Rays Sign Nick Madrigal To Minor League Deal
The Rays signed infielder Nick Madrigal to a minor league contract, as per Madrigal’s MLB.com profile page. It was a short trip in free agency for Madrigal, who just returned to the open market a few days ago when he declined an outright assignment to the Angels’ Triple-A squad.
After missing the entire 2025 season due to shoulder surgery, Madrigal inked a minors deal with the Halos last winter and then was selected to the 26-man roster at the end of May. Madrigal hit .273/.385/.295 over his 52 plate appearances in a Los Angeles uniform, providing a decent amount of offensive production despite a near-total lack of power. It wasn’t enough to keep the Angels from designating Madrigal for assignment when Jorge Soler was activated from the 10-day injured list, as Denzer Guzman‘s promotion to the majors and installation into pretty much an everyday role further crowded the team’s infield picture.
Madrigal now joins a Tampa Bay club who has been somewhat short-handed in the infield all year, due to Gavin Lux‘s season-long stint on the 60-day IL. While Madrigal isn’t as easily optionable to the minors as some of the Rays’ other infield options at Triple-A, he provides Tampa Bay with some experienced depth.
Madrigal has played only at second and third base during his six MLB seasons, though he has gotten a few appearances in the minors this year as a left fielder. The right-handed hitting Madrigal could provide a complement to the lefty-swinging Richie Palacios at second base, and playing time at third base isn’t likely given Junior Caminero‘s presence. That said, Caminero might get some time at DH if Yandy Diaz is headed to the injured list, since Diaz left today’s game with a shoulder strain and is considered (for now) as day-to-day.
Nick Madrigal Elects Free Agency
The Angels announced that infielder Nick Madrigal cleared waivers and was sent outright to Triple-A Salt Lake. He has enough service time to have the right to elect free agency and has exercised that right. He had been designated for assignment earlier this week.
Madrigal, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Halos in the offseason. He was added to the roster in late May as infielders Yoán Moncada and Nolan Schanuel were on the injured list. Madrigal spent about four weeks on the roster, getting into 15 games and making 52 plate appearances. Never much of a power hitter, he recorded 12 hits. 11 of those were singles, the other a double.
He did draw seven walks, an uncharacteristically strong 13.5% clip in that small sample. That helped push up the middle portion of his slash line, as he got to .273/.385/.295 with the Angels. That helped him produce a 102 wRC+ during his brief time as an Angel, technically a bit above average, but he has a 5% walk rate in his career and probably wasn’t going to maintain that pace of getting on base. The Halos bumped him of the roster and the 29 other clubs passed on the chance to grab him.
He’ll now see what opportunities await him as a free agent. Since he just cleared waivers, he’ll presumably be limited to minor league offers. He is one of the most contact-oriented hitters in the game today. As mentioned, he has just a 5% walk rate in his career, which is barely half of league average. His 8.9% strikeout rate is just over a third of par. But he has just four home runs in 992 trips to the plate at the big league level. His overall .274/.326/.342 slash line leads to an 88 wRC+.
Defensively, Madrigal has over 1400 innings at second base and over 700 at third. He has strong marks at both spots but teams generally prefer a bit more versatility from a light-hitting bench infielder. He has minor league experience at shortstop and left field but just eight innings at short and only 36 in left.
Photo courtesy of William Liang, Imagn Images
Angels Designate Nick Madrigal For Assignment
The Angels announced that outfielder Jorge Soler has been reinstated from the 10-day injured list. Infielder Nick Madrigal has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move. The Halos added that first baseman Trey Mancini, who was designated for assignment last week, elected free agency after being outrighted to Triple-A Salt Lake.
The Angels signed a minor league deal with the 29-year-old Madrigal in the offseason. He was added to the big league roster in late May. At that time, the club had recently lost both Yoán Moncada and Nolan Schanuel to the injured list, depriving them of their top corner infield options. That left Vaughn Grissom as the regular at first while guys like Donovan Walton and Denzer Guzman covered third.
