Mets To Promote Nick Morabito
The Mets are planning to recall outfield prospect Nick Morabito for his major league debut, reports Will Sammon of The Athletic. He’ll fill the 26-man roster spot that’s being vacated by the previously reported DFA of veteran outfielder Austin Slater.
Morabito, the No. 75 overall pick in the 2022 draft, entered the season generally ranked between 10th and 20th among Mets farmhands. The 23-year-old has held his own thus far in his first taste of Triple-A, slashing a roughly league-average .253/.364/.390 in 175 trips to the plate. Morabito has walked at a hearty 12% clip, fanned in 22.9% of his plate appearances, connected on four home runs and gone 14-for-16 (87.5%) in stolen base attempts.
Morabito hasn’t hit the ball particularly hard in the upper minors, and despite this season’s four home runs, he’s considered to have well below-average power. He’s a plus runner who’s capable of handling all three outfield spots at an above-average level.
The Mets already have a crowded outfield mix, thanks in part to a pair of fellow rookies; Opening Day right fielder Carson Benge has come alive at the plate lately, and A.J. Ewing has hit the ground running since last week’s promotion to the big leagues. Juan Soto entered the season as the everyday left fielder, but he’s spent more time at designated hitter lately while playing through forearm and ankle issues (the latter stemming from an at-bat last week where he fouled a ball into his right foot).
Soto’s uptick in DH time and Slater’s DFA could create more outfield opportunities for the fleet-footed Morabito. The influx of youth and steady presence of Soto’s bat will likely continue to cut into playing time for outfielder/designated hitter MJ Melendez. The former Royals top prospect has predictably cooled off after a blistering start to the season. Melendez provided an early spark when he hit .345/.406/.655 in his first 33 turns at the plate, but that production was buoyed by a .533 average on balls in play and came in spite of a 36.4% strikeout rate and 68% contact rate. Melendez’s lack of contact has caught up with him. He’s hitting .133/.278/.200 with a 33.9% strikeout rate this month and is currently in a 1-for-20 slump.
Morabito was selected to the 40-man roster back in November in order to shield him from selection in December’s Rule 5 Draft. As such, he’s in the first of three minor league option years. Enough time has passed in 2026 that he can’t accrue a full year of major league service this season, meaning Morabito will be under club control for at least six additional years — all the way through 2032. That timeline could change, depending on whether Morabito is optioned back to Syracuse at any point (and on how long said optional assignments last).
Mets To Designate Austin Slater For Assignment
The Mets are expected to designate outfielder Austin Slater for assignment, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The veteran latched on with New York in late April after getting DFAed by the Marlins. The team has yet to announce the move.
Slater took the spot of another well-traveled outfielder, joining the club when Tommy Pham was designated for assignment. The Mets were Slater’s third team in a little over a month. He opted out of a minor league deal with the Tigers before signing with the Marlins. After a dozen games in Miami, the outfielder lasted just nine games in New York.
A platoon bat for much of his career, Slater has just four plate appearances against right-handed pitching this season. He picked up two hits in those chances. The veteran scuffled against lefties, posting a .444 OPS with a bloated 33.3% strikeout rate.
Slater’s skillset is somewhat duplicative of Tyrone Taylor‘s contributions, and he doesn’t offer the same defensive ability. With A.J. Ewing emerging as an everyday option in the outfield, the Mets didn’t need two right-handed bench outfielders. Slater will now head back through the DFA process. If the Mets don’t find a trade partner, and no club claims him, the veteran can forego a minor league assignment and choose free agency. That’s how he landed with the Mets after departing the Marlins.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
Mets To Select Zach Thornton This Week
The Mets are going to promote pitching prospect Zach Thornton this week. Manager Carlos Mendoza informed reporters, including Tim Britton of The Athletic, that Thornton will play some kind of role for the Mets on Wednesday. That could be as a starter or working as a bulk guy behind an opener. Thornton is not yet on the 40-man roster, so the Mets will have to make room for him somehow.
Thornton, now 24, was a fifth-round pick of the Mets in 2023. He put himself on the prospect map with a strong 2025 season. He only made 14 starts before an oblique injury ended his season, but the numbers were good. Between High-A and Double-A, he tossed 72 2/3 innings, allowing 1.98 earned runs per nine. He struck out 28.5% of batters faced and only walked 4% of opponents. He also induced grounders on 43.2% of balls in play.
Coming into 2026, Baseball America ranked him the #13 prospect in the system and FanGraphs had him 12th. He doesn’t have huge velocity, averaging just 91 miles per hour with his fastball these days, but both BA and FG highlight his excellent command. FG also highlights his vertical slot and his ability to hide the ball as part of his delivery. His full arsenal includes a four-seamer, sinker, slider, cutter, curveball and changeup.
