Mets Reinstate A.J. Minter From 60-Day IL, Select Eric Wagaman
5:05pm: The Mets announced that outfielder Luis Robert Jr. has been transferred to the 60-day IL to open up a 40-man spot. He originally landed on the IL in late April due to lumbar disc herniation. He is now ineligible to return until late June. His current status is unknown. As of a couple of weeks ago, manager Carlos Mendoza said Robert wasn’t progressing as hoped, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
1:50pm: The Mets announced that they have reinstated left-hander A.J. Minter from the 60-day injured list. Additionally, infielder/outfielder Jared Young has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list and infielder Eric Wagaman has been selected to the roster. In corresponding active roster moves, outfielder Tyrone Taylor has been placed on the 10-day IL with a right hip flexor strain, while right-hander Jonathan Pintaro and outfielder Nick Morabito have been optioned. In terms of 40-man spots for Minter and Wagaman, the Mets had one vacancy. They said a corresponding move to open another spot will be announced prior to game time. Tim Britton and Will Sammon of Athletic reported most of these moves prior to the official announcement.
Minter and the Mets agreed to a two-year, $22MM deal going into the 2025 season. They haven’t been able to get much return on that investment yet. Minter tossed 11 innings last year before a lat strain sent him to the IL and ultimately required season-ending surgery. Here in 2026, he and the Mets started his spring ramp-up a bit behind the other pitchers. He started the season on IL but was able to start a rehab assignment in April. Unfortunately, some left hip discomfort slowed him down, which got him moved to the 60-day IL.
Ideally, Minter can now finally give the Mets an extended stretch of health and good results. Prior to this injury odyssey, he was quite an effective reliever for a division rival. From 2020 to 2024, he posted a 2.85 earned run average over 243 innings for Atlanta, striking out 30.1% of batters faced in that time. But he’s been injured for most of the past two years, actually dating back to before the Mets signed him, as he dealt with hip issues in 2024 and required surgery that summer.
Brooks Raley has been the club’s primary lefty reliever this season. Sean Manaea is also in the bullpen but is mostly working as a bulk reliever. Minter and Raley should be the primary options for situations where a traditional lefty reliever is wanted.
The Mets have been out to a rough start, with a 22-32 record, putting them 7.5 games back of a playoff spot. If they can’t climb in the standings, they could go into the deadline as sellers. Minter and Raley are impending free agents, so both would be natural trade candidates if that’s the way things go.
Wagaman was claimed by the Mets last month and optioned to the minors. Not long after that, he was put on waivers and cleared. He has put up a massive .372/.462/.581 line in 13 games for Syracuse since that claim. Now he gets back onto a 40-man roster.
While it’s nice that Wagaman has been crushing the ball, some caveats apply. For one thing, that line came in a small sample of 52 plate appearances. For another, he had a huge .424 batting average on balls in play in that time. Furthermore, Wagaman has often put up good minor league numbers. From 2022 to 2024, he had a .276/.348/.473 line and 131 wRC+ in 897 plate appearances on the farm.
That has led to major league opportunities that he hasn’t been able to capitalize on. He has a .250/.293/.381 line and 85 wRC+ in 588 trips to the plate in the big leagues. The Marlins designated him for assignment in the winter and traded him to the Twins. Minnesota kept him in the minors to start the year and designated him for assignment a month into the season, which is when the Mets claimed him.
Wagaman has experience at the four corner spots, though the Mets have only been using him as a first baseman and designated hitter for Syracuse. The Mets are getting subpar results from Mark Vientos at first base this year. With Jorge Polanco on the IL, a lot of DH at-bats have gone to MJ Melendez. Though Melendez was red hot when the Mets first called him up, he has a .119/.288/.167 line since the calendar flipped to May.
In the outfield, Juan Soto, A.J. Ewing, Carson Benge, Morabito and Taylor have been splitting the work out there. Now that Morabito and Taylor are out, Young will jump in and perhaps Wagaman could get some time in the outfield as well.
Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images
Mets Outright Eric Wagaman
The Mets have sent infielder/outfielder Eric Wagaman outright to Triple-A Syracuse, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. That indicates he cleared waivers after being designated for assignment last week.
Wagaman, 28, has never appeared in a big league game as a Met. He was claimed off waivers at the end of April and optioned to Triple-A Syracuse. He was briefly recalled at one point but then was optioned again without appearing in a game.