Madrigal was in a part-time bench role. He performed fine enough in a small sample of playing time. He made 52 plate appearances with a .273/.385/.295 line. Seven walks and a hit-by-pitch inflated the middle number of that triple slash, helping his wRC+ creep up to 101 for the year. However, Madrigal doesn’t provide much thump with the bat and that was also the case here. He notched 12 hits but 11 were singles and the other was a double.
His offensive profile is that of a very contact-heavy guy who doesn’t have much power. In 992 trips to the plate in his career, his 5% walk rate and 8.9% strikeout rate are both subpar. He has a .274/.326/.342 line and 88 wRC+ in that time. He showed a bit more ability to take a walk since joining the Angels but in a small sample. He’s a solid defender and can steal a few bags but isn’t going to provide much from the batter’s box.
The Halos got Schanuel back from the IL a few weeks ago but Soler went the other way with an oblique strain. Now that Soler is ready to come back, Madrigal has been squeezed out. Madrigal has five years of service time and therefore can’t be optioned without his consent, so he has been removed from the 40-man entirely. DFA limbo can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Angels could take five days to see if there’s any trade interest, but they could also put him on the wire sooner than that. If he clears waivers, he will have the right to elect free agency.
More to come.
Angels Designate Matthew Lugo For Assignment, Select Nick Madrigal
The Angels announced that they have selected the contract of infielder Nick Madrigal. He’ll take the active roster spot of first baseman Nolan Schanuel, who has been placed on the ten-day injured list with left ankle inflammation, retroactive to May 24th. To open a 40-man spot, outfielder Matthew Lugo has been designated for assignment.
Schanuel has been dealing with the ankle issue for a few days and hasn’t been in the lineup since Saturday. Since he’s been out for a while, the Halos were able to backdate his IL placement by the three-day maximum. It’s unclear how much time his ankle will take to heal but he will be eligible for activation in a week.
He has been having a down year in an odd way, with his walks drying up. His ability to get on-base has been his best asset, with a walk rate of 11.3% coming into this year. That is now down to just 6.3% in the current season, barely half of his previous pace. He swung at 26.2% of pitches outside the zone from 2023 to 2025 but that number is up to 28.6% this year. He made contact on those outside-the-zone swings 76.4% of the time in previous seasons but just 65.2% this year.
The result of that reduced plate discipline is a .262/.313/.387 line and 96 wRC+ on the year, a drop from his .259/.353/.371 line and 107 wRC+ in previous campaigns. Perhaps the ankle injury will give him a chance to reset and get back on track once he’s healthy.
Though Schanuel isn’t having his best season, it’s still a blow to an Angels club that is already in a tough spot. They are 21-34, tied with the Tigers for the worst record in the American League. Schanuel’s 96 wRC+ may be subpar but is still fifth on the team among guys with at least 20 plate appearances.
They will probably now have to cover first base with guys like Vaughn Grissom and Oswald Peraza. Grissom has a .233/.308/.379 line and 92 wRC+ on the year. Peraza is faring much better but is currently the second baseman. Moving him to first would probably mean more time at second base for Adam Frazier, who has a .236/.313/.375 line and 94 wRC+.
As the Halos juggle those guys around, Madrigal will give them a glove-first backup option. He has over 1,300 innings at second base and almost 700 at third with strong grades at both spots. He has stolen 17 bases in 23 tries.
Offensively, he has a contact-based approach with very little power and few walks but very few strikeouts. In 940 trips to the plate, his 4.6% walk rate and 9% strikeout rate are both much lower than average and he has just four home runs. That has led to a .274/.323/.344 line and 88 wRC+.
Despite the lack of punch from the batter’s box, the speed and defense had been enough to get him opportunities. Unfortunately, his 2025 season was wiped out by shoulder surgery. He had to settle for a minor league deal with the Angels coming into 2026. He has a .275/.353/.366 line for Triple-A Salt Lake this year. In the hitter-friendly environment of the Pacific Coast League, that translates to a wRC+ of 80.
