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Jesse Winker

NL East Notes: Alcantara, Yankees, Anthopoulos, Ozuna, Winker, Kranick

By Mark Polishuk | August 3, 2025 at 9:53pm CDT

The Marlins were looking to land George Lombard Jr. or Spencer Jones from the Yankees in a Sandy Alcantara trade, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post.  The Yankees naturally balked at moving either of their top prospects, and this gives the kind of idea of the big-ticket return Miami was trying to land for either Alcantara or Edward Cabrera.  “No one came especially close” to prying Alcantara away from the Fish, which reflects both the big asking price and the inconsistent numbers the righty has posted (6.36 ERA over 109 innings) in his first season back after rehab from Tommy John surgery.

Other than trading Jesus Sanchez to the Astros and moving depth catcher Nick Fortes to the Rays, it was a quieter deadline than expected from the Marlins, who looked like clear-cut sellers a couple of months ago.  However, the team’s plans may have been changed by an unexpected development — winning.  A three-game sweep of the Yankees in Miami this weekend brought the Marlins’ record back to 55-55, as the Fish have won 25 of their last 35 games.  It is a great sign of progress for the team’s rebuild at the very least, and even a longshot wild card race can’t be ruled out given how well the Marlins have been playing.

Some more from the last few days of NL East news…

  • Rafael Montero was the only veteran Atlanta moved at the deadline, as if anything, the Braves focused a lot of attention on adding short-term pitching help to its injury-riddled staff.  President of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos told reporters (including the Athletic’s David O’Brien) on Thursday that since his team plans to contend again in 2026, the Braves put a high ask on any player that was controlled beyond the 2025 season.  As for impending free agents like Raisel Iglesias and Marcell Ozuna, Anthopoulos said “we weren’t just going to give players away, move guys just to move them or just to dump salary….If we were going to move any player, we were going to have to get something back that we liked.”  The executive added that the team didn’t approach Ozuna for his approval about any potential trades, as Ozuna has veto rights as a 10-and-5 player.
  • The Mets freed up some 40-man roster space for their deadline additions on Thursday by moving Jesse Winker to the 60-day injured list, which ensures that Winker will be now be out of action until at least September 9.  There is concern that Winker’s entire season could be in jeopardy, as president of baseball ops David Stearns told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo and other reporters that Winker’s back is “frankly not [recovering] at the pace that I think he or we were hoping.”  Winker rejoined the Mets on a one-year, $7.5MM free agent deal last winter but he has been limited to 26 games due to an oblique strain and now this back problem, as both injuries landed the veteran on the 60-day IL.
  • Sticking with the Mets, the Athletic’s Will Sammon reports that Max Kranick underwent a flexor tendon repair surgery last month, not a Tommy John surgery as was the initial expectation.  A TJ procedure would’ve very likely cost Kranick the entire 2026 season, but there is now some improved chance the right-hander might be back on a big league mound before Opening Day 2027.  Kranick already underwent a Tommy John surgery in June 2022 that cost him the entire 2023 campaign, and his 2024 work was limited to 70 2/3 innings in the Mets’ farm system.  Returning to the bigs this season, Kranick had a 3.65 ERA over 37 innings with New York before arm problems have again put his career on hold.
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Atlanta Braves Miami Marlins New York Mets New York Yankees Notes Alex Anthopoulos Edward Cabrera George Lombard Jr. Jesse Winker Marcell Ozuna Max Kranick Rafael Montero Raisel Iglesias Sandy Alcantara Spencer Jones

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Mets Acquire Cedric Mullins

By Darragh McDonald | July 31, 2025 at 11:11pm CDT

The Mets have acquired outfielder Cedric Mullins from the Orioles, according to announcements from both clubs. Pitching prospects Raimon Gómez, Anthony Nunez and Chandler Marsh are heading to the Orioles in exchange. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reported the deal prior to the official announcement. Outfielder/designated hitter Jesse Winker has been transferred to the 60-day injured list to open a 40-man spot for Mullins.

Mullins, 30, will be changing teams for the first time in his career. The Orioles drafted him with a 13th-round pick back in 2015. He got some part-time play in the 2018-2020 seasons without doing too much to stand out, but then had a massive breakout in 2021. He hit 30 home runs that year and stole 30 bases. He walked in 8.7% of his plate appearances and only struck out 18.5% of the time. He slashed .291/.360/.518 for a 136 wRC+. Thanks to that offense, those steals and his strong defense, FanGraphs credited him with six wins above replacement.

That season now looks like an outlier. He hasn’t been able to maintain that level of production but has been a solid everyday player nonetheless. From 2022 to the present, he has hit .241/.310/.412 for a 103 wRC+, indicating he’s been 3% better than the league average hitter in that time. But he has stolen 99 bases and still runs the ball down on the grass. FanGraphs has credited him with 8.8 fWAR in that span, a bit more than two wins per year.