It’s possible the Mets had this outcome in mind when they claimed him. They only rostered him for about a week. Since this is Wagaman’s first career outright and he has less than three years of service time, he doesn’t have the right to elect free agency. The Mets will therefore get to keep him in the system without him taking up a roster spot.
Both Wagaman and the Mets will presumably be focused on getting him into a nice groove at the plate. From 2022 to 2024, he made 897 plate appearances in the minors. His 9.5% walk rate and 16.9% strikeout rate in that span were both strong figures. He hit 35 home runs. He produced a combined batting line of .276/.348/.473, leading to a 131 wRC+, indicating he was 31% better than league average.
That got him up to the majors late in 2024 with the Angels and he spent the entire 2025 season in the big leagues with the Marlins. But between those two clubs, he slashed .250/.293/.381 for a wRC+ of 85. His strikeout rate was still good but he wasn’t drawing walks as much as he did on the farm. He also hit just 11 home runs in 588 plate appearances.
It’s clear that teams still see some potential. The Marlins designated him for assignment in December but they were able to get minor league pitcher Kade Bragg from the Twins in a trade. Wagaman scuffled in Triple-A to start this year, hitting .159/.284/.254 in 18 games. That led to him being designated for assignment again, this time claimed by the Mets.
If Wagaman can get back to that strong form he showed from 2022 to 2024, the Mets could consider calling him up if they have a need in the majors. Wagaman has experience at the four corner spots, though he’s played mostly first base. The Mets have the worst record in baseball at 15-25 and would be in position to sell guys at the deadline if they don’t turn things around. That’s not a position the club wants to be in but the upside is that they can experiment with fringe guys down the stretch to see if anything clicks.
Photo courtesy of Nathan Ray Seebeck, Imagn Images
Mets Select Vidal Brujan, Designate Eric Wagaman For Assignment
The Mets are filling their void at shortstop with Vidal Brujan, who had his contract selected ahead of Sunday’s game against the Angels. The club announced first baseman Eric Wagaman has been designated for assignment to clear a 40-man spot for Brujan. Infielder Ronny Mauricio was placed on the 10-day IL with a fractured thumb, opening up room on the big-league club.
Brujan bounced around this offseason, landing with the Mets after getting DFAed by the Twins and then the Braves. He met the same fate with New York after falling short of an Opening Day roster spot, but snuck through waivers this time. The 28-year-old had a 62 wRC+ in 24 games at Triple-A Syracuse.
It’s been several years, but Brujan was once a top prospect in the Rays’ system. He debuted with Tampa Bay in 2021 and spent parts of three seasons with the club. Brujan failed to provide much more than defensive versatility and a bit of speed during his time as a Ray. He was dealt to the Marlins in a small trade in November 2023. Miami gave the infielder his longest look to date in the majors. Brujan slashed .222/.303/.319 in a career-high 278 plate appearances in 2024.
Brujan has major league experience at all four infield positions and all three outfield spots. He’s even made four appearances on the mound. The Mets need him in the infield, specifically at shortstop, and he’s been solid there. Brujan has accrued 4 Defensive Runs Saved in 363 1/3 MLB innings at the position. He posted 2 DRS in his short stint with Atlanta last season. The Mets are without star shortstop Francisco Lindor for the foreseeable future as he deals with a calf strain. Mauricio was set to take over, but now he’s injured himself.
It’s a tough blow for Mauricio, who’s also a former prospect of note. The 25-year-old didn’t make the team out of Spring Training, but made a brief cameo in early April. He came back up after the Lindor injury and assumed the everyday shortstop gig. Mauricio launched his first home run of the season on Friday. He had another hit on Saturday, an infield single that loaded the bases in a tie game. Mauricio dove headfirst into the bag on the play, resulting in the thumb injury.
Manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters, including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, that Mauricio is expected to miss 6-8 weeks. Bo Bichette slid over to shortstop yesterday after Mauricio was removed, with Brett Baty moving to third base. The former Blue Jays shortstop has played 17 innings at the position this season.
The Mets picked up Wagaman off waivers from the Twins earlier this week. He was bumped up to the big-league squad on Thursday after Luis Robert Jr. hit the injured list. Wagaman was sent right back down on Friday, with recently claimed Andy Ibáñez joining the club.
