Mets Designate Dennis Santana, Select Adam Kolarek
The Mets announced four roster moves prior to tonight’s game with the Cardinals, including the news that right-hander Dennis Santana has been designated for assignment. The roster spot was needed to make room for left-hander Adam Kolarek, whose contract was selected from Triple-A Syracuse. New York also optioned Joey Lucchesi to Triple-A and called up Vinny Nittoli.
This marks the third time that Santana has been designated this season, and on both prior occasions, he cleared waivers and accepted an outright assignment to Triple-A Syracuse. It would therefore seem likely that Santana might again choose to remain in the Mets organization, though he might more willing to decline an outright and choose free agency (as is his right, because he has been outrighted previously) at this point in the season, now that the trade deadline has passed. A team in more urgent need of pitching might be interested in Santana and give him a clearer path to the majors, if he might no longer be in the Mets’ plans for the remainder of 2023.
Santana can’t be cleanly sent to Syracuse because he is out of minor league options, which already led to two waiver claims for the veteran righty during Spring Training. The Twins claimed Santana off waivers from the Braves, and the Mets then claimed him away from Minnesota — between these moves and the fact that Santana was traded from Texas to Atlanta last November, his decisions to accept the outright assignments might also stem from a desire to just enjoy some stability after this carousel of transactions.
Santana hasn’t been particularly effective in his brief stints in New York this season, with a 5.91 ERA over nine appearances and 10 2/3 innings. Small sample size notwithstanding, the numbers aren’t too different from the 5.12 ERA Santana posted over his 139 career innings with the Dodgers and Rangers from 2018-22. The 27-year-old Santana also hasn’t pitched well at Triple-A, with a 4.91 ERA over 33 frames with Syracuse this season.
Kolarek signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers over the offseason, and L.A. briefly selected that contract to the active roster in June, resulting in one game and 1 1/3 innings of work for the left-hander during his Dodgers tenure. Los Angeles traded Kolarek to the Mets just prior to the trade deadline, and the southpaw now looks to get at least a bit of a longer look in New York’s bullpen. Best known for his time with the Rays and with the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series championship team, Kolarek had a 3.32 ERA over 116 2/3 innings from 2017-20 but then endured a pair of rough seasons pitching with the Athletics.
Cubs Claim Edwin Uceta
The Cubs have claimed right-hander Edwin Uceta off waivers from the Mets, reports Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune. He’s been optioned to Triple-A Iowa. Chicago had a pair of vacancies on its 40-man roster, so a corresponding move wasn’t necessary. Uceta was designated for assignment in New York earlier this week.
The 25-year-old Uceta now joins his fifth organization in the past eight months. He’s bounced from the D-backs, to the Tigers, to the Pirates, to the Mets and now the Cubs since January — all via waiver claim.
Uceta’s overall numbers both in the minors and in the big leagues aren’t particularly impressive, though the frequency with which he’s been claimed on waivers points to the fact that scouts and analysts remain intrigued by his raw potential. He’s tossed three scoreless innings in the big leagues this season but carries an unsightly 5.80 ERA in 40 1/3 total innings between the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and Mets.
Things have been better in Triple-A, though his results have hardly been elite there. In 83 1/3 innings, he’s posted a 4.64 ERA and walked 13.4% of his opponents — albeit with a strong 29.6% strikeout rate. Uceta has has long shown an ability to miss bats, and while he doesn’t possess a blistering fastball, he’s averaged between 93-94 mph in the big leagues and shown good ability to spin the ball.
Uceta has missed the bulk of the 2023 season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. However, he recently wrapped up a minor league rehab assignment and was reinstated from the 60-day injured list by the Mets. He should be healthy and ready to go with the Cubs’ top affiliate in Iowa. Uceta is in his final minor league option season, so while he can bounce between Triple-A and the Majors for the remainder of the season, he’ll need to be on the big league roster next year or else passed through waivers before he can be sent down.
Mets Select Abraham Almonte
The Mets announced some roster moves today, placing infielder Mark Vientos on the 10-day injured list due to left wrist tendonitis, retroactive to August 16. Outfielder Abraham Almonte has been selected to take his place on the active roster. To open a spot for Almonte on the 40-man, left-hander Josh Walker has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Almonte, 34, has been on and off the Mets’ roster lately. Signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, he was brought up to the big leagues last week before being designated for assignment and outrighted a few days later after taking just 12 plate appearances in four games. He has enough service time that he could have rejected the outright assignment but seems to have accepted and will now make a quick return to the majors.