Mullins’ presence on the roster provided a bridge between eras. The Orioles were rebuilding when he first came up. As he broke out, he was a rare bright spot during an otherwise dreary period, with the O’s losing at least 108 games in each full season from 2018 to 2021. The club then emerged as a contender, getting over .500 in 2022 and then making the playoffs in the two years after that.

However, things have gone downhill in 2025, his final season before reaching free agency. Multiple injuries tanked the club early on. They are currently 50-59 and seven games back of a playoff spot, marking them as clear sellers. They have already traded Bryan Baker to the Rays, Gregory Soto to the Mets, Seranthony Domínguez to the Blue Jays, Andrew Kittredge to the Cubs and Ramón Urías to the Astros. With Mullins being an impending free agent, he was also on the list.

For the Mets, Mullins is a sensible addition, as center field has been a question mark for them this year. They began the season with Jose Siri and Tyrone Taylor as their options there. Siri fouled a ball of himself early in the year and suffered a fractured tibia. He’s been on the shelf for almost three months and still hasn’t begun a rehab assignment. Taylor has a dismal .201/.258/.295 line on the year. With those struggles, the Mets have been connected to center fielders such as Mullins, Luis Robert Jr., Harrison Bader and Ramón Laureano.

The Mets have been using Jeff McNeil in center field quite a bit. Presumably, bringing Mullins aboard will allow McNeil to move back to his regular second base position. That could perhaps increase the chances of the Mets flipping one of their young infielders. The Mets have been using Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña at second and third base this year. Reportedly, they are open to trading from that group, though nothing has come together yet.

Mullins is making $8.725MM this year, which leaves about $2.8MM left to be paid out. The Mets are a third-time payor of the competitive balance tax and are over the top tier. That means they face a 110% tax rate on any money they add to the ledger. The taxes will be about $3.1MM, so they’re paying close to $6MM total to bring in Mullins for the stretch run and postseason. That’s a drop in the bucket for them, as they have some of the highest payrolls in the league in recent years.

They are also parting with three young players. Gómez, 23, has attracted some attention thanks to his elite velocity. He can hit triple-digits regularly, having even touched 105 miles per hour. However, as often happens with pitchers with this kind of stuff, there are health and control concerns. Tommy John surgery wiped out his 2023 and most of his 2024. He has just 102 innings pitched in his five minor league seasons. He has punched out 28.4% of opponents but also given out walks at a 13.3% clip.

He is a project but one with exciting raw talent. Baseball America lists him as the #22 prospect in the Mets’ system. FanGraphs recently put him in the #31 slot. The big question seems to be whether or not he’ll ever harness his stuff. He hasn’t yet climbed beyond the High-A level but has already been eligible for the Rule 5 draft and will be exposed again this winter.

Nunez, 24, is a converted infielder. He was drafted by the Padres as a shortstop but got released back in 2021. He took up pitching and landed a minor league deal with the Mets in 2024. Since then, he has climbed as high as Double-A. In 50 innings across multiple levels, he has a 1.80 ERA and massive 37.5% strikeout rate. He has also walked 11.5% of batters faced, though that high figure is perhaps not surprising for a guy who hasn’t been pitching for very long.

BA lists him as the #27 prospect in the system. Their report notes that he throws a four-seamer, sinker, cutter, slider and changeup. FanGraphs puts him in the #18 spot. Like Gomez, he has already been Rule 5 eligible, so he’ll need a 40-man spot if the O’s don’t want him to be exposed again.

Marsh, 22, was signed last year as an undrafted free agent. He has thrown 42 2/3 minor league innings with a 2.53 ERA, 31% strikeout rate and 11.1% walk rate. FanGraphs gave him an honorable mention on their recent list of the top Mets prospects, noting that he has a great slider but a lack of fastball control. Unlike the other two, he won’t be Rule 5 eligible until after the 2027 season.

For the O’s, Mullins was on his way out the door in a lost season, so they’ve grabbed a bunch of young arms. They all seem like long-term projects, but the organization presumably feels like there’s upside in here which makes it a worthy gamble. For the Mets, none of those arms were likely to help them anytime soon. Since they are in first place and making a run at a title, Mullins helps them today.

Winker landed on the 10-day IL July 11th due to back inflammation. This transfer means he’s ineligible to return until early September, so it seems the Mets don’t think he’s close to a return.

Photos courtesy of Jeff Hanisch, Mitch Stringer, Imagn Images

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Baltimore Orioles New York Mets Newsstand Transactions Cedric Mullins Jesse Winker

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Mets Designate Rico Garcia For Assignment

By Steve Adams | July 11, 2025 at 2:40pm CDT

2:40pm: The Mets have now officially announced these moves and a few others. They also optioned right-hander Justin Hagenman and placed outfielder/designated hitter Jesse Winker on the 10-day IL due to back inflammation. Right-hander Austin Warren and infielder Jared Young were recalled to take those two spots.

10:21am: The Mets will designate right-hander Rico Garcia for assignment today in order to open a spot on the roster for the return of ace Kodai Senga, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Garcia is out of minor league options and couldn’t be sent back to Triple-A without being exposed to waivers.