Adding Madrigal will cost Lugo his roster spot. A second-round pick of the Red Sox, Lugo was one of four players the Halos acquired from the Sox in the 2024 Luis García trade. He was given a 40-man roster spot in November of that year to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft.
Unfortunately, he hasn’t been able to maintain the improved offense he showed that year. Between those two clubs, he slashed .287/.376/.578 on the farm in 2024, leading to a huge 156 wRC+. Since the start of 2025, he has a minor league line of .261/.339/.430, leading to a 91 wRC+. He has stepped to the plate 70 times in the majors and produced a .232/.243/.464 line and 89 wRC+.
In addition to the struggles at the plate, his defensive home has been a question. The Sox tried him out at shortstop and third base but moved him to the outfield in 2023. He’s considered a passable but not especially strong fielder in a corner spot.
Lugo now heads into DFA limbo, which can last as long as a week. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so the Angels could take as long as five days to explore trade interest. He is still optionable, which could appeal to clubs in need of outfield depth. If he were to clear waivers, he would stick with the Halos as non-roster depth. Since he doesn’t have a previous career outright and is shy of three years of service time, he wouldn’t have the right to elect free agency.
Photo courtesy of Cary Edmondson, Imagn Images
Poll: Who Will Play Second Base For The Angels?
2026 looks likely to be another year of the Angels more or less spinning their wheels. With minimal changes to the roster coming off a 90 loss season (even in spite of a relatively healthy season for Mike Trout), the Halos will need a lot to go their way if they’re going to have any hope of being competitive this year.
One of the first things that the team will need to decide is who’s going to play second base. Luis Rengifo walked in free agency, leaving a hole at the keystone. Rather than bring in a more surefire addition like Gleyber Torres or Brandon Lowe, the Angels settled on having a number of players battle for the job this spring. In all, there are half a dozen candidates for reps still in camp. The Halos are surely hoping that one of those names will rise above the pack and run with the job, but who might that be?
Christian Moore is a former top-10 pick in the draft and top-100 prospect in the sport. He made it to the majors last year after rocketing through the minors in a speedy fashion that’s become typical for Halos prospects in recent years. He seemed to hit a wall once he reached the big leagues. In 53 games as a major leaguer, he hit just .198/.284/.370 with a wRC+ of 82. That first stint in the majors was far from a disaster, especially for a player who played all of last year at 22 years old. But a 33.7% strikeout rate suggests he might not be quite ready for the show yet, and his difficult spring (.175/.233/.250 in 40 at-bats) certainly isn’t helping matters. While Moore undoubtedly remains a big part of the club’s plans, it would not be a shock if the team decided he needs more time to develop in the minors.
Pivoting away from Moore would open the door to a cadre of non-roster veterans and out of options pieces on the 40-man roster bubble. Oswald Peraza and Vaughn Grissom must either be carried on the roster or be designated for assignment and exposed to waivers. Peraza is regarded as a better defender than Grissom, capable of handling not only second base but also the hot corner and shortstop if needed. While Peraza hasn’t hit much in his career and is coming off a putrid .164/.223/.250 showing, Grissom has a below average hitter (82 wRC+) for his career and didn’t crack the majors last season as he posted middling numbers in Triple-A for the Red Sox. What’s more, Peraza is having a very strong camp with a .324/.378/.647 slash line in 37 trips to he plate. Grissom is carrying a .185/.333/.269 line across 33 plate appearances.
While Peraza appears to be a real threat to make the roster, it’s possible the Angels would prefer to keep him in a utility role given his ability to back up Zach Neto at shortstop and Yoan Moncada at third base. If that’s the case, they could turn towards their group of non-roster veterans. Nick Madrigal, Adam Frazier, and Chris Taylor all have ample experience at the keystone and are in camp on minor league deals. Taylor hasn’t hit much at all in either of the past two years, however, and while he’s had a solid camp (.241/.389/.483 in 36 plate appearances), he might be better suited for a bench role given his trademark versatility.
