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Mets Select Chris Devenski, Place Danny Young On IL With Elbow Sprain

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The Mets announced today that they have selected right-hander Chris Devenski from Triple-A Syracuse. He takes the active roster spot of left-hander Danny Young, who has been placed on the 15-day IL with a left elbow sprain, retroactive to April 27th. Left-hander Brooks Raley has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot for Devenski.

The moves suddenly leaves the Mets with no lefties in the bullpen. Young and A.J. Minter are the only lefty relievers to have pitched for the Mets this season. Minter landed on the 15-day IL due to a lat strain a few days ago and there’s a chance he’ll require season-ending surgery. It’s unclear how long Young is going to be out of action but an injury to a pitcher’s throwing elbow is always somewhat concerning.

Raley was just officially signed yesterday. He is recovering from last May’s Tommy John surgery. The fact that the Mets have immediately placed him on the 60-day injured list suggests that they don’t expect him to be with the big league club in the next two months. Brandon Waddell was added to the roster today to serve as a bulk guy behind opener Huascar Brazobán tonight and may return to Triple-A after.

Some of their righties have reverse splits and may be deployed as pseudo lefty specialists. For instance, lefties have a career .165/.304/.239 line against José Buttó, while righties have hit .237/.314/.385 against him.

Devenski, 34, fits into that category as well. Righties have hit .247/.305/.429 against him in his career but he’s held lefties to a .211/.268/.385 slash. He’s a few years removed from his best results, however. He logged 189 innings for the Astros over 2016 and 2017 with a 2.38 earned run average, 28.2% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate. Since then, he has a 5.42 ERA in 211 innings for various teams. He had a 6.75 ERA with the Rays last year, which is why he had to settle for a minor league deal with the Mets coming into 2025.

He’s out to a good start this year, in a sense, as he has a 1.93 ERA through 9 1/3 Triple-A innings. However, a look under the hood reveals some less impressive numbers. His 20% strikeout rate and 11.4% walk rate thus far are both subpar numbers. He’s been helped by a .136 batting average on balls in play and 100% strand rate. He has kept the ball on the ground at a 65.2% clip but that’s never been a strength of his over a large sample.

Regardless, Devenski will come up and give the Mets a fresh bullpen arm for the time being. Tonight is their sixth of 13 straight games, leading to heavy usage of the pitching staff. That’s part of the reason why Waddell is coming up to make a spot start and Devenski will try to help the club get through as well.

Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images

Mets Select Brandon Waddell

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April 30: The Mets have now made it official. Waddell has been selected with right-hander Kevin Herget optioned as the corresponding move.

April 29: The Mets are going to select the contract of left-hander Brandon Waddell tomorrow, per Tim Healey of Newsday. The southpaw will either start the game or work bulk innings behind an opener. That decision will perhaps be determined by who the club uses in tonight’s game. The Mets have an open 40-man spot after designating José Ureña for assignment earlier today, but they will need to make a corresponding active roster move.

The move is perhaps a reflection of the club’s schedule, as they are currently four games deep into a stretch of playing 13 straight. Kodai Senga, Clay Holmes, Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning started the first four. David Peterson starts tonight. Rather than have Senga pitch on normal rest tomorrow, Waddell will take the ball and push everyone else by a day.

Waddell, 31 in June, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason. He has made five Triple-A starts to begin the year and logged 23 1/3 innings, allowing just 1.54 earned runs per nine. He has a 21.6% strikeout rate, 7.2% walk rate and 50% ground ball rate.

His previous major league experience is fairly limited. He tossed 12 2/3 innings over the 2020 and 2021 seasons with the Pirates, Twins, Orioles and Cardinals. He headed to Korea for the 2022 through 2024 campaigns, pitching for the Doosan Bears of the KBO League. He tossed 244 2/3 innings over that time with a 2.98 ERA, which led to his minor league deal with the Mets this past winter.

Presumably, Waddell is just going to make one appearance and then be sent back down to the minors. He does still have an option remaining, so it’s possible he could hang onto his 40-man roster spot to serve as depth.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

Blue Jays Select Eric Lauer, Designate Casey Lawrence For Assignment

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The Blue Jays announced that they have selected left-hander Eric Lauer to their roster. To open a 40-man spot for him, Casey Lawrence has been designated for assignment. Prior to the official announcement, Mitch Bannon of The Athletic relayed that Lauer was no longer scheduled to start for Triple-A Buffalo. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet reported that Lauer was on his way to join the Jays.

