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Mets Sign Desmond Jennings To Minor League Deal

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The Mets have signed outfielder Desmond Jennings to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Las Vegas, tweets James Wagner of the New York Times. Jennings, a client of the Boras Corporation, spent Spring Training with the Reds but was released late in camp.

Jennings, 30, hit .195/.300/.415 with two home runs and two steals in his 18 games with Cincinnati this spring — an apparent continuation of the struggles that’ve plagued him in recent seasons. Once one of the game’s top overall prospects based on a promising blend of power and speed, Jennings’ career has been slowed significantly by leg injuries, including knee surgery back in 2015.

After hitting .249/.327/.402 in just under 2000 plate appearances from 2011-14; along the way he hit between 10 and 14 homers and racked up between 15 and 31 steals in each of those four campaigns. Since that time, though, Jennings owns an anemic .222/.295/.347 batting line in 333 trips to the plate.

It’s not clear that Jennings is a reliable option in center field anymore — the Rays shifted him to left field in 2015, though some of that was due to Kevin Kiermaier’s emergence — but Jennings does have experience there. He also provides the Mets with a potential right-handed complement to a rather left-leaning collection of outfielders, including Curtis Granderson, Jay Bruce and Michael Conforto. Of course, it’s far from certain that Jennings will ever surface in the bigs with the Mets, though he’s headed to a very hitter-friendly environment, which shouldn’t hurt his chances at rediscovering some confidence and getting into a good offensive groove at the plate.

Mets Sign Josh Rodriguez To Minors Deal

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  • The Mets have signed infielder Josh Rodriguez to a minor league contract, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The 32-year-old Rodriguez, who briefly appeared in the Majors with the 2011 Pirates, will be returning for his third tour of duty with the Mets, having also spent the 2012-13 seasons and the 2015 season in their system. Rodriguez spent the 2016 campaign with the Athletics’ Triple-A affiliate, hitting .263/.381/.420 with nine homers in 342 plate appearances. The versatile Rodriguez has more than 4,000 career innings at shortstop, more than 2300 at second base and nearly 2000 at third base. He’s also had more brief stints in the outfield and at first base. He’ll head to Triple-A Las Vegas this season.

Seth Lugo Diagnosed With Slight UCL Tear

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3:25pm: The Mets have issued a statement on Lugo’s injury, noting that he will be shut down for the next two weeks before beginning a throwing program. “Surgical repair of the UCL is still a possibility, depending on the results of the PRP, rest and throwing program,” the Mets add at the conclusion of the release.

11:39am: Mets righty Seth Lugo has been diagnosed with a “slight” tear in the ulnar collateral ligament of his pitching elbow, according to Marc Carig of Newsday (via Twitter). He is, however, not expected to require surgery. Instead, the current plan calls for a platelet-rich plasma injection followed by rest.

While a more significant tear to the UCL would obviously represent much worse news, it’s still a major loss for the Mets. Lugo had figured to represent a top-quality swingman after his excellent work in 2016. Instead, he’ll join Steven Matz on the shelf for at least a significant chunk of the season’s first half.

Lugo, 27, had gone largely without note until breaking through to the majors last year. He ended up providing 64 innings of 2.67 ERA pitching in 17 appearances — eight of them starts — while allowing just 49 base hits to go with 6.3 K/9 and 3.0 BB/9. Despite allowing hard contact at a 38.4% clip, Lugo managed to hold opposing hitters to a .230 batting average on balls in play.

Whether Lugo’s 2016 success is sustainable remains to be seen, but the Mets had hoped to find out by having him on hand to help out. Particularly with Matz also battling injury issues, the club’s depth has taken a hit early on.

Obviously, any UCL injury immediately raises the specter of a Tommy John procedure, but that’s not always the case. For one thing, many pitchers rest and then pitch through sprains (which are themselves slight tears). For another, there are a variety of alternative treatments and procedures currently rising in popularity. Given the preliminary diagnosis that has been reported thus far, it’s impossible to know how long Lugo might be sidelined.