Frazier is in a similar boat as a player who has hit an excellent .353/.476/.412 in ten spring games. He could be an interesting choice if the team wants to add another lefty bat to their heavily right-handed lineup, but he could also be tapped to serve as a lefty bench bat with relative ease given his ability to play both second base and the outfield. As for Madrigal, he’s coming off a lost season due to injury. The former top prospect can play decent defense at either second or third base. While he’s a career .274/.323/.344 (88 wRC+) hitter in the majors, he brings an unique proclivity for contact to the table as evidenced by his career strikeout rate of just 9.0%. In 23 spring plate appearances, he’s hit a solid .333/.391/.429.
One wild card in the second base mix could be veteran infielder Jeimer Candelario. Candelario has played almost his whole career on the infield corners, with his pro experience at the keystone limited to just two innings of work in the Dominican Winter League over half a decade ago. That would make the 32-year-old an unorthodox choice to take over at second, especially given that he hit just .113/.198/.213 (10 wRC+) in 80 plate appearances with the Reds last year. Despite those question marks, Candelario’s solid camp (.267/.353/.567 in 32 plate appearances) has seemingly impressed Angels brass enough to give him a look at the position to see if he can be squeezed onto the roster. Whether the team will feel confident enough in Candelario’s ability to handle second base to actually give him regular reps at the position remains to be seen, however.
How do MLBTR readers think the Angels will settle their second base battle. Will they give the keys to Moore for another extended run right out of the gate? Or will they pivot to another option like Peraza, Frazier, or Madrigal? Could they roll the dice on Candelario despite his lack of experience? Have your say in the poll below:
Who will win the second base job for the Angels this year?
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Christian Moore 29% (682)
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Adam Frazier 23% (537)
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Vaughn Grissom 13% (296)
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Oswald Peraza 12% (290)
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Jeimer Candelario 9% (215)
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Nick Madrigal 9% (212)
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Chris Taylor 4% (103)
Total votes: 2,335
Angels To Sign Nick Madrigal To Minor League Deal
The Angels are in agreement with Nick Madrigal on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Wasserman client gets a non-roster invite to big league camp.
Madrigal spent the entire 2025 season on the injured list. He’d signed a $1.35MM free agent deal with the Mets to compete for a utility job. Madrigal broke his left shoulder when he stumbled while fielding a ground ball during Spring Training. He underwent surgery and was immediately ruled out for the year. The Mets dropped him from the roster at the beginning of the offseason.
A former fourth overall pick by the White Sox, Madrigal hasn’t lived up to that high draft billing. He’s one of the most difficult players in the game to strike out, but he hits the ball with very little impact. The 5’7″ infielder has a career .274/.323/.344 slash line with four home runs in parts of five seasons.
Madrigal enters his age-29 season looking to play his way back to the majors. There’s a decent chance to do so with the Halos. Christian Moore struck out in a third of his plate appearances and hit .198/.284/.370 as a rookie. Denzer Guzman had worrisome strikeout numbers in the minors. They’ve taken fliers on former top prospects Vaughn Grissom and Oswald Peraza, neither of whom has had any kind of MLB success. It’s one of the weakest second/third base groups in the league. Madrigal can play either position, though his below-average arm fits better on the right side.
Mets Claim Ji Hwan Bae, Jose Castillo
The Mets announced that they have claimed outfielder Ji Hwan Bae off waivers from the Pirates and left-hander José Castillo from the Orioles. They also announced that infielder Nick Madrigal has elected free agency. Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reported the Bae claim prior to the official announcement. It was reported earlier this week that the Bucs had put him on the wire.