He has continued to post good numbers this year, with five Double-A starts and two at Triple-A. Combined, he has thrown 37 innings with a 3.16 ERA, 26.5% strikeout rate, 7.9% walk rate and 44.4% ground ball rate. BA bumped him up to #10 in the system in today’s update.
The Mets are dipping into their depth due to the recent injury to Clay Holmes, who fractured his right fibula and might be sidelined into August. Christian Scott is starting tonight and Nolan McLean tomorrow. Wednesday would have been Holmes’s turn. The Mets have some long relief options on the roster, although Sean Manaea just tossed four innings behind Freddy Peralta yesterday. Tobias Myers has starting experience but hasn’t tossed more than three innings in any game this year.
Thornton will at least get a spot start. What remains to be seen is if he’ll get sent back to the minors after that or if he’ll stick around. For the next turn, they could put Manaea or Myers into the Holmes spot. They could also turn to someone else on the farm, such as Jonah Tong, Jack Wenninger or Jonathan Pintaro.
Photo courtesy of Jim Rassol, Imagn Images
Mets Select Daniel Duarte
The Mets announced that they have selected the contract of right-hander Daniel Duarte. In a corresponding active roster move, fellow righty Joey Gerber has been optioned to Triple-A. To open a 40-man spot, lefty A.J. Minter has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Duarte, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Mets in the offseason. He has been with Triple-A Syracuse and putting up good numbers, at least on the surface. He has thrown 17 1/3 innings over 12 appearances, allowing 2.60 earned runs per nine.
Beneath the hood, things aren’t quite as impressive. His 19.7% strikeout rate and 12.7% walk rate are both subpar numbers. His 45.8% ground ball rate is above average but only by a few ticks. His ERA would be far higher without good luck, since his .255 batting average on balls in play and 82.5% strand rate are both to the fortunate side. His 4.21 FIP is perhaps a better representation of how he has pitched this year.
It’s possible Duarte is up to give the Mets some emergency length out of the bullpen. Their rotation is in a transitional phase at the moment, thanks to the recent injury to Clay Holmes. That leaves them with a four-man rotation consisting of Christian Scott, Nolan McLean, David Peterson and Freddy Peralta, with Peterson often pitching behind an opener. They have Tobias Myers and Sean Manaea as potential options for some bulk work, though Manaea tossed four innings behind Peralta yesterday and won’t be available for a few days.
Scott is starting tonight’s game. He hasn’t gone more than five innings in any game yet this year. McLean is listed as the starter for tomorrow’s game. It would be Holmes’s turn on Wednesday, so the Mets will need to figure out a plan for that game, whether it’s leaning on Myers as part of a bullpen game or calling someone up from the minors.
Five of Duarte’s 12 appearances this year have been two innings or longer, including three of the past four. He hasn’t pitched since May 12th, so he should be fresh and could help out in the coming days, perhaps if Scott can’t go very long tonight. Gerber hasn’t pitched since a game for Syracuse on the 12th but has mostly been throwing one-inning outings in the minors this year. Duarte still has an option and could be easily sent back down to Syracuse if he soaks up some frames and another fresh arm is needed.
As for Minter, he underwent lat surgery last year and was still recovering from that procedure as the 2026 season began. He began a rehab assignment in April but was pulled back in early May due to some left hip discomfort, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. He started a new rehab assignment on May 15th, tossing an inning for Syracuse. Since he has been on the 15-day IL all year, his 60-day count is retroactive to the beginning of the season. He will therefore be eligible for reinstatement next week.
Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images
Clay Holmes Likely To Avoid Surgery, Could Return In August
The Mets will be missing right-hander Clay Holmes for a significant chunk of the season, but he could return sometime after the All-Star break. The veteran starter fractured his right fibula on Friday against the Yankees. Holmes told reporters, including Chelsea Janes of SNY, that surgery hasn’t been ruled out, but doesn’t appear to be necessary.
Manager Carlos Mendoza was equally optimistic about the outlook for Holmes. “Yes, definitely we’ll see him this season,” Mendoza said, relayed by ESPN. The skipper added that Holmes is expected to need six to eight weeks to heal, plus an additional ramp-up period similar to Spring Training, which would be another month and a half or so. That schedule would get Holmes back into the Mets’ rotation sometime in August.
Holmes was struck by a 111 mph line drive off the bat of outfielder Spencer Jones in the fourth inning of the first game in the Subway Series. He somehow stayed in, wiggling out of a bases-loaded jam later in the frame. Holmes was removed after walking Jazz Chisholm Jr. with one out in the fifth inning.