Wagaman briefly debuted with the Angels in 2024. He signed with the Marlins heading into 2025 and stumbled into a full-time gig at first base. Wagaman posted an underwhelming 85 wRC+ in 140 games with Miami. He struck out at a below-average rate and chipped in four steals, but didn’t provide the power typically associated with corner infielders, with just nine home runs and a .128 ISO. Wagaman posted a -1 DRS across 862 1/3 innings at the cold corner. The Mets have five days to trade Wagaman or place him on waivers. Wagaman is still in the first of his three minor league option years, which may encourage another team to submit a claim or work out a trade.
Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images
Mets Designate Carl Edwards Jr. For Assignment
The Mets announced Thursday that reliever Carl Edwards Jr. has been designated for assignment. They also confirmed the previously reported IL placement for center fielder Luis Robert Jr., who’s been diagnosed with a lumbar disc herniation. Righty Austin Warren and recently claimed corner infielder Eric Wagaman are up from Triple-A Syracuse in a pair of corresponding moves.
Edwards, 34, signed a minor league deal back in December. The longtime reliever opened the season as a starter in the Mets’ Syracuse rotation but was added to the big league bullpen earlier this month. He’s pitched well, holding opponents to one run in six innings. Edwards has punched out a whopping 44% of his opponents (11 of 25) but has also dished out four free passes already (16%).
A key member of the Cubs’ bullpen from 2016-18, Edwards has bounced around the league in the eight years since. The Mets are Edwards’ ninth club in the majors, and this year’s six innings already tie his highest single-season workload since 2023.
Edwards also had a productive two-year stint with the Nats in 2022-23, but his stops with the other seven clubs for which he’s pitched have typically been fleeting. In addition to the Cubs and Nationals, he’s suited up for the Padres, Mariners, Braves, Blue Jays, Angels and Rangers. However, Edwards hasn’t pitched more than six innings for any of those teams. Overall, he carries a career 3.51 ERA in the majors, though most of his production came during that initial run with the Cubs, when he had about three extra miles per hour on his fastball over his current 92.5 mph average velocity.
The Mets will have five days to place Edwards on waivers, release him, or trade him. He has enough service time to reject an outright assignment to the minors even if he clears waivers, so barring a minor trade for cash, he’s likely to end up a free agent. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so his DFA will be resolved in no more than seven days.
Mets Claim Eric Wagaman
The Mets announced that they have claimed infielder Eric Wagaman off waivers from the Twins and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse. Minnesota had designated him for assignment last week. The Mets had a 40-man vacancy and don’t need to make a corresponding move. The Mets also announced that they have signed outfielder Austin Slater and designated outfielder Tommy Pham for assignment, moves that were reported yesterday.
Wagaman, to his credit, didn’t have a whole lot left to prove in the upper levels of the minors at one time. Drafted by the Yankees in 2017 out of Orange Coast CC, Wagaman had a slow and steady climb up the affiliate ranks, but he started to show some big league promise between 2022-2024. His worst “full season” line was a .258/.346/.468 line, good for a league-and-park-adjusted 123 wRC+ (100 is average) in 266 plate appearances spread between High-A Hudson Valley and Double-A Somerset in 2022. His work was even better the following year with Somerset: a .320/.355/.500 showing for a 146 wRC+ in 136 PAs. Perhaps due to his then-age (25), defensive limitations, or limited offensive upside, the Yankees passed on adding Wagaman to their 40-man roster to protect him during the Rule 5 Draft.
The Angels, however, saw enough to warrant a potential return to Orange County for the Mission Viejo native, adding him in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 Draft. While his numbers at Triple-A Salt Lake were less promising, the Angels granted him a cup of coffee in September 2024. His big league results, in 74 PAs, were uninspiring: a .250/.270/.403 line for a 87 wRC+ with little defensive or baserunning upside. Wagaman’s strong plate discipline also backslid, and without average power at a bat-first position, the Angels found little incentive to keep rostering him and elected to non-tender Wagaman, sending him to free agency.
The Marlins pounced with a major-league contract for 2025. In 514 PAs, Wagaman was able to somewhat rediscover his plate discipline at the major league level, but the power and contact quality further waned. Ultimately, his .250/.296/.378 line and 85 wRC+ didn’t look much different than his 2024 sample, but a below-average bat at an offense-first position was untenable. Miami cut bait with Wagaman following the 2025 campaign. The Twins were next in line for Wagaman’s services after an offseason swap, but after a poor showing (48 wRC+ with a 33.8 strikeout rate) in 74 PAs at Triple-A St. Paul, he was designated for assignment.