Garcia signed a minor league deal with the Mets over the winter. The 31-year-old righty was selected to the major league roster eight days ago and has since pitched in two games, tossing 4 2/3 shutout frames with just one hit and no walks allowed. He’s punched out three hitters and shown career-best velocity on his four-seamer, averaging 96.1 mph and topping out at 98 mph. He’s using that four-seamer less than in prior seasons, in large part due to a newly incorporated slider/cutter he’s added to his typical four-seam/curveball/changeup repertoire.

That short run was Garcia’s first big league work since 2023, when he pitched 11 2/3 innings between the A’s and Nats but was tagged for a dozen runs. He’s spent the rest of the 2025 season in Triple-A Syracuse, pitching to a 4.45 ERA with a strong 27.4% strikeout rate but also an alarming 14.8% walk rate in 30 1/3 innings. Garcia has had plenty of success in Triple-A, regularly showing better-than-average ability to miss bats but also below-average command. He has a 6.47 ERA in 40 1/3 MLB frames split between the Rockies, Mets, A’s, Nats, Giants and Orioles.

The Mets have regularly cycled through journeymen relievers with the final couple spots in their bullpen. Garcia has pitched better than the others in his brief look but will still meet the same fate. He’ll be placed on waivers or traded within the next five days. He’s been outrighted in the past, so if he clears waivers he’ll be able to reject an outright assignment to the minors in favor of free agency.

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New York Mets Transactions Austin Warren Jared Young Jesse Winker Justin Hagenman Kodai Senga Rico Garcia

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Mets Designate Zach Pop For Assignment

By Darragh McDonald | July 8, 2025 at 2:30pm CDT

The Mets announced a series of roster moves today. Outfielder/designated hitter Jesse Winker has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. He takes the active roster spot of outfielder Starling Marte, who has been placed on the 10-day injured list due to a right knee bruise, retroactive to July 7th. Right-hander Tylor Megill was transferred to the 60-day IL to open a 40-man spot for Winker. The Mets also selected the contract of right-hander Alex Carrillo, a move which was reported earlier. Righty Zach Pop has been designated for assignment as a corresponding move there. The Mets also announced that they have signed right-hander Junior Fernández to a minor league deal.

Winker, now 31, had a solid bounceback season with the Mets in 2024. After a down year in 2023, he put up a .253/.360/.405 slash and 118 wRC+ with the Mets last year. That prompted the club to re-sign him via a one-year deal with a $7.5MM guarantee. This year, he got into 24 games and hit .239/.321/.418 before an oblique strain sent him to the IL. He missed a little over two months but can now return to the club’s corner outfield and designated hitter mix.

Subbing out of that mix is Marte. It’s not known how serious this current injury is but he also spent almost a month on the IL last year due to a right knee bone bruise. He is hitting .270/.353/.387 for a 116 wRC+ this year. The Mets have Juan Soto, Brandon Nimmo and Tyrone Taylor in the outfield most nights. Marte has mostly been in the DH spot, but now Winker will take up that role. They hit from opposite sides of the plate, with Marte being a righty and Winker a lefty, so that may impact the club’s deployment when factoring in the opposing pitcher.

Megill landed on the 15-day injured list on June 15th due to a right elbow sprain. His 60-day count is retroactive to that initial IL placement, so he will be eligible for reinstatement in mid-August. He recently started throwing again but it seems the Mets don’t expect him to be able to return within the next month.

The club has been hit hard by the injury bug in recent weeks, with Megill just one of the victims. The situation has led to the Mets frequently cycling pitchers through the roster as they attempt to paper over the large number of absences. Pop was one pitcher who was run through the machine, getting added to the roster just three days ago. He pitched an inning and a third for the Mets on Sunday, allowing three earned runs on five hits without striking anyone out.

He now has 162 1/3 innings of major league work under his belt. He has occasionally shown glimpses of being an effective ground ball guy. 55% of the balls in play he’s allowed have been pounded into the ground and his 7.8% walk rate is also decent but he has only struck out 17.8% of batters faced. He has a 4.88 ERA overall, which isn’t terrible, but his best work is a few years old now. He has a 6.68 ERA dating back to the start of the 2023 season, in 68 2/3 innings.

He is now out of options, which has limited his ability to cling to a roster spot. But he’s cheap, as the Blue Jays are on the hook for the majority of his $900K salary since they released him earlier this year. Other clubs can sign him and only pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum for the time spent on the roster. He also got a brief stint with the Mariners before joining the Mets. He has the right to reject outright assignments and will likely end up back on the open market in the coming days.

Fernández, 28, signed a minor league deal with the Royals in the offseason but was released a few days ago. He had logged 38 1/3 Triple-A innings in the Royals’ system with a 4.93 ERA, 30.3% strikeout rate and 50% ground ball rate but a concerning 14.9% walk rate.