The Holmes injury was the latest in a laundry list of health concerns for the Mets. The pitching staff is already missing right-hander Kodai Senga and reliever A.J. Minter. On the hitting side, shortstop Francisco Lindor, outfielder Luis Robert Jr., and first baseman Jorge Polanco remain out. Catcher Francisco Alvarez tore the meniscus in his right knee earlier this week.
The Mets dropped the first game against the Yankees, but rallied to win the next two, including a wild walk-off win on Sunday. Outfielder Tyrone Taylor blasted a two-out, three-run home run off closer David Bednar to send the game into extra innings. Rookie Carson Benge finished off the comeback by driving in the game-winning run in the 10th inning. The Mets went 5-1 this week, improving their record to 20-26. It’s been exactly a month since they’ve been this close to .500.
New York hasn’t come up with a Holmes replacement yet. The corresponding move when the righty hit the IL was the promotion of reliever Joey Gerber. Current bullpen pieces Tobias Myers and Sean Manaea are candidates to step into the rotation. Manaea has continued to struggle after spiraling down the stretch in 2025, but Myers has been solid. The club’s competitiveness might determine the long-term solution. If the Mets can move closer to contention, the front office might consider a trade to supplement the rotation while Holmes is recovering. If the team can’t get back into the Wild Card mix, the internal options will have to do.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
Luke Jackson To Opt Out Of Mets Contract
Right-hander Luke Jackson is triggering an opt-out clause in the minor league contract he signed with the Mets in early April, The Athletic’s Will Sammon reports. Depending on the specific terms of the clause, Jackson may be a free agent immediately, or he could become a free agent if the Mets don’t add him to their active roster within the next few days.
Jackson’s time in the farm system has seen the righty post a 0.00 ERA over three innings at high-A St. Lucie, but then an 11.57 ERA over five games and 4 2/3 innings for Triple-A Syracuse. Those rough numbers included seven walks against only two strikeouts against Triple-A batters, so it isn’t surprising that New York hasn’t yet felt compelled to call Jackson up to the majors. Even though the Mets are known for churning through relievers, selecting Jackson’s contract would also require a corresponding 40-man roster move.
A veteran of 10 Major League seasons, Jackson spent the majority (272 of his 409 1/3 career innings) with the Braves, posting a 3.97 ERA over his time in Atlanta’s bullpen. His best season was in 2021, when Jackson’s 1.98 ERA over 63 2/3 relief innings made him one of many unsung heroes on the Braves’ World Series championship club.
As one might expect for a grounder specialist, Jackson’s performance has tended to wax and wane in relation to his BABIP. Jackson’s control has always been spotty and his strikeout numbers have fluctuated rather sharply, and evened out at a 23.2% career strikeout rate. The 2025 season saw Jackson post a 4.06 ERA, 17.4K%, 12.8% walk rate, and 51.7% grounder rate over 51 innings with the Rangers, Tigers, and Mariners, as a .253 BABIP helped Jackson overcome his shaky secondary metrics.
If Jackson doesn’t end up with the Mets and instead becomes a free agent, his track record means that he’ll probably land another minors contract relatively quickly. The right-hander has played for six different organizations since July 2024, so Jackson is getting quite used to changing teams.
Mets Place Clay Holmes On 15-Day Injured List Due To Fractured Fibula
TODAY: Holmes was officially placed on the 15-day IL today. Right-hander Joey Gerber was called up in the corresponding move, as the Mets opted to address the bullpen and save the rotation decision for a few days.
MAY 15: Mets right-hander Clay Holmes sustained a fractured right fibula in tonight’s 5-2 loss to the Yankees, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. Manager Carlos Mendoza told Anthony DiComo of MLB.com and others that Holmes will “be down for a long time.” He has not been placed on the injured list yet, though a move is inevitable given Mendoza’s comments.
Holmes sustained the injury in the top of the 4th inning. Yankees outfielder Spencer Jones hit a liner that deflected off Holmes’ right leg and resulted in an infield single (video courtesy of MLB.com). Holmes was visited by trainers after the play but remained in the game, eventually departing after 4 1/3 innings. He underwent X-rays after the game, which revealed the fracture.
