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Orioles Acquire Victor Gonzalez From Mets, Release Chandler Shepherd

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The Orioles have acquired infield prospect Victor Gonzalez from the Mets as the player to be named later in the August trade that sent Miguel Castro to New York.  The 17-year-old Gonzalez has been added to Baltimore’s 60-man player pool, while right-hander Chandler Shepherd was released to make room.

Gonzalez, hailing from the Dominican Republic, signed for a $250K bonus as a member of the Mets’ 2019-20 international signing class.  With the 2020 minor league season canceled, Gonzalez has yet to officially begin his pro career, and he wasn’t part of the group working out at the Mets’ alternate training site.  Baseball America’s Ben Badler described Gonzalez as having “a good chance to stay at shortstop” since he has “a quick first step, covers ground well and has a strong arm for the position.”

Shepherd joined the Orioles on a waiver claim in May 2019 and made his MLB debut last season, posting a 6.63 ERA over 19 innings for the O’s.  The righty was outrighted off the 40-man roster after the season but remained in the organization, and was briefly called up to the Orioles’ roster this season but didn’t appear in a game before being designated for assignment in August.

Originally a 13th-round pick for the Red Sox in the 2014 draft, Shepherd has a 4.17 ERA, 3.44 K/BB rate, and 8.6 K/9 over 455 2/3 career minor league innings in the Boston and Baltimore organizations.  Somewhat unusually, he began his pro career as a reliever before becoming mostly a full-time starter prior to the 2018 season.  (Three of Shepherd’s five Major League games were starts.)

Jed Lowrie Won’t Play This Season

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The 2020 campaign will go in the books as a lost season for Mets infielder Jed Lowrie, who won’t play this year on account of left knee problems, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

The Lowrie signing surely counts as one of the worst in team history for the Mets, who inked the ex-Athletics standout to a two-year, $20MM contract before last season. The switch-hitting Lowrie was coming off two healthy and productive seasons in Oakland at the time, but his knee troubles have since limited him to nine games and eight plate appearances – all of which came in 2019.

Soon to turn 37 years old, Lowrie has undergone platelet-rich plasma and stem cell injections in his knee of late, per Healey. It’s unclear whether Lowrie will play again, then. However, if he does try for another deal, it’s quite likely to be of the minor league variety.

The Mets, for their part, haven’t necessarily needed Lowrie over the past couple years, during which they’ve had a crowded infield. Lowrie’s primarily a second and third baseman, but the Mets have Robinson Cano, J.D. Davis and Jeff McNeil around to handle those spots. Those players are all slated to remain with the team in 2021.

Jacob deGrom Leaves Start Early

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7:46pm: deGrom is dealing with a right hamstring spasm, the team announced.

7:06pm: Mets ace Jacob deGrom left his start against the Phillies on Wednesday after two innings, Scott Lauber of the Philadelphia Inquirer was among those to report. The reason for deGrom’s exit isn’t yet known, but he met with trainers after his final inning. The Mets then replaced deGrom with right-hander Michael Wacha.

DeGrom departed his outing after yielding three earned runs, making it his worst start of 2020. The back-to-back NL Cy Young winner entered Wednesday in strong contention for the award again with a 1.67 ERA/1.96 FIP and 13.17 K/9 against 2.17 BB/9 over 54 innings. Prior to Wednesday, deGrom hadn’t allowed more than two earned runs in any of his starts this season.

There would be no replacing deGrom for the Mets if he has to miss time, but the fact that they went into Wednesday at 21-27 makes it unlikely they’ll earn a playoff trip, anyway. With that in mind, the bigger question may be how a deGrom injury would impact the NL Cy Young race, where Yu Darvish and Trevor Bauer are also among those competing for the honors.

Latest On Dellin Betances

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The Mets have been without reliever Dellin Betances since he went on the injured list Aug. 30 with right lat tightness, and it doesn’t appear a return is imminent. Manager Luis Rojas said Wednesday that Betances’ “timeline is uncertain,” Tim Britton of The Athletic relays.

With little time left in the regular season and the 21-27 Mets looking unlikely to make the playoffs, it’s possible Betances has thrown his last pitch of 2020. Either way, this will go down as the second straight injury-shortened year for Betances, a former Yankee who missed almost all of 2019 with shoulder and Achilles problems. The four-time All-Star then signed for a guaranteed $10.5MM with the Mets last winter, but thanks largely to a couple of rough outings, Betances hasn’t put up his usual numbers.

Before going on the IL, the 32-year-old Betances pitched to a 6.10 ERA/4.27 FIP with by far a career-worst 6.97 (he owns a lifetime 14.44 K/9) and 6.1 BB/9 in 10 1/3 innings. Along the way, Betances averaged 93.3 mph on his fastball – well below his personal mean of 97.2.

The deal Betances inked with the Mets includes options for 2021 and ’22. For next season, he’ll be able to return to the club on a $6MM player option. Considering how this year has gone for him, it seems unlikely Betances will reject that sum in favor of a $3MM buyout.

Steve Cohen Agrees To Purchase Mets

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4:54pm: SNY is not in the deal, Joel Sherman of the New York Post tweets.

