Mets Rumors

Mets Designate Jose Lobaton, Recall Tomas Nido

By Kyle Downing | May 19, 2018 at 1:10pm CDT

The Mets have designated catcher Jose Lobaton for assignment, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports via Twitter, noting that the backstop wasn’t playing much with Devin Mesoraco now in the fold. In a related move, they’ve recalled Tomas Nido to serve as Mesoraco’s backup for the time being. In an unrelated move, the club also optioned lefty Buddy Baumann and recalled right-hander Chris Flexen to take his roster spot.

The 33-year-old Lobaton has played in parts of nine major league seasons for the Padres, Rays, Nationals and Mets, but has never provided much in the way of value. His 2018 slash line stands at a meager .152/.250/.239 through 52 plate appearances with the Amazins, and it certainly makes sense that the club would give the lion’s share of the work behind the plate to Mesoraco considering his former offensive prowess. Mesoraco was recently acquired from the Reds in exchange for Matt Harvey, in what was clearly a swap of struggling veteran change-of-scenery candidates.

Despite Lobaton’s uninspiring resume, it’s difficult to imagine he’ll go unclaimed given the state of the catcher position around MLB. The Nationals and Twins are in desperate need of catching depth after losing Matt Wieters and Jason Castro (respectively) to significant injuries. The veteran Lobaton could easily be a target for either team, though it seems likely that both clubs would wait for their chance to claim him rather than attempt to give anything up in a trade.

Nido, 24, has actually been worse than Lobaton so far this season. With a microscopic .135/.179/.162 slash line across 39 plate appearances to go with a 38.5% strikeout rate, Nido is simply the new unexciting backup option to Mesoraco while the team waits for Kevin Plawecki to return from a broken hand, hopefully by the end of the month.

Mets To Sign Christian Colon, Ezequiel Carrera

By Jeff Todd | May 18, 2018 at 10:24pm CDT

The Mets have agreed to minor-league deals with infielder Christian Colon and outfielder Ezequiel Carrera, according to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (via Twitter). Colon’s signing has been acknowledged on the team’s transactions page.

Both Colon and Carrera were released recently by the Braves. Neither will likely be seen as an immediate MLB asset, but both could certainly push toward the top of the team’s depth chart. With a variety of injuries currently weighing on the Mets’ roster, these veterans will fill in the ranks at Triple-A and increase the overall depth on hand.

The 29-year-old Colon has rarely shown much with the bat, with a .252/.315/.315 slash over his 386 MLB plate appearances. And he has limped to a .204/.278/.204 slash in his first 55 plate appearances this year at Triple-A. But he’s regarded as a quality defender and has been graded that way by defensive metrics.

As for Carrera, 30, he was a useful player for the Blue Jays in recent years, including a .266/.340/.382 slash with 14 home runs and 17 steals over 635 plate appearances. He was cut loose by the Toronto organization despite agreeing to an arb salary for the current campaign. It was tough to see a path for Carrera to reach the majors with the Braves, though, particularly after he ran up a terribly .146/.228/.220 batting line in 93 plate appearances at Gwinnett.

Juan Lagares Expected To Miss Rest Of Season After Toe Surgery

By Jeff Todd | May 18, 2018 at 2:28pm CDT

The Mets have announced that outfielder Juan Lagares will require toe surgery and is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Needless to say, this comes as quite an unwelcome surprise.

The organization provided a detailed explanation of the malady:

Juan Lagares hyperextended the big toe on his left foot. The MRI revealed a complete tear of the big toe plantar plate, which is a thick supporting ligament of the toe.

It seems there’s still some hope that Lagares will be able to make a return late in the present campaign. At least, it hasn’t yet been ruled out. But the organization surely did not sound an optimistic tone in stating that he likely would be sidelined the rest of the way. Plus, the fact that the surgery is “tentatively scheduled for next week” does not suggest that it’s being performed as soon as possible in hopes of speeding up his timeline.