The impending loss of Holmes is a massive blow to the Mets, who are already struggling en route to one of the worst records in baseball at 18-26. Holmes is arguably the Mets’ most important starting pitcher this side of Nolan McLean. Including tonight’s game, in which he allowed four earned runs, Holmes has an excellent 2.39 ERA in 52 2/3 innings this year. Although his strikeout rate is slightly below average, Holmes excels by keeping the ball on the ground. His 56.0% groundball rate puts him in the Top 10 of qualified starters and is on par with last year’s 55.8% figure. Losing that production for any amount of time would be devastating, even more so with Holmes figuring to be out for months rather than weeks.
As a whole, the Mets’ rotation has been middle-of-the-pack in 2026. The group’s 3.93 ERA entering play today ranked 11th in the Majors, while their 14.7% strikeout to walk differential ranked 10th. Meanwhile, the group’s 3.67 expected ERA ranks fifth in the league and suggests the Mets’ starters have been slightly unlucky in that performance. The rotation has also had to weather poor injury luck, as Kodai Senga (lumbar spine inflammation) has been down for two weeks and Justin Hagenman (rib fracture) has been on the injured list since Spring Training.
Obviously, the Mets’ rotation injuries don’t account for all of the team’s struggles. The offense has a terrible 85 wRC+ and is tied for second-worst in the Majors in that regard. In contrast, the bullpen is tied for fourth-best in the Majors with a 1.8 combined fWAR. As mentioned, the rotation is middle-of-the-pack, and that’s despite poor performances from David Peterson (8.10 ERA in five traditional starts) and Senga (9.00 ERA in five starts pre-injury). Overall, the pitching staff is the Mets’ strong suit amid their offensive struggles, making Holmes’ injury sting even more.
In Holmes’ absence, McLean, Peralta, and Christian Scott are the remaining starters. Peterson has provided bulk innings out of the ‘pen in his last two appearances and should remain in that role. If the Mets are comfortable having two spots for openers or bullpen games, they could use Sean Manaea as another bulk arm alongside Peterson. Manaea, who has been a starter for most of his career, threw between 41 and 74 pitches in all six of his relief appearances this April. He’s been used in short relief in May but could feasibly be stretched out to a larger workload again. If the team prefers a more traditional starter, No. 2 prospect Jonah Tong could be recalled from the minors.
Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images
Mets Outright Andy Ibáñez
TODAY: The Mets have sent Ibáñez outright to Triple-A Syracuse, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates that Ibáñez cleared waivers after being designated for assignment and accepted the outright rather than forgo his guaranteed salary.
May 12: The Mets announced Tuesday that infielder Andy Ibáñez has been designated for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to top prospect A.J. Ewing, whose previously reported selection to the major league roster is now official.
New York claimed the 33-year-old Ibáñez off waivers from the A’s late last month. He appeared in only three games as a Met, going 0-for-6 with a pair of sacrifice flies in eight trips to the plate. Between brief stints with the Athletics and Mets, Ibáñez has taken 26 plate appearances this season and gone 2-for-23 with a walk, three strikeouts and that pair of sac flies.
It’s an obviously poor start to the season, though Ibáñez has a longer track record in the big leagues, specifically against left-handed pitching. He’s a career .250/.301/.383 hitter in 1246 plate appearances as a big leaguer but has solid .272/.316/.437 slash (108 wRC+) in 572 career plate appearances versus southpaws. During his time in Detroit, Ibáñez was a go-to option for skipper A.J. Hinch. From 2023-24, Hinch plugged Ibáñez into 272 plate appearances versus left-handers and was rewarded with a .278/.331/.480 batting line.
Ibáñez’s production against lefties dipped to about league average last year, however, prompting Detroit to non-tender him. He signed with the Dodgers in free agency, but L.A. was clearly hoping to ink him on a reasonable one-year deal then pass him through waivers to stash as depth in the upper minors. The A’s threw a wrench into that gambit by claiming him in February, just two weeks after he signed with the Dodgers in the first place.
On the defensive side of things, Ibáñez is both versatile and effective. He’s drawn above-average grades for his work at second base, third base and first base in his big league career. He’s also made brief cameos at shortstop (eight innings) and in the outfield corners (171 innings). No team is going to install him as a semi-regular option at shortstop, but he can handle the position in a pinch and can bounce just about anywhere else on the diamond. Ibáñez isn’t a burner on the basepaths, but his sprint speed sits in the 55th percentile of big leaguers, per Statcast, so he could be a late pinch-running option for a plodding slugger if need be.
Ibáñez is earning $1.2MM this season. Any team that claims him or acquires him in a trade would be on the hook for the remaining $897K of that sum (though the Mets could include some cash in a deal in the seemingly unlikely event that another club is willing to offer up a lower-tier prospect). Ibáñez is out of minor league options, so he’d need to go right onto a new club’s major league roster. If he passes through waivers unclaimed, he has enough service time to reject an outright assignment in favor of free agency, but doing so would mean forfeiting the rest of his guaranteed salary. As such, he’d likely accept an assignment to Triple-A and stay on hand as a depth option for the Mets.