His big league career has had a somewhat similar shape. He has 54 big league innings under his belt with the Cardinals and Pirates, with a 5.17 ERA, 18.7% strikeout rate, 13.9% walk rate and 49.4% ground ball rate. As mentioned, the Mets have been hit hard by injuries, so there’s little harm in adding some non-roster depth.

Photo courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, Imagn Images

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New York Mets Transactions Alex Carrillo Jesse Winker Junior Fernandez Starling Marte Tylor Megill Zach Pop

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Mets Reinstate Frankie Montas, Transfer Jesse Winker To 60-Day IL

By Darragh McDonald | June 24, 2025 at 12:59pm CDT

The Mets announced that right-hander Frankie Montas has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list. Right-hander Chris Devenski was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse as the corresponding active roster move. He has enough service time where he can’t be optioned without his consent, so he has presumably agreed to be sent down. To open a 40-man spot for Montas, outfielder/designated hitter Jesse Winker has been transferred to the 60-day IL.

Montas, 32, will be making his debut as a Met when he starts tonight’s game. At the moment, it’s difficult to guess what sort of quality of performance he’ll be able to provide. He was diagnosed with a lat strain back in mid-February. He started a rehab assignment in late May but hasn’t looked sharp, allowing 25 earned runs in 18 2/3 innings over six minor league starts.

Teams generally care more about health than results on a rehab assignment but a 12.05 earned run average is going to cause some concern. It would be one thing if Montas started rough and had been getting sharper but that hasn’t been the case. He surrendered five earned runs in five innings in his most recent outing, with just two strikeouts. The prior outing had seen him allow eight earned runs without getting out of the second inning.

Even before this year, there were question marks with Montas. He had missed almost all of 2023 due to shoulder surgery. Back on the mound in 2024, his 4.84 ERA wasn’t strong. The Mets seemed to be banking on his late-season strikeout surge. He had struck out just 19% of batters faced with the Reds but then 28.7% of opponents following a trade to the Brewers. He then headed into free agency and secured a two-year, $34MM deal from the Mets, with equal salaries of $17MM and an opt-out halfway through.

That was a notable investment in a pitcher who hadn’t been at his best in a few years. The Mets are also paying a 110% tax on spending beyond the top competitive balance tax threshold this year, making it an even more significant expenditure which they have yet to receive any return on.

Despite that cash outlay, the righty’s recent struggles on his rehab assignment almost pushed him to the bullpen. However, the club’s rotation picture changed quickly in recent weeks. Not too long ago, it seemed the club had so much rotation depth that a Paul Blackburn trade was reportedly considered. But then both Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill hit the injured list in the span of a few days, opening rotation space for both Blackburn and Montas alongside David Peterson, Clay Holmes and Griffin Canning.

If everyone is healthy, another squeeze could be just over the horizon. Sean Manaea is also on the IL and just a bit behind Montas in his rehab process. He recently made his fourth rehab appearance, getting to 62 pitches over 5 1/3 innings. Montas is getting a rotation spot for now due to the club’s need and the fact that his 30-day rehab window was closing but there will be pressure on him to perform in order to keep that spot.

As for Winker, he landed on the IL on May 5th due to a right oblique strain. His 60-day count is retroactive to that initial IL placement, so he’ll be eligible for reinstatement in early July. He was initially given a recovery timeline of six to eight weeks but the Mets recently said that he is still multiple weeks away from starting a rehab assignment.

Photo courtesy of Sam Navarro, Imagn Images

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New York Mets Transactions Chris Devenski Frankie Montas Jesse Winker

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Mets Notes: Siri, Winker, Senga, Montas, Raley

By Mark Polishuk | June 14, 2025 at 8:29am CDT

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns and manager Carlos Mendoza each provided several injury updates when speaking with reporters (including Newsday’s Laura Albanese, The Athletic’s Tim Britton, and the New York Post’s Mike Puma) on Friday.  The most unwelcome bit of news concerned Jose Siri, whose recovery from a left tibia fracture will be delayed since tests showed the tibia hadn’t healed as well as expected over two months since the initial injury.

Siri last played on April 12, when he fouled a ball off his left leg during his first plate appearance in the Mets’ 3-1 loss to the Athletics.  The initial recovery timeline was set at 8-10 weeks, though in the wake of this latest setback, Siri will now be shut down from baseball activities for a few more weeks until he undergoes a fresh round of imaging tests.

Even if those tests reveal better results, Siri will need to ramp his rehab back up and play in multiple minor league games, so it may be optimistic to expect Siri back on New York’s big league roster before July is over.  It’s a frustrating setback for Siri, who seemed to be making progress by taking part in live batting practice sessions and doing some running drills in recent weeks.  Instead, it now looks like he’ll miss over half of the season on the injured list, leaving the Mets without a key member of their outfield.

Acquired from the Rays in a trade last November, Siri was meant to add some power and (most pressingly) defensive stability to the Amazins’ center field mix.  His absence has made Tyrone Taylor more or less the everyday center fielder, and while Taylor has held his own with the glove, he is hitting only .234/.300/.332 over 205 plate appearances.  The left-handed hitting Jeff McNeil has been spelling Taylor in center field when McNeil isn’t at second base, and Jose Azocar, Brandon Nimmo, and Luisangel Acuna have made a few cameos in center when the situation has warranted.

