hope that relievers will have career years
Paul Toboni has entered the chat…