4:17pm: Billionaire Steve Cohen has agreed to purchase the Mets from Fred Wilpon and Jeff Wilpon, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports. Cohen will need approval from 23 MLB owners to acquire the team, and if they sign off on his purchase in November, he’ll own 95 percent of the franchise, according to Tim Healey of Newsday. The deal values the Mets at roughly $2.475 billion, Healey adds.

“I am excited to have reached an agreement with the Wilpon and Katz families to purchase the New York Mets,” Cohen announced.

The Cohen purchase has been a long time coming for the Mets, who have been in on-again, off-again negotiations with him dating back to last winter. Cohen was seemingly in line to buy the team for $2.6 billion before, but the prior deal between him and the Mets collapsed in February. Cohen, who’s a minority owner of the Mets now, would have ended up with 80 percent of the franchise had that agreement gone through. He’ll now take over almost the entire organization, though it’s unclear whether he’ll get the coveted SNY Network in the sale.

After the Mets resumed their attempt to sell the team, Cohen vied against an Alex Rodriguez-Jennifer Lopez team and a Josh Harris-David Blitzer tandem, among others, in order to land the club. Cohen won out for exclusive negotiations on Aug. 28, though Rodriguez was reportedly none too pleased with the Wilpons for how they handled the process.

Of course, Mets fans also aren’t big fans of the Wilpon family, who have been part of their ownership since the 1980s. The Mets have recently endured serious struggles under the Wilpons, who are at the helm of a franchise that hasn’t won a World Series since 1986, has gone to the postseason four times in the 21st century and hasn’t made the playoffs since 2016.

At 21-26 this season, it doesn’t appear the Mets will snap their playoff drought. Considering the difficulties they’ve faced over the past couple seasons, it’s anyone’s guess which changes Cohen will make if he takes over the team before next season. General manager Brodie Van Wagenen could end up on the chopping block, though, as the beleaguered second-year exec has overseen back-t0-back disappointing teams.

NL Injury Notes: Arenado, Matz, Senzel, Gott

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Rounding up some injury news from around the National League:

  • Rockies’ star third baseman Nolan Arenado was held out of the lineup today with a left shoulder injury, per the Athletic’s Nick Groke (via Twitter). Colorado is hoping he’ll avoid an injured list stint, says Groke. Arenado’s obviously of immense importance if the 21-24 Rockies are to erase a game and half deficit and get into the postseason.
  • The Mets activated lefty reliever Steven Matz from the injured list this afternoon. He’s been out about two weeks with discomfort in his throwing shoulder. It has been a disappointing season for Matz, who got bumped from the rotation after five poor starts before leaving his first relief appearance with the aforementioned injury.
  • Reds’ center fielder Nick Senzel has been on the injured list for undisclosed reasons since August 19. He’s nearing a return, manager David Bell told reporters, including Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer (Twitter link). Indeed, it’s possible Senzel returns for tomorrow’s doubleheader against the Pirates. The 25-year-old is hitting .244/.327/.489 in 53 plate appearances this year.
  • The Giants are placing right-handed reliever Trevor Gott on the 10-day injured list with right elbow inflammation (via Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle). It has been a nightmarish season for the 28-year-old. After seemingly breaking out in 2019, Gott has allowed 13 runs (all earned) in 11.2 innings with eight strikeouts and walks apiece.

Latest On Jed Lowrie

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It doesn’t appear Mets infielder Jed Lowrie will end up playing for the club this year, Tim Britton of The Athletic relays. The regular season is only a couple weeks from ending, but manager Luis Rojas said Wednesday he’s not sure whether Lowrie is participating in baseball activities.

“I don’t know what he’s doing,” Rojas said of Lowrie, who Britton notes has been eligible to come off the 45-day injured list for a week.

Lowrie has missed all but nine games since last season as a result of leg problems, including to his left knee this year. Since signing a two-year, $20MM contract with the Mets before 2019, Lowrie has totaled zero hits over eight plate appearances. That obviously wasn’t what the Mets had in mind when they picked up the switch-hitting Lowrie, now 36, off two straight healthy and highly impressive seasons with the Athletics.

Lowrie spent his best seasons in Oakland at second and third base (primarily the keystone), but New York hasn’t been without solutions at those positions during his prolonged absence in 2020. The Mets have mostly given second to a resurgent Robinson Cano and third to J.D. Davis, while Jeff McNeil and Luis Guillorme have been among those to fill in at those spots when necessary. The club’s still a disappointing 19-24, but it’s certainly not because Lowrie has been unavailable. And after back-to-back frustrating seasons, it seems likely the Mets will wave goodbye to Lowrie in free agency during the upcoming winter, ending what has been a regrettable union for the club.

Mets Place Robert Gsellman On 10-Day Injured List

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3:05pm: The Mets don’t expect Gsellman to return this year, Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News tweets.

2:45pm: The Mets have placed right-hander Robert Gsellman on the 10-day injured list due to a fractured rib.  Right-hander Drew Smith was called up from the alternate training site.

While the exact severity of Gsellman’s injury isn’t known, a rib fracture would likely indicate that his 2020 campaign is over with less than three weeks remaining in the regular season.  The right-hander already missed time earlier this season with a triceps injury and didn’t make his season debut until August 8.