It was already expected that the Mets would be looking for some outfield help at the trade deadline, and the possibility that Siri might not even be back by July 31 only underlines the outfield as a target area.  Perhaps if the Mets are okay with the Taylor/McNeil platoon in center field, the club might just look to add a bat in general to help out in the infield or in the DH position.  Designated hitter Jesse Winker is recovering from a Grade 2 oblique strain that has kept him out since early May, and Stearns said that Winker will still need multiple weeks before a minor league rehab assignment is considered.

Kodai Senga’s hamstring strain created a big hole in New York’s rotation this week, though Mendoza said tests revealed that Senga had only a Grade 1 strain, or the least severe variety.  The current plan is for Senga to be shut down for two weeks and then the club will explore plans for a throwing progression and a minor league rehab assignment.  Given the timing, it seems possible Senga might be able to pitch again before the All-Star break, but in all likelihood the Mets will play it safe with their ace and hold him out through the break to give him a few more days of rest.

The Mets’ rotation has been plagued by injuries ever since Spring Training, yet the staff has greatly exceeded expectations by still leading all of baseball with a 2.78 rotation ERA.  Senga’s 1.47 ERA over 73 2/3 innings has been a big part of that success, as the right-hander has returned in top form after missing virtually all of the 2024 season.

Paul Blackburn will move from a long relief/swingman role into the rotation to fill in for Senga, while Britton suggests that Frankie Montas might move into the bullpen in Blackburn’s role (rather than into a starting job) when Montas is activated from the 60-day injured list.  After missing the entire season due to a lat strain, Montas has made five minor league rehab starts, and June 22 will mark the end of the allotted 30 days for Montas’ rehab assignment.

While in-game results are usually less important than fitness and mechanics during these rehab outings, Montas’ 13.17 ERA over 13 2/3 innings with high-A Brooklyn and Triple-A Syracuse is hard to ignore, as the veteran righty is clearly still not on track.  Stearns said that Montas will make one more start in the minors, and that Montas “is still searching a little bit” after such a long layoff.

“Physically, we are trending in the right direction and now it’s just getting him back into the rhythm,” Stearns said.  “This is very similar to a Spring Training ramp up where you try not to focus on results too much early and then as you get a little bit later in the ramp up you want to start seeing outs.  That is where Frankie is right now.”

In even longer-term injury news, Brooks Raley could be starting a rehab assignment within the next week.  Raley underwent a Tommy John surgery in May 2024, and with the knowledge that he’d miss most of the 2025 season, the Mets inked the veteran reliever to a one-year free agent deal that guarantees Raley $1.85MM ($1.5MM in 2025 salary, and a $300K buyout on a $4.75MM club option for 2026).

Several other performance bonuses are available both this season and next depending on how many appearances Raley can make, though the first order of business is simply getting the southpaw back in action.  Britton notes that Raley will likely need the full 30-day rehab window in order to get back into game shape, so if all goes well, Raley could be an option for the Mets’ bullpen before the end of July.

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New York Mets Notes Brooks Raley Frankie Montas Jesse Winker Jose Siri Kodai Senga

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A.J. Minter To Undergo Season-Ending Lat Surgery

By Anthony Franco | May 5, 2025 at 7:24pm CDT

A.J. Minter has been lost for the season, as manager Carlos Mendoza tells reporters (including Mike Puma of The New York Post) that the southpaw will undergo surgery to repair a torn lat next Monday. The Mets revealed last week that surgery was under consideration. Minter understandably attempted to exhaust other options over the past few days, but he unfortunately won’t be able to avoid going under the knife.

Mendoza also provided an update on designated hitter Jesse Winker, who landed on the 10-day injured list due to a right oblique strain this evening. Winker was diagnosed with a Grade 2 strain — one of moderate severity — and will be down for six-to-eight weeks (via Abbey Mastracco of The New York Daily News).

It’s the second consecutive injury-shortened season for Minter. The veteran reliever underwent surgery to address a left hip issue last August, ending his final year as a member of the Braves. He reached free agency for the first time over the winter. New York signed him to a surprisingly strong two-year, $22MM contract that included an opt-out after the first season. They gambled that Minter would return to form as an above-average setup man after a healthy offseason.

The early returns were encouraging. Minter couldn’t have performed much better over his first 13 outings. He allowed only two runs on six hits and five walks through 11 innings. Minter fanned 15 and recorded seven holds without surrendering a lead. He was Mendoza’s most trusted option from the left side.

Minter has been an excellent reliever throughout his career. He combined for a 3.28 ERA while striking out more than 29% of opposing hitters over parts of eight seasons with Atlanta. Minter had topped 50 innings each season between 2021-23 before dealing with significant injuries over the past two years.