The news comes at an especially unwelcome time for player and team. Lagares had been off to a solid .339/.375/.390 batting line through 64 plate appearances to open the year. While that low-power, largely BABIP-dependent output was not exactly a stirring showing, it did represent an improved performance from what Lagares had provided at the plate over the prior three seasons. Of course, the calling card for Lagares remains his outstanding glove.

Plus, the Mets are now dealing with the absence of Yoenis Cespedes, who just hit the DL. It had seemed that Lagares would get a fair bit of action, as the club’s remaining top outfield pieces (Jay Bruce, Michael Conforto, and Brandon Nimmo) are all left-handed hitters. Instead, the just-recalled Phillip Evans could get some opportunities.

This is the latest indication that the Mets won’t get what they hoped out of the extension they agreed to with Lagares at the outset of the 2015 season. Since putting pen to paper, Lagares owns a mediocre .258/.299/.366 batting line in 961 plate appearances. Under the deal, he’s due $6.5MM this year, $9MM for 2019, and then either a $500K buyout or $9.5MM salary via club option in 2020.

Mets Place Yoenis Cespedes On 10-Day DL

By Jeff Todd | May 16, 2018 at 9:59am CDT

The Mets have placed outfielder Yoenis Cespedes on the 10-day DL, per a club announcement. He’ll be replaced on the active roster by Phillip Evans.

It’s not surprising to hear that Cespedes is going to be shut down for a bit, as he has been dealing with a hip strain that has lingered for the past ten days or so. The team had resisted a DL placement but finally decided to bite the bullet and shut Cespedes down. The placement is backdated to May 14th.

The 32-year-old Cespedes remains a key cog in the New York lineup. He’s off to a .255/.316/.474 slash through 152 plate appearances, which isn’t quite up to the standard he has set over the past three years but remains substantially above-average output.

While it always hurts to lose such a productive member of the lineup, the Mets will obviously want to ensure that this doesn’t balloon into another worrying lower-body injury for Cespedes. Plus, both Brandon Nimmo and Juan Lagares have hit well in limited action; providing some extra action for them probably isn’t the worst outcome.

NL East Notes: Asdrubal, Amaro, Marlins

By Steve Adams | May 14, 2018 at 8:52am CDT

Asdrubal Cabrera’s strong start for the Mets is building an interesting test case in free agency, writes Ken Davidoff of the New York Post. The 32-year-old is the type of player who was immensely devalued last offseason — a longtime solid but not star-caliber regular on the wrong side of 30 — but is also in the midst of perhaps his best start to any season. Cabrera is batting .329/.376/.552, and I’d add that dating back to last September, he’s actually slashing .345/.398/.573 in 260 PAs. Cabrera has upped his line-drive rate quite a bit in 2018, but his fly-ball, ground-ball, strikeout and walk rates are all in line with his career marks. The uptick in liners and hard contact does prompt xwOBA to view his early work favorably, but it’s not clear he can maintain that pace. A .383 average on balls in play is a huge factor in Cabrera’s surge, and that doesn’t appear especially sustainable.

That said, Cabrera looks to have plenty left in the tank after a solid two-plus years with the Mets. Davidoff, though, points to peers like Neil Walker and Eduardo Nunez in suggesting that the market hasn’t been favorable to Cabrera’s skill set and wonders if he’ll be able to top the two-year, $18.25MM deal he initially landed from the Mets.

East Notes: Hess, Stroman, Mets, Pedroia, Mujica

By Jeff Todd | May 11, 2018 at 11:06pm CDT

After placing Chris Tillman on the DL earlier today, the Orioles have announced that they’ll promote David Hess to take the open spot in the rotation, as Jon Meoli of the Baltimore Sun was among those to report on Twitter. The 24-year-old righty entered the year as a notable, if not particularly heralded prospect. He has impressed thus far in 2018 after being added to the 40-man roster to protect him from the Rule 5 draft last fall. Through 29 2/3 innings over six starts, Hess owns a 2.12 ERA with 8.8 K/9 and 3.6 BB/9. It remains to be seen how long a run he’ll get in the majors, but it seems there’ll be opportunity available if he throws well.