Lauer, 30 in June, signed a minor league deal with the Jays in the offseason. He’s been pitching out of the Buffalo rotation so far this year, having logged 24 innings over five starts. He has allowed 4.50 earned runs per nine with a 20.6% strikeout rate and 5.9% walk rate.

The Jays need some innings, whether that’s from a starter or a bulk guy pitching behind an opener. Left-hander Easton Lucas took a rotation spot earlier in the year when Max Scherzer landed on the injured list. Lucas had two good starts and two awful ones, getting optioned to Buffalo last week.

The Jays planned to use some off-days in the schedule to have a four-man rotation for a while, though Mother Nature interrupted there. A rainout in the Bronx on Saturday led to a Sunday doubleheader, with Kevin Gausman and Chris Bassitt starting those two games. After an off-day on Monday, Bowden Francis started against the Red Sox last night. José Berríos could have started on regular rest today but the club would have needed someone to start Thursday’s game.

The club grabbed Lawrence off waivers on Monday to give them a long man on the heels of the doubleheader. He was needed immediately, as Francis only lasted three innings yesterday. After Dillon Tate and Mason Fluharty got four and six outs respectively, Lawrence came in and absorbed 2 2/3 innings of long relief. Lauer logged five innings in each of his four most recent starts for the Bisons, so he will ideally give the club some length today. The last of those starts was on Thursday, so he’ll be on five days of rest today.

It’s unclear if he’ll stick on the roster beyond today’s game. The Jays have another off-day on Monday, so they could go back down to four starters for a couple of turns. Lucas was optioned on April 21st, so he’ll be beyond the 15-day minimum by next week and could be recalled. Jake Bloss has also been in better form of late, with his two most recent Triple-A starts resulting in 12 strikeouts and no earned runs allowed. That could get Lauer bumped off the roster, depending on how things go in today’s game. It’s also possible Lauer holds a rotation spot for a few turns while Lucas and Bloss stay in Buffalo as depth.

Either way, Lauer will be making his first major league appearance in quite some time. He had a solid run with the Padres and Brewers earlier in his career. From 2018 to 2022, he had a 4.11 ERA over 550 innings. His 22.1% strikeout rate and 8.7% walk rate were both around league average. But in 2023, a shoulder impingement sent him to the injured list for most of the year. He was only able to toss 46 2/3 innings with a 6.56 ERA. He split 2024 between Triple-A clubs of the Astros and Pirates as well as the Kia Tigers of the KBO League, with an ERA near 5.00 in all of those stops.

He is out of options and can’t be easily sent back down to the minors if this is just a spot start situation. If he’s later designated for assignment and passed through waivers unclaimed, he would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency. Players gain that right when they have a previous career outright or at least three years of service time, with Lauer meeting both criteria.

Lawrence heads into DFA limbo for the fourth time this year, the first three being with the Mariners. He was called up by Seattle whenever they needed a fresh arm to cover long relief innings. Since he is out of options, he was designated for assignment a few days after being called up in each instance. The first two DFAs resulted in him clearing waivers and returning to the team, though the Jays claimed him on the third try.

Photo courtesy of Kim Klement Neitzel, Imagn Images

Mets Sign Brooks Raley

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April 29: The deal is now official and Mike Fitzpatrick of the Associated Press has the details. Raley is guaranteed $1.85MM, which comes in the form of a $1.5MM salary this year and a $300K buyout on a $4.75MM club option for 2026. Raley will get a $250K bonus if added to the active roster this year. There are also performances bonuses worth $900K this year and $1.75MM next year. In 2025, he will earn an extra $125K for appearing in 10, 15 and 20 games, then $175K at 25, 30 and 35 games. In 2026, it’s $250K for 35, 40, 45, 50, 55, 60 and 65 games.

April 25: The Mets and left-hander Brooks Raley have agreed to a deal, pending a physical, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. It will be a one-year pact with a club option for 2026. The Mets have an open 40-man roster spot, so no corresponding move will be necessary if it’s a major league deal. The financial components of the deal for the Vanguard Sports client have not yet been reported.

Raley, 37 in June, was with the Mets last year when he required Tommy John surgery in May. That put him on the shelf for the remainder of the campaign and the start of 2025 as well. He is evidently making progress in his rehab, as it was reported last week that he threw for interested clubs. Sherman relays that Raley’s doctors believe he can start a rehab assignment in June.

Prior to his surgery, he had a good run as an effective lefty reliever. He spent 2015 to 2019 pitching as a starter in Korea but was able to return to affiliated ball and carve out a bullpen job. From the start of 2020 to the present, he tossed 184 1/3 innings, allowing 3.42 earned runs per nine. He had a 29% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate in that time.