New York had relied on Minter and Danny Young as their only left-handers through the first month. Both pitchers are now done for the year, as Young required Tommy John surgery over the weekend. The Mets selected the hard-throwing but erratic Génesis Cabrera to give Mendoza at least one southpaw in the bullpen. Cabrera is miscast as the top lefty on a contender, making that an area the Mets are sure to monitor over the coming weeks.

Minter is making $11MM this season. He’ll surely exercise the matching player option and hope for a healthier second year in Queens. He’s already on the 60-day injured list, as New York transferred him over when they selected Cabrera’s contract last week.

Winker may eventually end up there as well, as he’s expected to miss close to two months after tweaking his oblique in yesterday’s loss to St. Louis. He suffered the injury on a throw in a rare outfield appearance. Winker has been the Mets designated hitter against right-handed pitching. That may now fall to Brett Baty, who was recalled in the corresponding move for his IL placement. Baty was optioned a few weeks ago when Jeff McNeil returned from the IL, limiting his path to playing time at second base. Baty had just a .204/.246/.352 line over 58 plate appearances before his demotion. He’d been ice cold to begin the season but had begun to swing the bat well just before McNeil’s activation.

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New York Mets Newsstand A.J. Minter Jesse Winker

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Mets Place Jesse Winker On 10-Day IL With Oblique Strain

By Mark Polishuk | May 5, 2025 at 6:15pm CDT

May 5: The Mets placed Winker on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain. Brett Baty was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to take his spot on the active roster.

May 4: Jesse Winker was removed during the fourth inning of today’s 6-5 Mets loss to the Cardinals when Winker hurt his right side after a making a throw from left field.  Attempting to throw out Brendan Donovan at home during a third-inning sacrifice fly, Winker told reporters (including MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo) postgame that he “felt it pretty much right when I threw the ball.”  Winker finished the rest of the inning, but was replaced before the Mets’ next turn in the field.

An MRI revealed oblique damage, and Winker will head back to New York for more testing on Monday.  An official placement for Winker on the 10-day injured list is sure to follow before the Mets take the field tomorrow in Phoenix to start a series against the Diamondbacks.  Oblique injuries have an uncertain timeline even if a player is dealing with a minor strain, and a more severe strain could put Winker out for months or even put his season in jeopardy.

Sunday marked Winker’s first start of the season in the outfield, and only his second non-DH appearance in 24 total appearances in 2025.  Because the Mets were playing a doubleheader against the Cardinals, the team had to stretch the roster a bit more than usual, leading to Winker’s start in left field in the first game, and Starling Marte’s first appearance in the outfield all season when he was the starting right fielder for the second game.

Getting hurt during that rare outfield outing just adds to the misfortune of Winker’s situation, and his absence will remove a key left-handed bat from New York’s roster.  Winker and Marte have covered the designated hitter at-bats in a lefty/right platoon, so as DiComo notes, the Mets might be able to fill Winker’s spot by cycling multiple players through the DH spot.  Such left-handed hitting options as Jared Young, Jon Singleton, Donovan Walton, or Billy McKinney are at Triple-A as potential call-ups — Young is the only member of that group who is on the 40-man roster, but the Mets could open up another 40-man spot by moving Jose Siri to the 60-day IL.

Winker is off to an okay but unspectacular start in 2025, producing a 104 wRC+ from a .239/.321/.418 slash line over 78 plate appearances.  Initially acquired as a trade deadline rental from the Nationals last July, Winker hit decently well during the rest of the regular season and then had a monstrous 1.168 OPS over 32 PA during the Mets’ playoff run.  The Mets liked what they saw from the veteran and brought him back to Queens on a one-year, $7.5MM free agent deal.

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Mets Re-Sign Jesse Winker

By Steve Adams | January 17, 2025 at 5:05pm CDT

The Mets officially announced that they’ve re-signed Jesse Winker on a one-year deal. The Excel Sports Management client is reportedly guaranteed $7.5MM (including a $1MM signing bonus) and can earn an additional $1.5MM via incentives.

Winker, 31, began the 2024 season with the Nationals. He’d signed a minor league deal after a pair of injury-ruined seasons that saw him undergo both knee and spinal surgeries in the 2022-23 offseason. The injuries that necessitated those surgeries in 2022 contributed to a bleak .219/.344/.344 showing with the Mariners that season, and the lingering effects likely played a role in his tepid .199/.320/.247 showing with the 2023 Brewers.

The 2024 campaign seemingly saw Winker back to full health. He hit .257/.374/.419 in 379 plate appearances with Washington before going to Queens in a deadline trade that sent minor league righty Tyler Stuart back to the Nats. Winker batted a diminished but respectable .243/.318/.365 in 129 turns at the plate down the stretch before catching fire with a .318/.531/.636 slash in 32 October plate appearances.

Winker figures to see the bulk of time at designated hitter for the Mets, who have Brandon Nimmo and Juan Soto locked into the outfield corners. Jose Siri, Tyrone Taylor and Starling Marte are also in the outfield mix, with Marte also likely to see time at DH if he’s not traded. The Mets have been exploring potential deals for Marte, who’s owed $19.5MM in the final season of a four-year contract, to no avail.

