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Players Recently Electing Free Agency

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With the regular season over, a series of players are closing in on free agency. The highest-profile will be available as major league free agents, those with six-plus years of MLB service time not under contract with a team. But there will be dozens of players in the coming weeks who qualify for minor league free agency and more quietly reach the open market as well.

Players can qualify for minor league free agency in a few ways. The most notable of these include: players with 3+ years of MLB service time who have been outrighted off their teams’ 40-man rosters this season, players who have been outrighted off a 40-man roster multiple times in their careers, and unsigned players not on a 40-man roster who have spent parts of at least seven seasons on a minor league roster or injured list.

Many of these players won’t officially reach free agency until the start of the offseason, but some were let go by their teams a few weeks early once the regular season concluded. Each of the following players has elected minor league free agency within the past week, according to the MLB.com and Triple-A transactions trackers:

Mets To Sign Cesar Puello

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The Mets are signing outfielder César Puello to a minor league contract, reports Tim Healey of Newsday (Twitter link). He’ll be assigned to Triple-A Syracuse.

Puello, 30, has appeared in the big leagues with four different teams across parts of three seasons. Altogether, he’s tallied 197 plate appearances at the highest level, compiling a useful .246/.354/.347 line while lining up at all three outfield positions. A one-time top prospect during his first stint in the Mets system (2008-15), Puello has spent significantly more time at the Triple-A level, where’s posted a .289/.391/.439 slash over parts of six seasons.

While Puello has generally been a productive minor league player, that hasn’t been the case so far in 2021. Signed to a minor league contract by the Red Sox over the winter, the right-handed hitter stumbled to a .158/.370/.184 mark over 54 plate appearances with Triple-A Worcester. The Sox released him earlier this week. Puello will now hook on with a Mets organization that is still without outfielders Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto, Albert Almora Jr., Johneshwy Fargas and José Martínez due to injury.

Additionally, Cameron Maybin and Wilfredo Tovar have accepted their outright assignments and reported to Syracuse. The pair of veterans cleared waivers earlier this week but have foregone their respective rights to elect free agency.

Mets Outright Cameron Maybin, Wilfredo Tovar

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The Mets have outrighted outfielder Cameron Maybin and infielder Wilfredo Tovar to Triple-A Syracuse after both cleared waivers, notes Tim Healey of Newsday (Twitter link). Both players have the right to refuse a minor league assignment and elect free agency.

With their outfield in shambles, New York acquired Maybin from the Cubs a few weeks ago. The hope was the respected veteran would prove a competent fill-in while many of the Mets regulars recovered from various injuries. That didn’t prove to be the case, though, as the 34-year-old went just 1-28 with three walks and twelve strikeouts in nine games. The Mets designated Maybin for assignment on Monday, selecting the hot-hitting Mason Williams from Triple-A in his place.

Tovar’s major league work was even sparser than Maybin’s. Selected to the roster on May 18, Tovar only picked up twelve plate appearances in six games before being removed from the roster. The Mets designated the 29-year-old for assignment after claiming Travis Blankenhorn off waivers on Tuesday.

Mets Claim Travis Blankenhorn, Designate Wilfredo Tovar For Assignment

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The Mets have claimed infielder Travis Blankenhorn off waivers from the Mariners, per the Athletic’s Tim Britton (via Twitter). The Mets will be Blankenhorn’s fourth organization of the 2021 season. He has been added to the active roster.

Not unrelated, Wilfredo Tovar was designated for assignment. The 29-year-old infielder made just 12 appearances in his second stint with the Mets. He managed two hits and a walk while striking out four times. Tovar was originally signed as a amateur out of Venezuela by New York way back in 2007. He made 34 total plate appearances for the Mets across three seasons. If he passes through waivers, he’ll have the opportunity to stay with the organization.

Despite being so well-traveled, Blankenhorn does not have a Major League plate appearance this season. He did score a run in a pinch-running appearance for the Twins. He was 1-for-3 in four plate appearances with the Twins in 2020.

Blankenhorn’s stay in Queens may also prove a temporary one, as the Mets are continually dealing with an injury-ravaged roster. At present, infielders J.D. Davis, Luis Guillorme, and Jeff McNeil are all on the injured list along with outfielders Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto, Johneshwy Fargas, and Albert Almora Jr.

Mets Place Kevin Pillar On IL, Select Wilfredo Tovar, Designate Deivy Grullon

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5:27pm: Pillar will undergo plastic surgery on his broken nose in the near future, Thosar tweets. He’ll resume baseball activities 10 to 14 days after that.