The injuries have undoubtedly contributed to a rough year for Gsellman on the mound.  Working as both a reliever and as a starter, Gsellman has a 9.64 ERA over 14 innings, with almost as many walks (eight) as strikeouts (nine).  Gsellman has also been tagged for four homers over his 14 innings for an ungainly 2.6 HR/9.  A big piece of that damage came in last night’s game, when Gsellman allowed six runs to the Orioles over 3 2/3 innings.

Gsellman broke into the big leagues as a starter, though transitioned to relief work in 2018-19 and was only called back to starting this season to help fill the gaps left by the Mets’ many rotation injuries.  The 27-year-old is pitching in his fifth MLB season and will be arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter.  Since he isn’t likely to earn much of a raise over his $1.225MM salary from 2020, it wouldn’t cost the Mets much to bring Gsellman back and hope for better health in 2021.

Latest Mets Ownership News

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Billionaire Steve Cohen has been in exclusive negotiations to buy the Mets for two weeks now, and those talks may be nearing the endpoint.  According to Charles Gasparino of FOX Business Network, Cohen is “finalizing” the details on his purchase of the team.  Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported yesterday that “the complication of language, mainly for tax reasons” was the primary reason for “the slowness” in fully completing a sale agreement.

Though there don’t appear to be any obstacles standing in the way of Cohen becoming the Mets’ next owner, we have already seen his earlier attempt to buy the team fall apart back in February, so no assumptions should be made until a deal is officially announced.  Until that time, the competing ownership group led by Alex Rodriguez and Jennifer Lopez (who were known to be less than pleased with the bidding process), haven’t yet abandoned hope that they could still end up as the Mets’ next owners.  “It ain’t over until it is over….We feel we have the best bid for the sport, the team and the city,” Lopez told Sherman.

Lopez and Rodriguez shared some details about the vision for the team, including a player payroll in the $225MM range and the guarantee of a $100MM donation to various New York City charities if the Mets didn’t win a World Series within a decade of their taking ownership of the club.  Lopez also revealed the intriguing news that she would act as the Mets’ control person (i.e. the member of the ownership group who officially represents a team in the eyes of Major League Baseball), rather than Rodriguez.  Past documentation filed by the ownership group indicated that A-Rod would be the Mets’ control person, though given the amount of baggage and controversy attached to his name, having Lopez as the official owner of record would perhaps make their bid more palatable in the league’s eyes.

As Sherman puts it, “the Rodriguez/Lopez group is staying alive as, at minimum, a just-in-case alternative should current Mets ownership need to pivot” and is “trying to deliver a message to [Mets ownership], fans and major league owners that — eleventh hour or not — they believe they would be the superior caretakers of the franchise.”  Whether this public appeal will have any impact is anyone’s guess, as the only potential hurdle for Cohen’s bid would be if he doesn’t receive the necessary 23 votes of approval from the league’s other owners.  As Gasparino notes, however, league executives “say every indication is that Cohen gets approved.”

Cubs Claim Billy Hamilton

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The Chicago Cubs claimed Billy Hamilton off waivers from the Mets today, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com (via Twitter). The Cubs also added Ildemaro Vargas to the active roster and designated Matt Dermody for assignment. Bastian also reports that the Pedro Strop deal is official.

Hamilton, in the conversation for the fastest player in baseball, joins his third team of the 2020 season, though he was DFA’ed by the Giants before the start of the season. With the Mets, Hamilton appeared in 17 games, but saw just 25 plate appearances. He was unable to muster much at the dish, slashing .045/.083/.045 in that time. Hamilton did steal 3 bases in 4 attempts, which might be a better gauge of his success at this point in his career. He appeared 6 times as a pinch-runner for the Mets.

Hamilton could serve as a defensive option late in games for the Cubs in center, but his primary usage should be as a pinch-runner. The Cubs have Ian Happ playing most days in center with Albert Almora, Cameron Maybin, and Nico Hoerner used when Happ needs a day off or moves around the diamond. Any of those three might be used at times to run, but none have the speed of Hamilton. He’ll fill the role of a late-inning burner that’s been filled by Quintin Berry and Jarrod Dyson in the post, notes Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune.

Dermody made just one appearance for the Cubs, pitching a scoreless ninth in yesterday’s loss to the Cardinals. The 30-year-old lefty was signed as a free agent early in August. He’ll now be exposed to waivers.

Vargas, 29, has been through a whirlwind 2020. After starting the season with the Diamondbacks, the Twins purchased his contract from Arizona, but then lost him to the Cubs on waivers about a month later. He didn’t see extended playing time with either team, slashing .190/.222/.263 across 45 plate appearances split between Arizona and Minnesota. The switch-hitter gives the Cubs another versatile bat for their bench.

Additionally, the Cubs added Duncan Robinson to their 60-man player pool and released catcher Jose Lobaton.They have one open spot in their player pool. Robinson, 26, is a big-bodied right-handed pitcher who spent four years at Dartmouth before being drafted by the Cubs in the 9th round of the 2016 draft. He has yet to pitch in the majors.

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