The Mets are plenty familiar with him, as they acquired him from the Rays ahead of the 2023 season. He posted a 2.80 ERA in 54 2/3 innings for them that year. That compelled them to pick up a $6.5MM club option on his contract for 2024, which was a net $5.25MM decision at that time on account of the $1.25MM buyout. Unfortunately, they only got seven innings out of that investment before he got hurt.

The two sides have now reunited on a fresh deal. The structure reflects his current injury status. Raley will presumably bank a bit of money this season, even though he will only pitch about half of it in a best-case scenario. For the Mets, by investing in Raley now, they are hoping to get a bit of a payoff later this year with the option giving them a chance to carry it into 2026. Such arrangements are common for pitchers in this position.

The Mets have one of the best bullpens in the league so far this year. Their relievers have a collective 2.35 ERA, which is second only to the Padres. The lefty contingent currently consists of A.J. Minter and Danny Young. They don’t strictly need Raley but pitching injuries are fairly inevitable and the Mets love to stack depth. He’ll work his way into their plans in the coming weeks. If he is getting a big league deal, he could be moved to the 60-day injured list if he Mets don’t expect him to be big league-ready by late June.

Photo courtesy of Wendell Cruz, USA TODAY Sports

Yuli Gurriel Elects Free Agency

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May 3: Gurriel has cleared outright waivers and elected free agency, the Padres announced this afternoon.

April 29: The Padres are going to designate first baseman Yuli Gurriel for assignment and place infielder Mason McCoy on the 10-day injured list, per AJ Cassavell of MLB.com. McCoy dislocated his left pinky finger recently. Those will open roster spots for outfielder Jason Heyward and infielder Luis Arráez to be activated from the IL.

Gurriel, 41 in June, signed a minor league deal with the Friars in the offseason. They were looking for some cheap ways to add some offense, with holes in a couple of spots, including their designated hitter and bench mix.

Both Gurriel and Gavin Sheets had good spring performances and cracked the Opening Day roster. Sheets has done a better job of carrying it into the regular season, as he’s hitting .275/.314/.438 for a wRC+ of 111. Gurriel, on the other hand, has produced a dismal .111/.200/.139 line.

Arráez recently landed on the concussion IL, which moved Sheets from a regular designated hitter to a regular first base role. That allowed Gurriel to hang around for while but he would have been hard pressed to find playing time going forward with Arráez back in action. Presumably, Arráez and Sheets will share most of the first base and DH playing time going forward.

The Friars should put Gurriel on waivers in the coming days. Based on his age and recent performance, he’s not likely to garner much interest. He hit .243/.297/.356 for a wRC+ of 82 over the 2022 through 2024 seasons. As a veteran with at least five years of service time, Gurriel would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency in the event he clears waivers.

McCoy’s injury will subtract a bit of infield depth but Heyward might indirectly help with that. Tyler Wade has been covering center field lately due to injuries to Jackson Merrill and Brandon Lockridge. With Heyward now off the IL, he can rejoin the outfield mix alongside Wade, Fernando Tatis Jr., Tirso Ornelas, Oscar González and Connor Joe. If there’s an injury to middle infielders Xander Bogaerts or Jose Iglesias, Wade is capable of moving to the dirt and leaving center field to someone in that group.

Photo courtesy of David Banks, Imagn Images

Rockies Outright Lucas Gilbreath

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The Rockies announced that left-hander Lucas Gilbreath has cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Albuquerque. He had been designated for assignment on the weekend to make room on the roster for Alan Trejo.

Gilbreath, 29, once seemed to be cementing himself as a solid piece of the Colorado bullpen. Over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, he tossed 85 2/3 innings with a 3.78 earned run average. His 13.2% walk rate was on the high side but he managed to punch out 25% of opponents and get grounders on almost half the balls in play he allowed. He earned four holds in the first of those two seasons and then 12 more in the second.

But as is so often the case, arm troubles got in the way. Tommy John surgery in March of 2023 wiped out that entire season for him. He was reinstated from the injured list in August of 2024 but made just three appearances before landing back on the shelf due to shoulder inflammation, staying there for the rest of the season.

Gilbreath crossed three years of service time during those two lost seasons. The lefty and the Rockies avoided arbitration by agreeing to a $785K salary for this year, a bit above this year’s league minimum, which is $760K. Since he has hit the three-year service line, Gilbreath has the right to elect free agency and reject this outright assignment. But since he’s below the five-year line, he would have to walk away from what’s left of that money.