Prior to getting called up, he was having a strong season in the minors. He hit .244/377/.548 in 167 plate appearances, walking at an 18% clip and producing a wRC+ of 128. He’s often hit well in the minors but has struggled to replicate that production in the majors. Dating back to 2013, he’s hit .234/.301/.373 for a wRC+ of 82 in 1,375 trips to the plate in the show. He figures to join the outfield mix alongside Brandon Nimmo, DJ Stewart, Rafael Ortega and Tim Locastro.
Vientos has always crushed minor league pitching but has hit just .188/.240/.286 in his first 167 major league appearances. Despite that tepid output, the Mets will be challenged to cover third base in his absence with Eduardo Escobar having been traded to the Angels and Brett Baty also on the IL. Some combination of Jonathan Araúz, Danny Mendick and Jeff McNeil figure to be slotted into that position as well as second base. It’s unclear how long Vientos is expected to be out for.
Walker, 28, was first added to the club’s roster in May. He’s since made 13 appearances with an ERA of 8.10 in that small sample. He landed on the injured list a few days ago due to a right oblique strain and it seems it’s significant enough to end his season. Today’s transfer means he’s ineligible to return until the middle of October. Barring a miracle postseason run by the Mets, he won’t be back this year.
MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Pete Alonso’s Future, Yankees’ Rotation Troubles and Should the Trade Deadline Be Pushed Back?
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 Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss:
- Should the trade deadline be moved back, as has been considered by some? (1:15)
- Mets need to pick a lane with Pete Alonso (9:35)
- Yankees’ rotation is dealing with injuries again (14:15)
Plus, we answer your questions, including:
- How can the Cardinals get in shape this offseason? (20:05)
- Can the Mariners line up on a trade with the Cards? (24:10)
- What will be the biggest needs for the Diamondbacks this winter? (27:00)
- What does Mitch Garver‘s free agency look like this winter? (28:30)
Check out our past episodes!
- The Streaking Mariners, the Struggling Angels and Injured Aces – listen here
- Trade deadline recap – listen here
- The Angels Are All In, Lucas Giolito and Picking a Lane – listen here
Mets Designate Edwin Uceta For Assignment
The Mets announced Wednesday that right-hander Edwin Uceta has been designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for fellow righty Dennis Santana, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Syracuse. Right-hander Jose Butto was optioned to Syracuse in a corresponding 26-man roster move.
Uceta, 25, was a waiver claim out of the Pirates organization back in April. He’s missed substantial time this season after undergoing surgery to address a torn meniscus in his left knee — a June procedure that sidelined him for eight weeks. The Mets only recently reinstated him from the 60-day injured list. He’s pitched three shutout frames at the big league level this season and another 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the minors. That said, Uceta has also walked six hitters against just two strikeouts in the minors, and he issued a pair of free passes while facing a total of 11 big league hitters earlier this season.
Command has been an issue for Uceta throughout the upper minors (13.4% walk rate in 83 1/3 Triple-A innings) and in the Majors (11.9%). Broadly speaking, he’s shown good ability to spin his four-seamer and to miss bats in the upper minors, but he hasn’t yet found much success above the Double-A level. Uceta has a 4.64 ERA in 83 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level and a 5.80 mark in 40 1/3 frames between the Dodgers, D-backs and Mets in the big leagues.
The 27-year-old Santana has had better, albeit still below-average results in the Majors, working to a 5.18 ERA in 147 2/3 innings between the Dodgers, Rangers and Mets. He tossed 8 2/3 innings for the Mets earlier this season, yielding six runs in that time before being designated for assignment and passed through outright waivers. Since heading to Triple-A, he’s logged 33 innings with a 4.91 ERA, 27% strikeout rate and 13.2% walk rate. Command has been an issue for Santana as well, but he throws harder than Uceta and keeps the ball on the ground far more often.