For now, Wagaman will look to regain his footing at Triple-A Syracuse while he awaits his next chance at the bigs. The Mets would certainly take any offensive boost they can at this point: they’ve scored the fewest runs in all of MLB. While Wagaman profiles best defensively as a first baseman, he’s shown some versatility covering the outfield corners and third base. Left field and third base are spoken for by Juan Soto and Bo Bichette, respectively, but Wagaman could be insurance for offseason signing Jorge Polanco (currently on the shelf with a wrist contusion) alongside Mark Vientos or in the right field mix with Tyrone Taylor, utilityman Brett Baty, and the newly acquired Slater.
There’s upside here for the Mets if the bat can come around: Wagaman’s controllable until 2031 and, perhaps more importantly, has all three option-years remaining. For a major league club that is currently starved for offense and seems open to shaking up the roster at the periphery among a league worst start, Wagaman represents a low-risk move that could potentially pay dividends.
Twins Claim Christian Roa, Designate Eric Wagaman
The Twins claimed right-hander Christian Roa off waivers from the Astros, who’d designated him for assignment earlier in the week, Houston announced Thursday. Minnesota designated infielder/outfielder Eric Wagaman for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster, per Dan Hayes of The Athletic. Roa has been optioned to Triple-A St. Paul.
Roa, 27, brings some velocity to a patchwork Twins bullpen that hasn’t recovered from last July’s fire sale, wherein Minnesota shipped out five relievers (Jhoan Duran, Griffin Jax, Louis Varland, Brock Stewart, Danny Coulombe). He’s pitched briefly in both 2025 and 2026, totaling 11 2/3 big league innings. Roa has held opponents to only five runs (3.86 ERA) on 11 hits, but he’s also issued 10 walks and plunked three batters while only recording nine strikeouts.
It’s a small sample, of course, but command has long been the biggest knock on Roa’s game. The 6’4″, former Texas A&M standout was the No. 48 overall pick by the Reds back in 2020. He’s drawn praise for a plus slider and average or better fastball and changeup over the years, but he’s regularly received 30 and 40 grades (on the 20-80 scale) for his command along the way. Roa has pitched to a 4.52 ERA in parts of four Triple-A seasons, fanning 25.5% of his opponents there but also issuing walks at a dismal 13.9% clip.
While Roa’s overall numbers in Triple-A don’t look like much, most of the damage against him there came in 2023-24. He tossed 60 1/3 Triple-A frames last year and notched a tidy 2.83 ERA with a 26.1% strikeout rate and an improved (but still too high) 11.4% walk rate. He tossed one scoreless inning there so far in 2026.
Roa has sat 96.2 mph with his four-seamer in limited big league action. His slider has been as advertised in the majors; he’s finished off 11 plate appearances with the pitch, four of them resulting in strikeouts and only one resulting in a base hit (a single). He also mixes in a sinker and a very occasional changeup.
This is the second of Roa’s three minor league option years. The Twins can shuttle him back and forth across the Mississippi River as needed both this year and next, assuming he sticks on the roster. For now, he’ll open in St. Paul, but given the state of the club’s bullpen, there’ll surely be opportunities over on the Minneapolis side of the Twin Cities.
Turning to the 28-year-old Wagaman, he’ll now find himself in DFA limbo for the second time in the past six months. Minnesota originally acquired him after he’d been designated for assignment by the Marlins over the winter. The Twins shipped minor league reliever Kade Bragg to the Marlins in that swap, though he hasn’t exactly stood out in Double-A this year (12 walks and a hit batter, 46 batters faced).
The hope in picking up Wagaman was that he’d be a righty-swinging bench option who could fill in at all four corner spots. The former Yankees and Angels farmhand spent the whole 2025 season on Miami’s roster despite a sub-par .250/.296/.378 batting line (85 wRC+) in 514 turns at the plate. Wagaman was decisively overmatched by fellow righties but knocked left-handers around at strong .283/.321/.462 clip with the Fish.
Wagaman has experience at all four corner positions but has worked primarily at first base in recent seasons. He’s in the first of three minor league option years but has gotten out to a dismal .159/.284/.254 start in his first 74 plate appearances with the Saints.