Here are some more notes from the eastern divisions, focusing on some health situations of note:

Blue Jays starter Marcus Stroman discussed his DL placement with the media today, with MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm providing the story. Stroman acknowledged that the placement was made with consideration not just of his physical wellness, but his mental state. “Just a collective decision between me and the staff, to take a step back, do what I need to do for my shoulder, get my emotions and everything in sync, to get back to myself,” Stroman said. It seems he’ll mostly be looking to get a relatively brief respite before rejoining the staff.
The Mets provided a variety of health updates today to reporters, including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. Infielder T.J. Rivera is not yet ready for rehab assignments but could make it back from Tommy John surgery by July. Backstop Kevin Plawecki is closer, as he’s preparing to begin rehabbing in earnest in hopes of returning from a fractured hand by the end of the month. As Tim Britton of The Athletic tweets, though, reliever Anthony Swarzak is still a little ways off. His injured oblique is still not healed enough to allow him to take the mound. Meanwhile, the club has placed reliever Hansel Robles on the 10-day DL with a sprained knee, with lefty Buddy Baumann taking his place on the active roster.
Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia is hoping to begin a rehab assignment early next week, Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe tweets. He has been building back to full strength following offseason knee surgery. While the Sox have managed just fine without the veteran star, a return from Pedroia will certainly be most welcome, as fill-in Eduardo Nunez has struggled thus far at the plate.
Rays righty Jose Mujica has been cleared of any significant arm issues, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times tweets. The minor-league hurler will need about a month of rest after being diagnosed with a forearm strain. So long as he can get back to health, though, he could represent a much-needed option later in the year.

Mets Agree To Minor League Deal With Patrick Kivlehan

By Steve Adams | May 9, 2018 at 7:50pm CDT

The Mets added outfielder/infielder Patrick Kivlehan to their Triple-A roster in Las Vegas today, reports Betsy Helfand of the Las Vegas Review Journal (via Twitter). Helfand had previously reported that Bryce Brentz would miss the next four to six weeks after incurring a broken bone when fouling a ball into his foot, so Kivlehan, who was recently released by the Reds, will help to fill Brentz’s spot for the time being.

Kivlehan, 28, logged a career-high 204 plate appearances with the Reds last season but struggled to a .208/.304/.399 batting line. He spent the entire season on Cincinnati’s big league roster and walked at a 10.8 percent clip while also showing some decent pop in his bat, slugging nine homers, five doubles and a triple while posting a .191 ISO in a part-time role. He had trouble making contact on a consistent basis, however, as evidenced by a 29.9 percent strikeout clip.

Through his first 47 plate appearances with the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate in 2018, Kivlehan hit just .167/.255/.167 with 15 strikeouts against two walks. He’ll head to a more hitter-friendly environment in Vegas as he looks to boost his production closer to the .251/.306/.424 output he’s managed in his Triple-A career. In addition to giving the Mets some coverage in the outfield corners, he also has experience at both corner-infield slots.

Mets, Reds Swap Matt Harvey For Devin Mesoraco

By Steve Adams | May 8, 2018 at 5:18pm CDT

The Mets and Reds announced on Tuesday that they’ve swapped right-hander Matt Harvey and catcher Devin Mesoraco. The Reds are sending cash to the Mets to offset the difference in salary, as Mesoraco is earning $13.125MM in 2018 to Harvey’s $5.6MM. Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports first reported the trade was close (via Twitter).

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reports (via Twitter) that Cincinnati is paying the entirety of Mesoraco’s deal, while the Mets are paying all of Harvey’s contract. In essence, then, there’s no impact on either club’s payroll, and the move simply boils down to a change of scenery for two former stars who’ve fallen out of favor and dropped down the depth chart in their original organizations.