It’s worth noting, too, that it’s not clear whether Lugo has actually suffered a recent injury. As James Wagner of the New York Times notes (Twitter links), it hasn’t yet been determined (if it’s possible to at all) whether Lugo has simply experienced inflammation from a preexisting issue. While the distinction may not matter much for his rehab course, it could conceivably change the way the medical staff assesses his susceptibility to further injury moving forward.

Latest On Mets’ Pitching Injuries

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The Mets enjoyed a solid Opening Day win today on the back of a strong performance from starter Noah Syndergaard. But there are some new health concerns for the team’s pitching staff — though their gravity isn’t yet clear.

Syndergaard himself departed after six innings with a blister, as Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News writes. It’s not expected to be a major issue, but the team is looking to get out ahead of things by giving him an added day of rest. Blisters can turn into significant injuries, to be sure, but there’s no reason at this point to think it’s more than a minor issue to be managed.

There’s more worry with lefty Steven Matz, who is already on the DL with elbow inflammation. The team’s position remains that he has been cleared of structural damage, as Marc Carig of Newsday reports, but Matz provided further information on the issue. He says that he has been diagnosed with a flexor tendon strain, which would seem to be a distinct injury from the bone chips that he had surgically removed over the offseason. Regardless, his timeline will surely be dictated by how he feels and what kind of progress the doctors observe, but the news adds to the 25-year-old’s growing list of arm ailments in his young career.

In theory, any such gaps in pitching coverage were to be covered by Seth Lugo, who filled in with aplomb last year. But as John Harper of the New York Daily News reports, manager Terry Collins hinted after today’s game that there may be some concern with Lugo’s status. “We lost Seth Lugo today for a period of time,” said Collins, who later added that “it’s going to be a couple of weeks, for sure,” before Lugo is able to return. There are no known details to this point, but clearly the Mets are anticipating that they won’t be able to use the 27-year-old for at least some fairly significant stretch.

In light of these new concerns, Collins stressed the need to maintain the health of the current five-man rotation, which explains the proactive move to get Syndergaard extra rest. As Harper notes, resurgent righty Rafael Montero — who’s currently operating out of the MLB bullpen — now seems to occupy a position of much greater importance than had been anticipated. If there’s a silver lining to this early test of the organization’s pitching depth, it’s that they had so much to begin with, so the current roster is still stocked with high-quality starters.

Mets Select Ty Kelly's Contract

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  • The Mets have selected the contract of infielder Ty Kelly, who’s back on their 40-man roster after the team designated him for assignment in February. Kelly could have ended up elsewhere at that point, but he ultimately cleared waivers. The 28-year-old made his big league debut with New York last season, hitting .241/.352/.345 in 71 trips to the plate.

Seth Lugo To Open Season On DL

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  • Mets righty Seth Lugo will begin the season on the 10-day disabled list with a tired arm, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Lugo doesn’t have any structural damage, relays DiComo, who notes that Rafael Montero will claim a spot in the bullpen for as long as he’s out. Lugo spent most of the spring vying for one of the two vacancies in the Mets’ rotation, but the team chose Robert Gsellman and Zack Wheeler over him Thursday.

Zack Wheeler Named To Mets' Opening Day Roster

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  • Right-handers Zack Wheeler and Robert Gsellman will fill out the Mets’ rotation to to open the year, Marc Carig of Newsday was among those to report on Twitter. It wasn’t clear for much of the spring whether Wheeler would be ready to go at the start of the year, but he showed well late in camp and will now attempt to regain the form that once made him one of the organization’s core players. That leaves Seth Lugo and Rafael Montero fighting for the final bullpen spot, with the other likely to report to Triple-A to stay stretched out in case a need arises.

Steven Matz To Open Season On DL

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TODAY: Matz has undergone a PRP injection and will not throw for at least three weeks, Marc Carig of Newsday reports (Twitter links). While there’s still no apparent structural concern, that course of treatment seems likely to portend a fairly lengthy absence. Once Matz is able to resume throwing, he’ll still need to build back his arm strength and perhaps progress through a rehab stint.