The Twins will have five days to place Wagaman on outright waivers or trade him to another club. Since waivers are a 48-hour process, we’ll know the outcome of Wagaman’s DFA within the next week. If Wagaman passes through waivers unclaimed, the Twins will assign him outright to St. Paul. He hasn’t been outrighted in the past and doesn’t have three years of big league service, meaning he won’t be able to reject an outright assignment.
Twins Acquire Eric Wagaman, DFA Ryan Fitzgerald
The Twins have acquired first baseman Eric Wagaman from the Marlins in exchange for minor league pitcher Kade Bragg, as confirmed by both teams this afternoon. Wagaman was designated for assignment earlier this week. To make room for Wagaman on their 40-man roster, the Twins DFA’d infielder Ryan Fitzgerald.
Wagaman, 28, spent several years in the Yankees’ minor league system before he was taken by the Angels in the minor league portion of the 2023 Rule 5 draft. He debuted for L.A. the following September, but he didn’t hit well enough to stave off a DFA at the end of the season. After electing free agency, he signed with the Marlins, and in 2025, he played his first full campaign in the bigs. Over 140 games, he slashed .250/.296/.378 for a .674 OPS and an 85 wRC+. He hit nine home runs, stole four bases on five attempts, and grounded into 11 double plays. On defense, Wagaman mostly played first base, though he also appeared in a handful of games in the corner outfield spots and stepped in at third base on a few occasions. Considering his well-below-average offense at a position where teams typically look for well-above-average offense, it was hardly surprising to see Wagaman DFA’d when the Marlins needed to make room on the roster for trade acquisition Esteury Ruiz. Evidently, the Twins must see a little more to like in his bat.
Bragg, 24, signed with the Twins in 2023 after they selected him in the 17th round of the draft. He made his professional debut in 2024 but landed on the injured list in late April and missed the rest of the season. Healthy again in 2025, the left-hander impressed in his first full season, rising from Single-A to High-A to Double-A. All told, he pitched to a 2.94 ERA and 3.73 FIP in 67 1/3 innings of relief, striking out 82 and giving up just six home runs. Walks were an issue, and clearly, the Twins don’t value Bragg all that highly. Neither do the prospect evaluators at sources like Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, or FanGraphs; he wasn’t ranked on any of their most recent Twins prospect lists. Still, based on his successful performance in his first full season, the Marlins’ development team has an interesting new project to work on.
Fitzgerald, 31, finally earned his call to the show in 2025. He started his career in independent ball, where he impressed the Red Sox enough to earn a minor league contract in 2018. Five years later, the Royals selected him in the minor league phase of the 2023 Rule 5 draft – the same draft that saw Wagaman join the Angels. However, Fitzgerald wasn’t able to make the majors with his new team, and he elected free agency after the 2024 campaign. He then latched on with Minnesota on a minor league contract, and finally, a month before his 31st birthday, he made his MLB debut. While his first stint with the Twins lasted less than a week, he earned another call-up in August following the team’s trade deadline sell-off and stuck around for the rest of the season. Altogether, he hit for an .837 OPS and a 119 wRC+ in 59 games at Triple-A and a .758 OPS and 110 wRC+ in 24 games in the majors. Unfortunately for Fitzgerald, his plus hitting and defensive versatility (he played all four infield positions) weren’t enough to keep him in Minnesota’s plans for 2026. At some point over the next five days, the Twins will either trade him or place him on waivers. If he were to clear waivers, the Twins could send him outright to the minor leagues and keep him in their organization.
Marlins Designate Eric Wagaman For Assignment
The Marlins are designating first baseman Eric Wagaman for assignment, reports Kevin Barral of Fish On First. That’ll open the 40-man roster spot to accommodate the acquisition of outfielder Esteury Ruiz when that trade is finalized.
Wagaman, 28, signed with Miami on a split contract last winter after being non-tendered by the Angels. He wound up starting more than half the club’s games at first base. The right-handed hitter held an MLB roster spot all year and tallied 514 plate appearances. His .250/.296/.378 slash line with nine home runs wasn’t enough to cut it as an everyday player at a bat-first position. FanGraphs and Baseball Reference each rated him as a little worse than replacement level.
First base was probably Miami’s biggest weakness entering the offseason. One can argue that’s still the case, though it seems they’re planning to give Christopher Morel the job after signing him to a $2MM free agent contract. Morel is coming off two consecutive replacement level seasons himself. He’s a better athlete with flashier tools than Wagaman brings to the table, though, and he has a couple 20-homer seasons on his résumé.