Winker could see some occasional time in the outfield as well, of course, and he’s likely to be platooned regardless of the role he occupies. He’s a career .276/.379/.463 hitter against righties but just a .210/.324/.338 hitter against fellow southpaws. Winker can work a walk against left-handers, but nearly all of his power comes in advantageous platoon matchups.

The broader and more impactful takeaway from Winker’s reunion with the Mets is that it could spell the end of Pete Alonso’s time with the club. The Winker agreement is reportedly the beginning of a pivot away from Alonso, whom the Mets feel is likelier to sign elsewhere than in Queens. Their plan moving forward appears to be to spread that would-be Alonso money around to different targets, the first of which is Winker.

With that in mind, it’s possible the Mets could look to external options at first base, but a good portion of that market has been picked over. Sticking in-house, Mark Vientos would likely move from third base to first base, opening the hot corner for a competition between Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña. There are more options at third base on the market than at first base — Alex Bregman, a Nolan Arenado trade — but it’s hard to square the idea that the Mets would balk at a long-term deal for Alonso and then make a sizable commitment to older infielders like Bregman (still seeking a long-term deal) or Arenado (34 and owed $64MM over the next three seasons).

The addition of Winker pushes the Mets’ payroll to about $287MM, per RosterResource. Their cash payroll is actually a slight bit higher than their luxury tax ledger, as the Mets’ long-term deals with Edwin Diaz and Kodai Senga are a bit front-loaded and carry 2025 salaries that are higher than the contracts’ respective annual values. New York currently sits about $17MM shy of the top $301MM luxury tier. They’ll pay a 95% tax on any dollars spent up to $301MM and then a 110% tax on any dollars thereafter. Because they’re now exceeding the $241MM threshold by more than $40MM, their top pick in the 2026 draft will drop by ten places (barring additional moves to duck down into and remain in the second penalty tier).

SNY’s Andy Martino first reported that the Mets and Winker had an agreement. Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported it was a one-year deal with a guarantee around $8MM and a $1MM signing bonus. The Post’s Joel Sherman had the $7.5MM guarantee and the $1.5MM in bonuses.

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Mets Reportedly Expect Pete Alonso To Sign Elsewhere

By Darragh McDonald | January 16, 2025 at 1:45pm CDT

The Mets and Pete Alonso have been in a staredown for a while but it seems the club is blinking. Andy Martino of SNY reports that they now expect him to sign elsewhere, with today’s agreement with Jesse Winker part of a plan to spread money around to various alternatives. Earlier today, Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that Alonso’s market was heating up, with the Blue Jays and Mets involved, as well as a third unidentified team.

Alonso and the Mets have clearly had mutual interest in reaching a new deal for a long time, but without the ability to agree on a price point. The club reportedly offered him a seven-year, $158MM extension in the summer of 2023, but a deal didn’t get done. Since then, there have been changes on both sides of the negotiations. The Mets hired David Stearns to replace Billy Eppler atop their baseball operations department in September of 2023, with Alonso then hiring Scott Boras the following month.

During the 2024 season, the sides generally expressed admiration for each other but never seemed to make much effort to get an extension done. Alonso turned down a qualifying offer and became a free agent. Though he was connected to various teams in recent months, he never seemed to get a deal to his liking. Alonso’s camp reportedly pivoted to a short-term deal, pitching the Mets a three-year pact with opt-outs. The Mets seemed to be somewhat amenable to this framework but a gap on the money still prevented a deal from coming together.

In recent weeks, the Mets have also been connected to players like Winker, Anthony Santander, Alex Verdugo, Tanner Scott, Luis Arráez and Tim Hill. They also reportedly offered Teoscar Hernández a two-year deal before he returned to the Dodgers on a three-year pact.

Martino’s report compares the Mets’ current plans to those of the Yankees after missing out on Juan Soto, spreading money around to various players as opposed to one big splash. After Soto went to the Mets, the Yankees gave out deals to Max Fried and Paul Goldschmidt, as well as trading for Devin Williams and Cody Bellinger. They could have done some of those moves in conjunction with Soto but perhaps were more aggressive in those areas since they hadn’t tied up their resources with the one mega deal.

The Winker signing alone doesn’t stop the Mets from bringing back Alonso, as the two coexisted on the roster in 2024, with Alonso the regular at first as Winker spent time in the outfield corners and designated hitter slot. But there has been some reporting that the club wants to use some internal options at the corners. Mark Vientos was the regular third baseman last year and had a breakout year at the plate, but with subpar defensive metrics. He could perhaps move over to first, while the Mets use Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña to cover third base.

Perhaps things will change in the coming days but it now seems possible that the Mets are indeed prepared to walk away from Alonso. The earlier reporting from The Athletic indicated the Mets were in talks with various players and didn’t want the stalled Alonso negotiations to get in their way. While Winker doesn’t strictly block the path for Alonso to come back to Queens, it does seem to signal that the Mets are prepared to move on.