He will presumably accept his outright and keep pitching for Triple-A Albuquerque. He’s already been with that club this year, having been optioned before Opening Day. He has a 2.70 ERA through seven appearances so far. He should provide the Rockies with some non-roster depth as he tries to earn his way back to the majors.

Photo courtesy of Allan Henry, Imagn Images

Angels Designate J.D. Davis For Assignment

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The Angels announced that outfielder Gustavo Campero has been recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake. In a corresponding move, infielder J.D. Davis has been designated for assignment. The club’s 40-man roster count drops to 38.

Davis, 32, signed a minor league deal with the Halos in the offseason. He cracked the big league roster earlier this month when Yoán Moncada landed on the injured list. Moncada is still on the IL but Davis has hardly played. Since being added to the roster April 10th, he has stepped to the plate nine times over five games. He recorded three strikeouts and one single, leading to a .111/.111/.111 line.

That’s a rough showing but also a tiny sample size. Regardless, the Angels seem to prefer other options for their infield mix. Luis Rengifo is covering third while Nolan Schanuel is the regular at first. Defensive specialist Kevin Newman is presumably the backup for those two at the moment, as no one else on the roster has much experience at those spots.

The Angels will likely put Davis on waivers in the coming days. He is coming off a down year, as he hit .218/.293/.338 for an 86 wRC+ in 2024, which is why he had to settle for a minor league deal coming into this year. But over the five prior seasons, he hit .268/.352/.443 for a 119 wRC+.

Campero is out to a strong start this year, hitting .333/.397/.472 in Triple-A. However, it’s unclear how he’ll get into the lineup as a corner outfield guy. The Angels have Taylor Ward and Mike Trout as their regulars in the corners and Jorge Soler acting as the designated hitter most days. Campero does have some catching experience but the Halos have Logan O’Hoppe and Travis d’Arnaud back there. Campero is a threat for double-digit steals, so perhaps he will be utilized as a pinch runner.

Photo courtesy of Rick Scuteri, Imagn Images

Mariners Select Samad Taylor, Place Dylan Moore On IL

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The Mariners announced that infielder/outfielder Samad Taylor has been selected to the roster. He will take the active roster spot of infielder/outfielder Dylan Moore, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list. The IL placement, which is retroactive to April 26th, is due to right hip inflammation. To open a 40-man spot for Taylor, right-hander Gregory Santos has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Moore has been out to a red-hot start this year, with a .286/.346/.557 line to this point while bouncing around to all four infield spots and right field. He earned American League Player of the Week honors for the week of April 14th to 20th. It seems this hip issue will put that on pause. He hasn’t played since Friday, which is why the M’s were able to backdate his IL placement. The club hasn’t provided any updates but it’s possible he could rejoin them in a week if he just needs a bit of rest.

For now, Taylor will come up and take his spot. Like Moore, he’s capable of bouncing around the diamond. In the big leagues, he has experience at second base, third base, center field and left field. He has also played some shortstop in the minors, though not this year.

Offensively, he has hit just .215/.288/.277 in his 74 big league plate appearances, but with much better numbers on the farm. Dating back to the start of 2022, he has stepped to the plate 1,392 times at the Triple-A level with a .277/.371/.427 line and 108 wRC+. That includes a strong .321/.389/.560 showing so far this year. Speed is also a big part of Taylor’s game. He has stolen at least 23 bases in each minor league season dating back to 2018, including 50 last year. He already has six so far in 2025.

He will presumably move around to various positions for the M’s, perhaps doing some pinch running as well. He still has an option remaining, so he could be easily sent back down to the minors if Moore gets healthy relatively quickly.

As for Santos, it was reported last week that he would be undergoing surgery to repair cartilage in his right knee. His exact timeline isn’t clear but this transfer to the 60-day IL indicates that the club expects him to be out beyond the middle of June.

Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images

Guardians Select Vince Velasquez

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The Guardians made a series of roster moves today, as relayed by Tim Stebbins of MLB.com. Right-hander Vince Velasquez has been selected to the roster and left-hander Joey Cantillo has been recalled. To make room for those two on the active roster, righty Cody Bolton has been optioned to Triple-A Columbus and righty Paul Sewald lands on the 15-day injured list due to a right shoulder strain. To open a 40-man spot for Velasquez, righty Shane Bieber has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Sewald departed last night’s game with shoulder inflammation. It’s unclear how long the Guardians expect him to be out of action but this move means it will be at least a couple of weeks. The Guards signed the former closer this winter, a $7MM guarantee on a one-year deal. That was a bet on a bounceback after he posted a 4.31 earned run average in 2024.