Wagaman has better bat-to-ball skills but limited power potential. He has some flexibility in that he can play all four corner spots, though his middling speed and arm strength make him a fringe defender. Wagaman probably fits best as a bench bat who can do some damage in favorable platoon settings. He hit .283/.321/.462 with five homers, 14 doubles, and a triple in 184 plate appearances against left-handed pitching this year. Miami’s first base/DH mix with Morel, Agustín Ramírez and Heriberto Hernández already skewed right-handed.
A team that is heavier on left-handed bats could take a flier on Wagaman via small trade or waiver claim. He still has a full slate of minor league options and won’t be eligible for arbitration for at least two years. Teams ordinarily have five days after a DFA to trade a player or place them on waivers. The clock is frozen between Christmas and New Year’s Day, so Wagaman probably won’t learn where he’ll end up until the second week of January. He would not have the service time to refuse an outright assignment if he goes unclaimed on waivers.
Marlins Notes: Infield, Outfield, Mack
The Marlins didn’t make the playoffs in 2025 but are entering the winter with a bit more optimism compared to a year ago. Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald took a look at the Miami position player mix and provided some details on the club’s aspirations for the winter.
Jackson had previously reported that the club was likely going to be targeting a veteran bat this winter. In today’s reporting, he adds that first base is the most likely place for them to make that addition, though third base and the outfield corners are mentioned as other possibilities.
First base is a sensible spot to target, as the Fish don’t really have anyone locked in there. Seven different players spent some time at that spot in 2025, though Eric Wagaman got the bulk of the action. Wagaman hit just .237/.281/.375 for a wRC+ of 79. That indicates he was 21% below league average at the plate. Teams generally hope to get above-average offense out of the first base spot, so that’s a natural spot to look for more production.
The free agent class is headlined by guys like Pete Alonso, Josh Naylor and Ryan O’Hearn. The Marlins have occasionally thrown out notable multi-year deals but president of baseball operations Peter Bendix has largely kept his wallet in his pocket since getting his job. Two offseasons ago, his big signing was one year and $5MM for Tim Anderson. Last winter, it was $3.5MM for Cal Quantrill.
Perhaps he will get more aggressive with the Marlins coming off a respectable 2025 season, though it may be more likely he goes for guys who can be had on short-term deals such as Rhys Hoskins or Paul Goldschmidt. The non-tender deadline will shake loose a few more guys, with Nathaniel Lowe and Ryan Mountcastle some of the possibilities there. Christian Walker and Alec Burleson are speculative trade candidates.
Signing a third baseman is also a possibility but Jackson reports that the most likely scenario is Connor Norby and Graham Pauley battling for the job, or perhaps even forming a platoon. Pauley seems to have a decent floor as a strong defender. In 390 innings at the hot corner this year, he was credited with three Defensive Runs Saved and six Outs Above Average. Offensively, he slashed .224/.311/.366 for a wRC+ of 90. Perhaps there’s more to come with the bat. His 11.4% walk rate and 19.6% strikeout rate were both above average and he may have been held back by an unfortunate .262 batting average on balls in play. But even with offense close to average, he could be a valuable player thanks to the glove.
Norby, on the other hand, received grades of -5 DRS and -4 OAA at third this year. He didn’t make up for that with the bat, as he slashed .251/.300/.389 for a wRC+ of 90. However, he has slashed .293/.369/.493 at the Triple-A level going back to the start of 2023, which translates to a 123 wRC+. Bringing that kind of production to the majors would be great but he’ll be a bit of a question mark until that happens.
As for the platoon possibility Jackson mentions, Norby is right-handed and Pauley left-handed. Both players have reverse splits in their big league careers thus far but the sample size is still pretty small for both. Neither had huge splits in the minors but major league pitching might be a different story in the long run.
In the outfield, Jackson suggests the investment is likely to be small, suggesting it could be similar to the club signing Heriberto Hernández to a minor league deal last winter. They should have Kyle Stowers and Jakob Marsee in two spots, with room for guys like Hernández, Griffin Conine, Dane Myers, Joey Wiemer and others.
Behind the plate, Bendix already gave a public vote of confidence to Agustín Ramírez, despite his poor defensive metrics. If he is going to get another shot behind the plate next year, that could leave Joe Mack in Triple-A. Jackson reports that the club would prefer Mack to start the year in Jacksonville, but he will have a chance to earn a job in spring training.