Francisco Alvarez Undergoes Surgery For Meniscus Tear
May 14: Alvarez had his surgery this morning. The Mets expect his recovery to be on the longer end of the spectrum, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com — likely eight weeks.
May 13, 3:07pm: Alvarez will indeed undergo surgery, manager Carlos Mendoza announced to the Mets beat (link via ESPN’s Jorge Castillo). There won’t be a formal timetable until the procedure is performed. Mendoza is hopeful Alvarez will return in six to eight weeks, but they’ll have more info after his operation.
2:08pm: The Mets announced Wednesday that catcher Francisco Alvarez has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a torn meniscus in his right knee. Fellow catcher Hayden Senger has been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse in a corresponding move. He’ll split time behind the dish with Luis Torrens while Alvarez is out.
Alvarez exited yesterday’s game due to knee discomfort and underwent an MRI today, which revealed the tear. The Mets’ announcement indicated only that a “timeline for return to play will be provided when possible.” Given the nature of the injury, Alvarez will be sidelined a good bit longer than 10 days. Meniscus tears almost always require surgery, though the timetable for return depends on the extent of the tearing.
It’s yet another blow for the Mets in a season where virtually nothing has gone their way. New York’s 16-25 record is the fourth-worst mark in Major League Baseball. Alvarez joins Jorge Polanco, Francisco Lindor, Luis Robert Jr., Ronny Mauricio, Jared Young, Kodai Senga and A.J. Minter on the injured list. Lindor, Polanco, Alvarez and Robert were all expected to be key pieces in a reshaped Mets lineup that has looked downright anemic this season — in no small part due to that litany of injuries.
The 24-year-old Alvarez had gotten out to a nice start in what’s already his fifth season with some time logged at the MLB level. He’s hitting .241/.317/.393 — about 5% better than league average, by measure of wRC+ (and about 14% better than the average catcher). During a swing in the sixth inning of yesterday’s game, however, Alvarez grimaced and walked out of the batter’s box, repeatedly flexing his knee (video link). After meeting with a trainer, he departed in the middle of the at-bat.
Once one of the top prospects in baseball, Alvarez has shown flashes of potential to break out as one of the game’s top backstops. He belted 25 homers back in 2023 but did so with a sub-.300 OBP and only a .209 average. In 2025, he slashed .256/.339/.447 but was limited to just 277 plate appearances because of injury. Health has been a frequent issue for the talented young catcher. Beyond this new meniscus tear, he’s also suffered ligament tears in both thumbs and a broken hamate in his his left hand.
Losing Alvarez means turning catching duties over to a pair of light hitters who are better served as backups. The 30-year-old Torrens is a strong defender but just a .226/.287/.351 hitter in his career. He’s batting .208/.255/.292 this season. The Mets somewhat surprisingly inked him to a two-year, $11.5MM extension last month. Senger has only 78 big league plate appearances but has mustered just a .181/.221/.194 slash in that time. His minor league work doesn’t inspire much more confidence. In parts of four Triple-A seasons, he’s a .231/.289/.339 hitter with a 26.9% strikeout rate.
MLBTR Podcast: Patrick Bailey To Cleveland, The Struggling Astros, And Arizona’s Outfield Changes
The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.
This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…
- The Giants trading Patrick Bailey to the Guardians (1:25)
- The Astros losing Carlos Correa to season-ending ankle surgery (18:40)
- The Diamondbacks calling up Ryan Waldschmidt and trading Alek Thomas to the Dodgers (28:05)
- The Mets calling up A.J. Ewing (38:25)
- The Marlins calling up Robby Snelling (42:55)
Plus, we answer your questions, including…
- Are the Tigers struggling due to injuries and will be fine as guys get healthy? Or should fans be more worried? (49:30)
- Which starting pitchers can the Cubs pursue? (53:25)
- When will the Yankees realize they need to upgrade on David Bednar as the closer? (58:20)
Check out our past episodes!
- Skubal’s Injury, The Marlins’ Catchers, Eldridge Called Up, And Volpe Sent Down – listen here
- The Alex Cora Situation, Lucas Giolito Signs, And The Phillies Fire Rob Thomson – listen here
- Kevin McGonigle, The Padres’ Franchise Valuation, And Edwin Díaz To Miss Time – listen here
The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff. Check out their Facebook page here!
Photo courtesy of David Dermer, Imagn Images