The early results have been mixed, with his ERA up to 6.17 in the early going. He has already allowed three home runs in 11 2/3 innings. However, his 31.3% strikeout rate and 4.2% walk rate are both excellent figures. If it weren’t for a .357 batting average on balls in play and a 64.8% strand rate, fewer runs would have crossed the plate, which is why his 4.35 FIP and 2.94 SIERA look far nicer in the small sample. If Sewald is going to get back on track, it will have to wait.

Thanks to a rainout on Friday and a doubleheader on Saturday, the Guards are now in a stretch where they play 13 games in 12 days. Yesterday, starter Gavin Williams only lasted two innings against the Twins. The bullpen then had to cover the remaining seven, though position player Will Wilson absorbed two of them. Still, they used four traditional relievers, including Sewald and Bolton, with the latter throwing 40 pitches over his two innings.

The need for fresh arms will get Velasquez back to the majors. He signed a minor league deal with the Guards in February and has been pitching for out of the rotation at Columbus. He had missed the 2024 season due to UCL surgery but had a 4.88 ERA in his career prior to that.

The results haven’t been pretty so far this year, with an ERA of 6.00 through 15 innings and four starts. He has allowed 16 walks and hit one batter while only striking out 11 opponents. Regardless of the quality, Velasquez is at least stretched out and could cover multiple innings if the Guards find themselves in another blowout. He tossed four innings on Thursday and should therefore be able to take on a decent chunk of work out of the bullpen.

If they want to remove him from the roster in the coming days or weeks, he would have to be removed from the 40-man entirely. As a veteran with far more than five years of major league service, he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent.

As for Bieber, he’s still working his way back from last April’s Tommy John surgery. His 60-day clock is retroactive to when he landed on the 15-day IL at the start of the season. That means he can be reinstated from the IL in late May. That doesn’t seem to be a possibility since he still hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. Even if he were to start such an assignment today, he would presumably need a month to six weeks to get ready, effectively a delayed Spring Training.

Photo courtesy of Ken Blaze, Imagn Images

Mets Designate José Ureña For Assignment

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The Mets officially announced their previously-reported deal for left-hander Brooks Raley, with Sean Manaea transferred to the 60-day injured list. Raley, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery, was promptly placed on the 15-day IL. The Mets also recalled right-hander Kevin Herget to the big league team. Right-hander José Ureña has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move for Herget. Tim Healey of Newsday reported the moves prior to the official announcement.

Ureña, 33, was selected to the club’s roster on Sunday. The Mets had leaned heavily on their bullpen in the prior days. Since Ureña had been pitching out of the Triple-A rotation, he gave them an arm capable of covering multiple innings.

Yesterday, the Mets stomped the Nationals with a 19-5 victory. It was 11-0 after six and a half, when Ureña came in to cover the final three frames. He allowed five earned runs but managed to largely give the bullpen a night off, apart from Max Kranick pitching one inning before Ureña entered.

It took Ureña 68 pitches to get through those three innings, so he might not have been available for a few days. Rather than have him taking up a roster spot while unavailable, the Mets are bringing up a fresh arm in Herget. Since Ureña is a veteran with far more than five years of major league service time, he can’t be optioned to the minors without his consent. He has been bumped off the 40-man entirely and will likely be put on waivers in the coming days.

It’s possible the veteran could garner interest from other clubs who need an innings eater. The Blue Jays just claimed Casey Lawrence, for instance, a somewhat similar veteran capable of tossing multiple relief innings. Ureña has a longer track record than Lawrence, with 951 1/3 career innings with a 4.80 earned run average. If goes unclaimed, he would have the right to reject an outright assignment and elect free agency.

As for Manaea, this doesn’t change anything about his outlook. The 60-day count is retroactive to his initial placement on the 15-day IL, which was at the start of the season. He can therefore be reinstated by late May, which doesn’t seem to be a realistic possibility. He has been out all year with an oblique strain. He suffered a setback in early April and was to be shut down for another couple of weeks. It’s unclear when he’ll be ready to get into game action as part of a rehab assignment.

Even if he were to start such an assignment right now, he would likely need more than a month to get into game shape anyway as an unofficial spring training. That means this 60-day IL transfer was an inevitable formality.

Photo courtesy of Brad Penner, Imagn Images

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