Bae, 26, was once a notable prospect with the Pirates but he hasn’t panned out yet. He has slashed .223/.294/.293 in 514 plate appearances spread over four seasons. But he has some wheels, having stolen 37 bases. He has continued to hit in the minors, however. He has a combined .306/.390/.451 line and 126 wRC+ dating back to the start of 2022. That includes a 119 wRC+ and .292/.380/.424 line in Triple-A this year.
The Mets didn’t have a center field solution this year. Jose Siri was injured for most of the season. Tyrone Taylor struggled. They acquired Cedric Mullins at the deadline but he didn’t help. Bae still has an option, so he can push Taylor for the job in 2026 but he could also end up in Syracuse as depth.
Castillo, 30 in January, should be a familiar face to Mets fans. He was on and off the club’s roster throughout the 2025 season. He was lost off waivers to the Mariners and then Orioles in September but the Mets have grabbed him back today. The lefty tossed 32 big league innings on the year with a 3.94 earned run average. His 20.1% strikeout rate and 9.4% walk rate were a bit worse than par but his 54% ground ball rate was strong.
The lefty is eligible for arbitration, with MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projecting him for a $1.7MM salary next year. Presumably, the Mets are comfortable paying him something in that range. He’ll join a lefty relief mix that includes A.J. Minter, Brooks Raley and Richard Lovelady.
Madrigal signed a one-year, $1.35MM deal with the Mets last offseason. However, a left shoulder fracture required season-ending surgery back in February. He could have been retained for 2026 via arbitration but the Mets have cut him loose. It seems every other club also passed on the chance to grab him off waivers. He’ll look for his next opportunity, which will likely be a minor league deal.
Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images
Nick Madrigal Likely To Miss Entire 2025 Season Due To Shoulder Surgery
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza informed reporters, including Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, that infielder Nick Madrigal will require surgery on his fractured left shoulder. The recovery from that procedure will likely keep him out of action for the entire 2025 season.
The news doesn’t come as a shock. Madrigal dislocated his shoulder in Sunday’s game when falling to the ground after making a throw to first base on a ground ball. On Monday, the club announced that an MRI had revealed a fracture and that Madrigal would miss “a long time.” That timeline was nebulous but the Mets quickly put Madrigal on the 60-day injured list when they acquired Alexander Canario, suggesting they didn’t expect Madrigal back in the first two months.
Today’s news provides some more clarity on the situation. It seems there’s some chance that Madrigal could return late in the year, but the Mets will probably operate with the expectation that he won’t.
The Mets signed Madrigal to a one-year deal back in January after he had been non-tendered by the Cubs. He’s never been much of a hitter, with just four home runs in 940 big league plate appearances. His .274/.323/.344 batting line translates to an 88 wRC+. But he’s tough to strike out and is a strong defender at multiple infield positions.
It also seems like the Mets were attracted to the fact that Madrigal could still be optioned to the minors. Their bench is currently projected to include backup catcher Luis Torrens, who can’t be optioned. Jose Siri and Tyrone Taylor are going to split center field, meaning one should be on the bench each day. Both of them are out of options. Jesse Winker and Starling Marte might platoon in the designated hitter spot and they both have at least than five years of service time, meaning they can’t be optioned without their consent.
That’s three out of four bench spots taken up by guys who can’t be sent to the minors. Throughout a long baseball season, there are situations that arise where players have small injuries that might require them to sit out for a few days but they don’t want to go on the injured list for a full ten-day minimum stint. In such cases, having some roster flexibility to bring a player up from the minor could be attractive. The Mets reportedly haven’t pursued a reunion with Jose Iglesias due to the fact that he would not be optionable.
With Madrigal now unlikely to return this year, the club will have to figure out who their bench infielder would be. Guys like Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña are on the 40-man but there are arguments against using those guys in a bench role. All three have the capability to be notable long-term pieces at the big league level, so the club presumably prefers to have them getting regular at-bats in Triple-A in order to continue their development.