New York also announced that Todd Frazier has been placed on the disabled list due to a strained left hamstring, while Anthony Swarzak has been transferred to the 60-day DL. The Reds, meanwhile, have selected the contract of catcher Tony Cruz from Triple-A in a corresponding move, and he’ll now serve as the backup to Tucker Barnhart, who has replaced Mesoraco in tonight’s lineup. The Mets and Reds are playing each other tonight, and Mesoraco is available to hit for his new club. Harvey will join the Reds later this week in Los Angeles, the team announced.

For Harvey, the ace will get a clean slate in a low-pressure environment as he looks to return to form with a last-place Reds club that assuredly can afford to give him an extended look in what has been a dismal rotation. Harvey hasn’t been anywhere near the pitcher he was early in his career, with injuries derailing what was one of the more promising young careers among all MLB pitchers. Specifically, Harvey has undergone both Tommy John surgery and thoracic outlet syndrome surgery in the past four years, and his production has unsurprisingly plummeted as a result.

Harvey, 29, pitched to a pristine 2.53 ERA with 9.5 K/9 against 2.0 BB/9 in 427 big league innings from 2012-15. Tommy John surgery in 2014 slowed his career, but he was able to return to prominence with a terrific 2015 season and a heroic postseason performance that was largely befitting of his “Dark Knight” moniker, even if his ninth-inning struggles in the decisive Game 5 of the 2015 World Series will live on in infamy.

[Related: Updated New York Mets depth chart | Updated Cincinnati Reds depth chart]

The 2016 season, however, was a struggle for Harvey, as he pitched just 92 2/3 innings of 4.86 ERA ball before ultimately succumbing to the aforementioned TOS surgery. The track record of pitchers returning from TOS surgery is not good, to say the least, and Harvey is one of the more prominent data points exemplifying that fact. Since returning from that surgery in 2016, he’s pitched to a 6.77 ERA with 6.5 K/9, 4.2 BB/9 and 2.0 HR/9 in 119 2/3 innings. Harvey’s average fastball velocity is a career-low 92.6 mph so far in 2018, and he’s also posted career-worsts in chase rate (21.1 percent) and opponents’ hard-contact rate (43 percent) while notching the second-lowest swinging-strike rate of his career (8.2 percent).

Reds starters have posted an MLB-worst 5.68 ERA in 2018, and the team is unsurprisingly buried in the NL Central with an 8-27 record due in no small part to the inadequacies of its rotation. Young righties Tyler Mahle and Sal Romano have turned in ERAs in the mid-4.00s, but no other Reds starter has an ERA south of Homer Bailey’s 5.61 mark. Mahle, Romano, Bailey, Luis Castillo and Brandon Finnegan have been the primary starters for Cincinnati to date, though there’s been some suggestion that Finnegan’s spot could be in jeopardy. With an 8.27 ERA and more walks than strikeouts so far in 2018 through 20 2/3 innings, he’s been the worst offender in a stunningly bad collection of starting pitchers.

Viewed through that lens, there’s a very low bar for Harvey to clear in his new environs. Without the expectation of contending, he’ll be able to start regularly with the Reds and try to get straightened out even if he initially struggles. However, it’s also worth noting that from a ballpark perspective, Harvey is landing in one of the worst spots possible for a pitcher that has had home run issues since TOS surgery. Cincinnati’s Great American Ball Park is known as a hitters’ haven and is especially home-run friendly for hitters, so Harvey will have his work cut out for him in rebounding in a park with dimensions that won’t do him any favors.

Turning to the Mets, in Mesoraco they’re acquiring a former All-Star catcher who once looked to be a breakout star but is now a reclamation project in his own right following a brutal series of injuries. A former first-round pick (15th overall in 2007), Mesoraco long rated as one of the game’s top overall prospects. And while he took longer than most expected to realize that potential, he announced his presence as the Reds’ catcher of the future — or so they thought — in 2014 when he hit .273/.359/.534 with 25 homers and 25 doubles, making his lone All-Star appearance along the way.