If it does indeed come to pass, it will be a surprisingly lackluster end to the Mets-Alonso relationship. He was a homegrown star with some New York roots and come up through the club’s system after being selected in the second round of the 2016 draft. He debuted with a big splash in 2019, hitting 53 home runs and also winning the home run derby. That campaign is now widely viewed as the juiced ball season, but Alonso continued to be a big homer threat in subsequent years.

Alonso now has 226 home runs over the past six seasons, second only to Aaron Judge in that time. He won another derby title in 2021 and was a staple of the club over their recent history, not having played less than 152 games in any full season.

During that time, the Mets went from a punchline to a powerhouse. While they were previously known for having middling budgets and results, Steve Cohen purchased the club ahead of the 2021 season and made them one of the top spenders in the league. They have made the playoffs in two of the past three years, with Alonso playing the hero last year. He hit four home runs in 13 playoff games just a few months ago, including the series-flipping homer off Williams to get the Mets past the Brewers and out of the Wild Card round.

But his star power in the media and general public seemed to outpace his popularity in today’s analytically-inclined front offices. While the home run power has been real, Alonso’s other contributions have been muted. His walk rates have been decent but not outstanding, he’s not a burner on the basepaths and his defense hasn’t been well regarded. His overall offense has also declined. While he hit .261/.349/.535 for a 137 wRC+ through 2022, he slashed just .229/.324/.480 for a 121 wRC+. FanGraphs considered him to be worth 2.1 wins above replacement last year, a solid but not elite number. There were 119 position players who were at 2.2 fWAR or higher last year.

It therefore seemed possible from the start of the offseason that Alonso would find his offers lacking in free agency. As part of MLBTR’s annual Top 50 list, we considered predicting Alonso for a deal along the lines of the three years and $80MM that Bellinger got from the Cubs last year after he lingered in free agency into February. We backed down from that prediction, putting 5/$125MM on Alonso, but it now appears he may well end up getting something like that deal. It just might be somewhere other than Queens.

It’s a bit of a surprising pivot, as the Mets have not been shy about spending since Cohen bought the team. While Stearns was in Milwaukee, he never spent a lot of money on first basemen, but he never had the resources he now has. Despite the deeper bank account, it still seems as though Stearns would prefer to invest in ways he considers wise. The club also didn’t play at the top of the starting pitching market, not signing guys like Fried or Corbin Burnes, instead taking risks on guys like Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes. Montas is coming off a down year while Holmes will be trying to pivot from the bullpen to the rotation.

All this will seemingly leave Alonso looking elsewhere for his next gig, with Toronto one possibility. The Jays already have a first baseman in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. but it doesn’t appear as though the plan would be to trade him. Per the reporting from The Athletic, the plan would be for Guerrero and Alonso to share first base and DH, with Guerrero occasionally crossing the diamond to play third base. Though the article from The Athletic says the Jays would “prefer” to hang onto Guerrero, Rosenthal made an appearance on Foul Territory and more emphatically shot down the possibility of Guerrero being traded.

Though the fit would be a bit awkward, the Jays could use the power. Toronto’s offense was close to league average last year, but a lot of that was thanks to having a walk rate that was bested by only six other teams. In the home run department, they were actually one the worst clubs, ahead of just the Marlins, Rays, Nationals and White Sox.

They don’t really have a strict designated hitter, which perhaps provides a path for Alonso and Guerrero to share a lineup. Justin Turner was their primary DH for the first half of last year but he was traded to the Mariners at the deadline. It would make it a bit harder for the club to rest someone like George Springer, but it seems the Jays have some openness to it regardless. Guerrero taking the hot corner could allow greater flexibility, though he only has 104 innings there over the past five seasons. Most of that came late last year as the Jays were playing out the string on a lost season. It’s unclear how much willingness they have to put Guerrero there in meaningful games.

Financially, it seems the club still has powder dry. They reportedly had a strong offer on the table for Burnes as of a few weeks ago, before he signed with the Diamondbacks. Since then, they signed Jeff Hoffman to a three-year, $33MM deal, but that is surely well shy of what they were willing to pay Burnes.

It’s theoretically possible that signing Alonso could give the Jays some cover for the event they can’t sign Guerrero, an impending free agent, to an extension. But it seems highly likely that Alonso will be securing a deal with the ability to opt out after 2025, meaning he would only stick around for 2026 if he has a down year. They would likely prefer to have Guerrero locked up long term, since he’s significantly younger than Alonso, while seeing Pete walk away earlier.

There are surely other clubs in the mix as well. Alonso has been connected to the Giants, Red Sox and Angels in recent weeks. Teams like the Tigers, Athletics and Mariners make sense as speculative fits. Since Alonso rejected a QO, the Mets will receive a draft pick after the fourth round if he signs elsewhere. The penalty for the signing club will depend on their revenue-sharing status and whether they paid the competitive balance tax last year. Perhaps we will have clarity soon as the staring contest with the Mets appears to be ending.

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