On top of that, Baty doesn’t play shortstop. If he were the club’s bench infielder, there would be no cover for Francisco Lindor. He normally doesn’t take many days off but he’s now 31 years old and any player is susceptible to getting a small injury from fouling a ball off his leg or what have you. Mauricio is still working his way back from last year’s ACL tear and it’s unclear if he’ll be ready for Opening Day. Mike Puma of The New York Post relayed yesterday that Mauricio is now running at 80% speed and could get into some games before camp breaks.
Acuña is an option but, as mentioned, the Mets might prefer to have him playing regularly in the minors. If that’s true, then they would have to pivot to someone else. Luis De Los Santos and Donovan Walton are not on the 40-man but they are in camp as non-roster invitees. The Mets would have to open a roster spot to add one of them but they both have options. The Mets also have Yonny Hernández aboard on a minor league deal, though he’s not in big league camp. He has some big league experience and would also be optionable if added to the 40-man.
Mets Acquire Alexander Canario From Cubs
The Mets acquired outfielder Alexander Canario from the Cubs for cash considerations, the teams announced. New York placed Nick Madrigal on the 60-day injured list to create a 40-man roster spot. Chicago had designated the 24-year-old Canario for assignment last week as the corresponding move for the Justin Turner signing. He’s out of options, so he needed to break camp or be made available to other teams via trade or waivers.
It was moderately surprising that the Cubs cut Canario loose. They acquired the righty-hitting outfielder alongside Caleb Kilian in the 2021 deadline deal that sent Kris Bryant to the Giants. Canario popped 37 home runs during his first full minor league season in the Chicago system. Baseball America slotted him among the organization’s top 15 prospects entering both the 2023 and ’24 campaigns.
This winter, BA dropped him to 26th in the Cubs system. Canario still draws praise for his raw power and bat speed, but his pure hitting ability has been an issue throughout his minor league career. He has fanned in 26.3% of his plate appearances over seven minor league seasons. He went down on strikes in 30.4% of his 283 trips to the plate with Triple-A Iowa last year.
Canario drilled 18 homers in half a season’s worth of playing time, leading to a strong enough .243/.336/.514 slash in the minors. The Cubs called him up a few times but only got him into 15 games. He hit .280/.357/.440 with one homer in 28 trips to the dish, though he struck out 11 times while drawing only two walks. It seems the Cubs viewed Canario as a potential Quad-A type whose hit tool would be exposed if they gave him consistent major league run.
As a corner outfielder, Canario has limited defensive value. Baseball America credits him with plus arm strength but below-average range, suggesting he profiles as a bench bat. The Cubs didn’t have much room for that type of player. They have Kyle Tucker and Ian Happ in the corner outfield with Seiya Suzuki lined up for the majority of designated hitter work.
It’s tough to see Canario sticking on New York’s major league roster for similar reasons. The Mets already have five outfielders who are locks for the Opening Day roster if healthy: Juan Soto, Brandon Nimmo, Tyrone Taylor, Jose Siri and Starling Marte. They have Jesse Winker at designated hitter. While they’ve entertained trade possibilities on Marte, it doesn’t appear they’ve made much traction in dealing him. The Mets only have a utility infield spot up for grabs in their current bench mix. Madrigal was the favorite for that role until he sustained a fractured left shoulder in yesterday’s Spring Training game.
Unless they lose someone else to injury over the next month, the Mets are unlikely to have room for Canario to break camp. There’s a decent chance they’ll try to get him through waivers later in the spring.
ESPN’s Jesse Rogers reported the trade before the team announcement.
Madrigal Diagnosed With Shoulder Fracture; Manaea To Begin Season On IL With Oblique Strain
Mets infielder Nick Madrigal has been diagnosed with a fracture in his left shoulder after undergoing an MRI, manager Carlos Mendoza announced to the team’s beat this morning (via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com). He’ll be out “for a long time,” per Mendoza, though a formal timeline isn’t yet established. Madrigal is headed for a CT scan for further evaluation. Mendoza also revealed that left-hander Sean Manaea has a right oblique strain that will shut him down for the next couple weeks, likely ticketing him for the injured list to begin the season (via Newsday’s Tim Healey).