The Mets have only gotten 6 2/3 innings out of their starters over the past two games, so swapping out Butto for Santana — at the expense of Uceta’s 40-man spot — will give manager Buck Showalter a fresh arm in the event of another short start in the next couple games. Uceta will be placed on waivers or released within the next week. He’s never been outrighted in the past and doesn’t have three years of service time, so if he goes unclaimed the Mets can retain him via outright assignment.
Mets Outright Abraham Almonte
The Mets have sent veteran outfielder Abraham Almonte outright to Triple-A Syracuse, per the transaction log at MLB.com. He’d been designated for assignment on Saturday.
A journeyman who has appeared at the MLB level with eight different clubs, Almonte got into four games for the Mets. He hit 12 times, reaching base twice via a single and walk. While a very brief stay, it marked an 11th consecutive year with some major league action for the switch-hitter.
Almonte has had a nice season when healthy at the Triple-A level. The 34-year-old has been limited to 27 games there by injury but put together a .228/.331/.564 line with 11 home runs in 118 trips to the dish. He has worked exclusively in the corner outfield with Syracuse but has a fair amount of center field experience as a professional.
It’s unclear whether Almonte will return to Syracuse. He has enough service time to decline an outright assignment in favor of minor league free agency.
Jimmy Yacabonis Elects Free Agency
August 15: Yacabonis has elected free agency, according to the transaction log at MLB.com.
August 14: Before this evening’s win over the Pirates, the Mets reinstated Sam Coonrod from the 60-day injured list. New York placed Josh Walker on the 15-day IL to clear an active roster spot while recalling reliever John Curtiss and placing him on the 60-day IL in a 40-man move. Additionally, New York sent righty Jimmy Yacabonis outright to Triple-A Syracuse after he was designated for assignment over the weekend.
Coonrod returned to throw a scoreless inning of relief in his season debut. The right-hander had missed the entire season after suffering a severe lat strain in Spring Training. Claimed off waivers from the Phillies in February, Coonrod is attempting to secure a bullpen spot in Queens going into 2024. He’s eligible for arbitration through ’25.
Curtiss was diagnosed with a loose body in his throwing elbow, tweets Tim Britton of the Athletic. The 60-day IL placement officially ends his season. The 30-year-old righty has made 15 appearances for New York, working to a 4.58 ERA across 19 2/3 innings. Curtiss missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He’s eligible for arbitration twice more but could be non-tendered at year’s end.
Yacabonis has worked 13 2/3 frames over seven outings. He’s allowed 10 runs while working mostly low-leverage relief. A journeyman who has appeared in parts of six MLB seasons with five different clubs, he’ll have the right to test minor league free agency by virtue of multiple career outrights.
Mets Explored Pete Alonso Trades At Deadline
The Mets’ selloff at the trade deadline signaled both a concession of the 2023 season and potentially more of a turn towards the 2025 campaign, though owner Steve Cohen still expects next year’s Mets to be “very competitive” if not “as star-studded a team as it was” in 2022 and 2023. Beyond just rental players traded, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander were also dealt in a pair of blockbuster moves, leading to a lot of speculation about what other moves the Mets might have in store for players who aren’t under longer-term control.
To this end, Pete Alonso‘s future in Queens has now become subject to speculation, and it appears as though the Mets at least tested the waters about also moving the first baseman at the deadline. The New York Post’s Mike Puma writes that Alonso was “dangled” by the Mets, though “it’s unclear how serious the Mets were about trying to trade the first baseman.” It could be that the Mets were just gauging the market, as “they never came close to” an Alonso trade since no team stepped up to meet New York’s “very high” demands for a return.
Naturally the Mets weren’t going to move the slugger without getting a lot back, as Alonso carried a lot of value in a market short on available bats, let alone premium power threats who are controlled through the 2024 season. However, it could be that injury concerns might have quieted the market, as Alonso spent only 10 days on the injured list after suffering a left wrist sprain/bone bruise in early June, but then struggled after his quick return. Getting back to action on June 18, Alonso had only a .549 OPS over the 107 plate appearances following his IL stint.
Alonso has looked a lot more like his usual self over the last few weeks, giving rival teams at least some assurance prior to the deadline that his wrist was recovered. For the season as a whole, Alonso entered today’s action with a .226/.325/.532 slash line and 35 homers over 453 PA, with solid peripheral numbers except for a minuscule .200 BABIP that has held down his batting average.