Mack is one of the top catching prospects in the league. He’s not yet on the 40-man roster but would be eligible for this winter’s Rule 5 draft if not added, so the Fish will surely give him a spot in order to protect him from being selected. He’s considered a strong defender and he slashed .250/.320/.459 for a 108 wRC+ in 99 Triple-A games this year.
Promoting him to the majors seems justified at this point, but if Ramírez is going to get the bulk of the playing time as the Marlins continue to give him a shot to improve defensively, then perhaps Mack would be better served staying in Triple-A to get regular playing time.
It seems like there’s even less chance of a move up the middle, as Jackson reports the club is happy with the Otto López and Xavier Edwards tandem. López has produced subpar offense but the move to shortstop has worked well. He was credited with 7 DRS and 4 OAA at that spot this year. He can also steal 15-20 bases a year, adding to his value. Edwards got poor grades at short but has been great since kicking over to the other side of the bag. He tallied 12 DRS and 9 OAA at the keystone this year, with 27 steals and roughly average offense.
Photo courtesy of Eric Hartline, Imagn Images
Marlins Sign Eric Wagaman, Designate Vidal Bruján
The Marlins announced they have signed infielder/outfielder Eric Wagaman to a one-year major league deal. Infielder Vidal Bruján has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. Salary figures for Wagaman weren’t reported but it’s likely near the major league minimum since the Paragon Sports International client just made his major league debut this year. Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reported on the signing prior to the official announcement.
Wagaman, 27, was drafted by the Yankees and spent his entire career with that club until about a year ago, when the Angels plucked him away in the minor league phase of the 2023 Rule 5 draft. After a strong season in the minors, the Angels called him up to the big leagues on September 10. He got into 18 games down the stretch as the club was playing out a losing season, stepping to the plate 74 times and hitting .250/.270/.403. He was non-tendered at the end of the year, sending him to free agency without being exposed to waivers.
That’s a very small sample size and the Marlins probably aren’t giving it much weight. He has 897 minor league plate appearances over the past three years, with some intriguing numbers in that larger sample. He hit 35 home runs, struck out just 16.9% of the time and drew walks at a 9.5% clip. He has a combined batting line of .276/.348/.473 over those three seasons, which translates to a 129 wRC+.
He also stole 26 bases in that stretch, getting caught seven times. Defensively, Wagaman was mostly a first baseman with the Yankees but the Angels fanned him out a bit, having him line up at first but also third base and the outfield corners this year.
The rebuilding Marlins have very little settled in their position player mix. At last year’s deadline, they traded away Jazz Chisholm Jr., Josh Bell and Bryan De La Cruz. This offseason, they’ve sent Jake Burger packing as well. None of the position players on the roster have even four years of major league service time. Jesús Sánchez is the only guy with more than three, while Nick Fortes and Derek Hill are the only guys with more than two.
In short, there’s very little written in stone. Sánchez will likely have a corner outfield job but is a candidate to be traded if the Marlins get an offer they like. Connor Norby, Jonah Bride, Griffin Conine, Deyvison De Los Santos, Kyle Stowers and others are candidates for jobs in the corners but they are all fairly inexperienced. Wagaman has a full slate of options, so he can provide minor league depth at various spots or battle for a big league job. He has just a few days of service time and can be cheaply retained into the future if he continues to hang onto his roster spot.
Bruján, 27 in February, was once a top 100 prospect but he hasn’t yet lived up to that hype. He was praised for his speed, athleticism, plate discipline and ability to play multiple positions. Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to do enough damage with the bat to make an impact. He has stepped to the plate 550 times over the past four seasons, with five home runs and a .189/.261/.270 batting line. He has swiped 14 bags but he’s also been caught 13 times.
DFA limbo normally lasts a week but recent years have seen that clock paused over the period from Christmas to New Year’s. On this date last year, Ryan Jensen was designated for assignment by the Marlins and he wasn’t claimed off waivers by the Twins until January 4, over two weeks later. That will give the Fish some time to see if any club is interested in taking a flier on Bruján.
For what it’s worth, the minor league results have continued to be good, even as he has floundered in the majors. He has just over a thousand Triple-A plate appearances over the past four years and has slashed .272/.357/.451 in those for a wRC+ of 113. He is out of options but he has less than three years of service time, meaning he can provide four years of club control if any team is willing to give him a roster spot. He has played every position except catcher, giving him plenty of ways to theoretically slot into a club’s plans.