That season was enough for the Reds to sign Mesoraco to a four-year, $28MM contract extension that covered what would’ve been his first free-agent season (2018). However, a left hip injury in 2015 prevented Mesoraco from following up on that breakthrough season, limiting him 23 games and eventually necessitating surgery. A torn labrum in his shoulder prompted season-ending surgery in 2016, and a year later Mesoraco underwent surgery on his other hip in a third consecutive injury-ruined season. Along the way, Cincinnati entrusted defensive standout Tucker Barnhart as its new primary catcher, relegating Mesraco to the role of an expensive backup.

Since playing in 114 games in that stellar 2014 campaign, Mesoraco has played in a combined 113 games from 2015-18, hitting just .195/.291/.318 in 316 plate appearances along the way. He’s off to a .220/.289/.341 start to his 2018 season through a total of 45 plate appearances, but he’ll likely receive ample opportunity to bounce back with his new club. Travis d’Arnaud has already undergone Tommy John surgery and is out for the season, while Kevin Plawecki remains shelved with a hairline fracture in his hand that he suffered upon being hit by a pitch late last month. New York has been relying on journeyman Jose Lobaton and rookie Tomas Nido to handle catching duties in the absence of d’Arnaud and Plawecki, but neither backstop has provided even a shred of offensive value. Lobaton is hitting .163/.265/.256, while Nido has slashed just .147/.197/.176.

As for the remainder of the roster moves announced today, it’s not yet clear just how long Frazier will be sidelined with his injury. With Frazier out of action, the Mets seem likely to turn to Jose Reyes and Wilmer Flores to handle duties at the hot corner. The transfer of Swarzak to the 60-day DL doesn’t necessarily impact his timeline to return, either; he’s already been out of action since April 1 due to an oblique injury and has to go out on a rehab assignment. He’ll be eligible to come back to the active roster in another 22 days, having already spent 38 days on the disabled list.

In Cincinnati, Cruz will get his first look in the big leagues since a brief cameo with the 2016 Royals. The 31-year-old is no stranger to the NL Central after serving as the backup to Yadier Molina in St. Louis from 2011-15. He’s a career .218/.260/.308 hitter in 638 MLB plate appearances. Cruz has a solid track record in Triple-A and hit .280/.341/.458 with San Diego’s top affiliate last season, though he was off to an ugly .170/.268/.255 start to his 2018 season in Louisville.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Mets Expect To Trade Matt Harvey

By Jeff Todd | May 8, 2018 at 4:22pm CDT

May 8: The Mets have been trying to add a catcher in return for Harvey, per Mike Puma of the New York Post (Twitter link). Puma adds that the Padres are also in the mix for Harvey.

May 7: The Mets are “confident” they will strike a deal involving righty Matt Harvey, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (via Twitter). At this point, says Rosenthal, there are “four to five teams interested” in taking a chance on the former ace.

Harvey was formally designated for assignment on May 5th, meaning his situation will be resolved one way or another by Saturday the 12th. If he’s not traded, Harvey would need to go onto waivers; if he were then to pass through unclaimed, he’d hit the open market (whether by release or by rejecting an outright assignment).

We checked in earlier today on some teams with varying degrees of interest in Harvey. The Giants seem clearly to be involved, though their interest level isn’t clear. (Andy Martino of SNY.tv tweets there’s “very strong” interest, while MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand reports (via Twitter) that it’s much more tepid, with some significant roadblocks to a swap.) Martino adds the Reds as a possibility, joining the previously reported Mariners in that regard. And Mike Puma of the New York Post tweets that the White Sox are also in the mix. There’s some uncertainty about the status of the Orioles, but they are among the organizations that would make some degree of sense on paper.

Of course, we’ve also seen plenty of reports of other teams that will not be in on the 29-year-old. It appears the Rangers have decided against pursuing Harvey in a trade scenario despite giving it serious consideration. Otherwise, the Rays, Tigers, Red Sox, and Yankees are said not to be involved.