In short, Alonso would still be a big trade chip for New York to place on the table this winter, if the club did have designs on eventually moving the slugger. Alonso has one more year of arbitration eligibility remaining so he’ll earn a raise on his $14.5MM salary for 2023, and he’ll be 30 years old on Opening Day 2025, following his scheduled trip to free agency during the 2024-25 offseason.
In a poll earlier this week on MLBTR, 51 percent of readers polled felt the Mets should sign Alonso to an extension rather than trade him or wait until the 2024 season to pursue either course. The Mets haven’t been shy about locking up key players during Cohen’s time as owner, though Alonso is just about the only prominent Met who hadn’t yet gotten a new longer-term deal. Of course, this doesn’t mean that Alonso’s status wasn’t or isn’t eventually going to be addressed, especially since Cohen said he wants to “work things out” on an extension, and described Alonso as “an integral part of the Mets.”
The Mets might opt to playing the waiting game on two different fronts with Alonso this winter. If extension talks aren’t getting anywhere, the Mets could pursue a trade more fervently, with any information gathered during their deadline talks acting as perhaps a stepping stone to an eventual deal in a few months’ time. Conversely, the Mets could hold off on long-term contract talks with Alonso until the more normal extension negotiation period of Spring Training, and only take that route after first using the winter to more fully gauge the market in case a suitor meets their asking price.
Mets Designate Abraham Almonte For Assignment
The Mets announced four roster moves in between games of their double-header with the Braves today, including the news that outfielder Abraham Almonte has been designated for assignment. Right-hander Denyi Reyes was optioned to Triple-A, while righty Tyson Miller was called up from Triple-A and outfielder Tim Locastro was reinstated from the 60-day injured list.
Almonte signed a minor league deal with New York during the offseason, but he didn’t make his 2023 debut until four days ago, after the Mets selected his contract to the active roster. With his appearance in the first game of the Atlanta double-header, Almonte’s tenure with the Mets could be over after four games, and one hit over 12 plate appearances.
The four-game cup of coffee at least ensured an 11th consecutive MLB season for Almonte, an Immaculate Grid favorite who has seen action with eight different Major League clubs. The switch-hitter has a career .235/.302/.374 slash line over 1371 PA, as Almonte is known most for his outfield versatility than his prowess at the plate, though his glovework has allowed him to find backup or part-time roles for over a decade.
Assuming he clears waivers, Almonte has the right to elect free agency in the event an outright assignment, since he has been outrighed before in his career. The Mets could also choose to release Almonte entirely, if they prefer to use younger players down the stretch rather than keep a veteran around at Triple-A.
Locastro returns after undergoing thumb surgery in May, and his thumb injury occurred during a rehab assignment when Locastro was already on the injured list recovering from back spasms. The lengthy absence has limited Locastro to just 11 games, and he looks to get some outfield work while the Mets try to fill the void left by deadline trades and Starling Marte‘s IL stint.
Mets Designate Jimmy Yacabonis For Assignment
The Mets have announced to reporters, including Tim Britton of The Athletic, that right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to Denyi Reyes, whose selection was reported yesterday.
Yacabonis, 31, began the year with the Mets on a minor league deal. This is the second time he has been designated for assignment by the club this year, as he was also on the roster from mid-April until late May, though he spent most of that time on the IL with a left quad strain. His first DFA resulted in him clearing waivers and accepting an outright assignment, which got him back onto the roster a week ago.
Between those two stints, he’s tossed 13 2/3 innings over seven outings, allowing 6.59 earned runs per nine frames. In last night’s 7-0 loss to Atlanta, he tossed 3 2/3 innings in relief of starter Tylor Megill, allowing one earned run. Though manager Buck Showalter was appreciative of that performance, it likely made him unavailable for today’s doubleheader. Since he’s out of options, he’s been squeezed off the roster and into DFA limbo for a second time this year.
The Mets will now have a week to put him on waivers. The last time this happened, he cleared and stuck around, which could perhaps play out again. Though it’s also possible some new job openings have opened up after various trades were made prior to the recent deadline. Yacabonis has a career ERA of 6.08 in 131 2/3 innings dating back to 2017. Though he’s out of options, he has less than two years of service time and could be theoretically retained for future seasons without a huge cost.