Madrigal’s injury occurred while playing shortstop during yesterday’s spring contest against the Nationals. The former top prospect charged a grounder that kicked off the mound, making a barehanded play and falling to the ground as he threw to first base (video link via MLB.com). Commentary noted that Madrigal headed straight for the dugout upon getting up, so it’s clear he knew something was amiss right away. He was originally diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder, but imaging revealed the fracture that will shelve him for a considerable period.
The Mets inked Madrigal to a split major league contract that paid him at a $1.35MM rate in the majors. The former No. 4 overall pick has a minor league option remaining and might’ve been bound for Triple-A to begin the year, but he’ll presumably head to the major league 60-day IL whenever the Mets next need a roster spot instead. He wasn’t expected to have a starting role, with Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil lined up in the middle infield and Mark Vientos at third base, but a strong camp would likely have put Madrigal in line for a bench role.
Instead, the Mets will presumably tap into their upper-minors depth. Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio and Luisangel Acuña have all drawn top-100 fanfare at various points in recent seasons. Baty isn’t an option to back up at shortstop, however, and Mauricio is still on the mend from the ACL tear that cost him the entire 2024 season. He’s not expected to play in spring games until mid-March. Acuña, who made his big league debut late last year, seems the likeliest in-house candidate to step into Madrigal’s spot.
It’s possible that the long-term nature of the injury could prompt the Mets to look outside the organization, where fan and clubhouse favorite Jose Iglesias remains unsigned. The Mets all but announced they were moving on from Iglesias a couple weeks back, with president of baseball operations David Stearns noting a lack of roster flexibility at the time.
Signing Iglesias would give the Mets a bench full of players who cannot be optioned to Triple-A. Catcher Luis Torrens and outfielder Tyrone Taylor have both exhausted their slate of minor league options, while Starling Marte can’t be optioned without his consent — as is his right as a player with five-plus years of major league service time. Iglesias would be in that same boat. In the event of an Iglesias signing, the only position player on the Mets’ roster who could be optioned would be Francisco Alvarez, who’s obviously not at risk of being sent down.
The loss of Manaea, meanwhile, further thins out a rotation that will see Frankie Montas shelved by a lat strain to begin the season. That takes two members out of the Opening Day rotation, which now likely includes a combination of Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Clay Holmes, Paul Blackburn, Griffin Canning and Tylor Megill. It’s not a formidable group, with health and workload questions permeating the entire staff.
That said, the Mets weren’t planning to add another starter after losing Montas to a longer-term injury than the one Manaea currently faces. Montas will likely be sidelined into mid-May at the earliest. Manaea could very plausibly return in April if he rehabs the oblique issue without any setbacks. The immediate outcry among many Mets fans on social media was to use the Manaea injury as the impetus to re-sign Jose Quintana, but Will Sammon of The Athletic reports that the Mets are still planning to stick with in-house options.
On the one hand, it’s sensible enough that a short-term Manaea absence won’t prompt what would surely be an eight-figure expenditure after factoring in luxury taxes. Signing Quintana, Kyle Gibson, Lance Lynn or another veteran hurler for the full season when Manaea could miss as few as three to four starts in April could be construed as an overreaction.
On the other, the Mets quite arguably didn’t do enough with their rotation this winter in the first place. Senga pitched in one game last year due to injuries. Montas’ 2023 was wiped out by shoulder surgery, and he posted a 4.84 ERA over 150 innings in last year’s return. Holmes is converting to the rotation after six years pitching exclusively as a reliever. Canning was non-tendered and has a 4.96 ERA over his past three seasons. Blackburn is a fourth/fifth starter who was limited to 75 innings by a spinal injury last year. The rotation lacks certainty even when it’s at full strength — and the Mets are a ways off from full strength as things stand.