YESTERDAY: Mets lefty Steven Matz isn’t likely to be ready for the Opening Day roster, skipper Terry Collins told reporters including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo (Twitter links). The southpaw has been dealing with elbow soreness and is headed for an examination — likely an MRI, per the manager — to further determine the root of the problem. At last check, reports on Matz indicated that there’s no ligament damage in his elbow. Regardless of the upcoming test’s outcome, Matz is a candidate to require at least a short stint on the DL to begin the season.

While New York certainly doesn’t lack for depth options, it is obviously concerning to see Matz again dealing with health issues. Elbow and shoulder problems have limited him of late, with both being addressed (bone spur surgery for the former; a PRP injection for the latter) over the offseason. The talented 25-year-old also wasn’t quite himself this spring, as he recorded only seven strikeouts over 12 2/3 innings, with six earned runs crossing the plate on 16 hits and four walks.

It’s still unclear just what the Mets will do to fill in the immediate void, but Seth Lugo would seem to be a solid bet to step into the starting mix in the absence of Matz. Right-handers Noah Syndergaard, Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey and Robert Gsellman all appear to be penciled into the New York rotation at this time. In addition to Lugo, who shined in a strong rookie campaign last season, right-handers Zack Wheeler and Rafael Montero are in the mix for a rotation spot, tweets Newsday’s Marc Carig. Much has been made of the desire to limit Wheeler’s innings this spring after 2015 Tommy John surgery wiped out his last two seasons, though it stands to reason that Wheeler could occupy a starting slot for a brief time early in the year before transitioning to the ’pen.

Jeurys Familia Receives 15-Game Suspension

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Mets reliever Jeurys Familia will receive a 15-game suspension under the league’s domestic violence policy, as Billy Witz of the New York Times first reported (links to Twitter). Familia has agreed to accept those terms, per the league’s announcement.

The decision comes after months of speculation. Familia was arrested last fall on charges of assaulting his wife, but the charges were dropped upon his wife’s request. That did not preclude action under the domestic violence policy, however, which oes not require arrest, charges, or a conviction for the commissioner to impose a suspension.

In addition to the lost time, Familia has agreed to make a charitable donation and speak with league rookies. He already completed a dozen counseling sessions over the offseason. The suspension will cost Familia at least $730K, per Witz, based upon his $7.425MM arbitration salary.

Familia’s 15-game suspension is half that received last year by Aroldis Chapman after his charges were dismissed. In this case, commissioner Rob Manfred found that the evidence “does not support a determination that Mr. Familia physically assaulted his wife, or threatened her or others with physical force or harm.” While “inappropriate” action was still found, evidently it did not rise to the level present in Chapman’s case (in which he brandished a firearm). Manfred’s statement also stresses Familia’s actions in the wake of the incident, noting that he “received a favorable evaluation from the counselor regarding his willingness to take concrete steps to ensure that he is not involved in another incident of this type.”

In his own statement, Familia emphasized that he “never physically touched, harmed or threatened my wife” on the night in question. But he also acknowledged that he acted in an “unacceptable manner” and took full responsibility. “I am alone to blame for the problems of that evening,” he stated, adding that he has “taken meaningful steps to assure that nothing like this will ever happen again.”

Mets Notes: Familia, Lagares

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Major League Baseball could suspend Mets closer Jeurys Familia as early as Tuesday for an alleged domestic violence incident last October, report Kristie Ackert and Christian Red of the New York Daily News. The Mets are only expecting the league to ban Familia for approximately 15 games, per Ackert and Red, who note that the 27-year-old’s wife, Bianca Rivas, has said during MLB’s investigation that he didn’t hit her. Familia was alleged to have caused bodily injury to Rivas, which led to an arrest on a charge of simple assault. That charge was dropped and expunged from Familia’s record in December, though, after Rivas told a New Jersey judge she wasn’t interested in pursuing the case.

  • It doesn’t appear the left oblique strain Mets outfielder Juan Lagares suffered Saturday is anything serious. Lagares underwent an MRI on Tuesday, and while results aren’t yet known, he told ESPN Deportes’ Marly Rivera that he’s “almost 100 percent” (via Ackert). Of course, if Lagares is OK, he seems likely to start the year as the Mets’ fourth outfielder, which could lead to a demotion to the minors for Michael Conforto.
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