If a deal does, in fact, get done, Rosenthal says not to expect the Mets to shave away much salary. With something on the order of $4.5MM still owed to Harvey for the rest of the season, the New York organization anticipates paying the “vast majority” in hopes of securing “something in return” in a deal.

Reading the tea leaves, then, the Mets aren’t really looking for a MLB asset back that might offset some of the Harvey commitment. It’s possible the team will be able to find another organization willing to give a bit of young talent, but it’ll take deft work for GM Sandy Alderson to achieve significant value.

Harvey, after all, has managed only a 5.93 ERA with 6.9 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9 in his 212 1/3 innings since the start of the 2016 season. His velocity has continued to trail off as the arm injuries have mounted. As outstanding as he was before a procedure to address thoracic outlet syndrome, Harvey has struggled badly ever since.

Clearly, some front offices around the game still think that Harvey can at least deliver some useful innings from the back of a rotation. Just what they’ll give up to find out remains to be seen.

Latest On Matt Harvey

By Steve Adams | May 7, 2018 at 5:42pm CDT

5:40pm: While the Rangers have discussed pursuit of Harvey, per MLB.com’s TR Sullivan (via Twitter), the organization won’t trade for him. Indeed, GM Jon Daniels confirmed as much in an appearance on 105.3 The Fan (Twitter link). Of course, it still seems possible the organization could be involved if Harvey reaches the open market.

2:36pm: The Giants have also discussed taking a flyer on Harvey, tweets ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick. San Francisco learned today that Johnny Cueto will miss the next six to eight weeks, and Madison Bumgarner remains on the disabled list until late May. They’ve been plugging in a struggling Derek Holland in the fifth spot in their rotation, though it’s not clear at all if Harvey would represent an upgrade.

12:51pm: Following one of the most high-profile DFAs in recent memory, the Mets appear to be generating some interest in former ace Matt Harvey. Andy Martino of SNY reports that that the Rangers and Mariners both have some degree of interest in acquiring the righty. MLB.com’s Jon Morosi wrote this morning that Texas’ interest is “mild,” while Martino indicates that Rangers assistant pitching coach Dan Warthen is pushing the organization to roll the dice on Harvey. Warthen was his pitching coach with the Mets prior to 2018.

While Morosi speculates about the possibility of the Orioles and Mets lining up on a deal, Martino hears that the O’s don’t have much in the way of interest. Baltimore did check in on Harvey over the winter, but Martino reports that the Mets circled back to the O’s prior to designating Harvey for assignment and found “little interest” despite the disastrous results of the Baltimore rotation thus far in 2018.

It’s not a huge surprise to see the Rangers connected to Harvey, given not only Warthen’s presence in the organization but also the team’s general approach to adding arms this offseason. The Rangers shopped for volume this winter, stockpiling veteran arms on low-cost deals (in many instances on minor league contracts) in an effort to bolster their organizational depth. Payroll was a factor in Texas’ approach, so it seems unlikely that they’d take on the full chunk of Harvey’s remaining contract — about $4.43MM — but the Mets will almost certainly be willing to include cash in any deal. The alternative, after all, is to release Harvey and simply pay him the money is owed anyway.

As for the Mariners, they’ve endured plenty of rotation struggles of their own. James Paxton’s 4.19 ERA leads Seattle starters, and their rotation as a whole has pitched to a 5.30 earned run average. There’s likely been some poor fortune at play — both xFIP and SIERA peg Mariners starters at 4.05 as a group — but the bottom-line results have not been encouraging. Erasmo Ramirez just went back on the disabled list as well, prompting the Mariners to move veteran Wade LeBlanc from a long relief role into the fifth starter’s slot.

It seems decidedly unlikely that the Mets would receive much in the way of a significant return for Harvey, whose struggles date back to Opening Day 2017. He’s earning $5.6MM this season, is a free agent in November and has undergone both Tommy John and thoracic outlet surgery — both of which (especially the latter) have contributed to his rapid decline.

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