3:28pm: The Mets have placed outfielder Kevin Pillar on the 10-day injured list, selected infielder Wilfredo Tovar and designated catcher Deivy Grullon for assignment, per Deesha Thosar of the New York Daily News.

Pillar’s IL placement comes as no surprise after the 32-year-old suffered multiple nasal fractures on a hit by pitch on Monday. He’s now among a slew of Mets position players on the IL, though, joining Brandon Nimmo, J.D. Davis, Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto, Albert Almora, Luis Guillorme and Jose Martinez.

The 29-year-old Tovar is in his second stint as a member of the Mets, with whom he spent 2008-15 and then rejoined on a minor league contract this past offseason. Tovar has totaled just 110 major league plate appearances (22 with the Mets and then 88 with the Angels in 2019) and batted .188/.241/.238 without a home run. He’s a .277/.325/.368 hitter with 19 home runs over 2,054 PA in Triple-A ball.

Grullon, 25, latched on with the Mets when they claimed him off waivers from the Rays on April 28. He didn’t appear in the bigs with the Mets, instead amassing 42 PA with their Triple-A team and slashing .146/.167/.341 with a pair of home runs, before they designated him. Grullon picked up a combined 13 PA with the Phillies and Red Sox from 2019-20.

Mets Sign Wilfredo Tovar, Tom Windle To Minors Deals

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The Mets announced that they have signed infielder Wilfredo Tovar and left-hander Tom Windle to minor league contracts with invitations to major league spring training. The club also made the previously reported minor league signings of reliever Jerry Blevins and starter Jerad Eickhoff official.

This will be the second Mets go-around for the 29-year-old Tovar, who was previously part of the organization from 2008-15. Tovar saw scant major league experience during that time, totaling 22 plate appearances, but amassed 88 PA with the Angels in 2019. Overall, Tovar has batted .188/.241/.238 with no home runs in 110 major league PA and .268/.342/.352 with 30 homers and 179 steals over 2,011 minor league trips to the plate.

Windle was a second-round pick of the Dodgers in 2013, but he still hasn’t cracked the majors. Along with righty Zach Eflin, Windle was part of the Dodgers-Phillies trade that sent shortstop Jimmy Rollins to Los Angeles in December 2014. Windle, 28, spent time in Triple-A ball with the Phillies in 2018-19 and notched a 4.21 ERA with 8.9 K/9 and 5.2 BB/9 across 104 2/3 innings.

Twins’ Wilfredo Tovar Tests Positive For COVID-19

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Infielder Wilfredo Tovar has tested positive for the coronavirus, Twins president of baseball operations Derek Falvey told reporters (including MLB.com’s Do-Hyoung Park and Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune).  Tovar was included on Minnesota’s 60-man player pool but was training at the minor league site in St. Paul.  Tovar initially tested negative on the intake tests at the beginning of camp, but then had a positive result on a subsequent test.

There aren’t any other known cases in camp, as Miller writes that “contact tracing has produced no other positives among the squad.”  Tovar himself is asymptomatic, and will go through the mandatory procedures (two-week quarantine period, no symptoms developed, then two negative test results) before being allowed to return to camp.

Of the four other Twins players with positive COVID-19 tests on their record, Falvey said that Miguel Sano, Willians Astudillo, and Nick Gordon are all still in quarantine.  Right-hander Edwar Colina, however, has tested negative twice and is on pace to join the team in Minneapolis at some point this week.

Tovar inked a minor league contract with the Twins during the winter, looking to get another taste of the big leagues after returning to the Show in 2019.  Tovar appeared in nine games with the Mets in 2013-14 and didn’t make it back to the majors until last season, when he played in 31 games (with a .492 OPS over 88 PA) with the Angels.  In between those two big league stints, Tovar played for the Twins’ Triple-A club in 2016, and also spent time in the Cardinals’ farm system in 2017 and 2018.  Tovar was likely no more than a depth option anyway for Minnesota, though this two-week absence will erase any chance he had of making the Opening Day roster.

Minor MLB Transactions: 12/21/19

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A couple minor moves from around the sport…

  • The Twins have signed infielder Wilfredo Tovar to a minor league contract, per an announcement from Nate Rowan, the director of communications for their Triple-A team in Rochester. The Minnesota organization’s already familiar to Tovar, who spent 2016 in Rochester, though he didn’t play a game for the Twins that year. Tovar has also garnered minor league experience with the Mets, Cardinals and Angels. The 28-year-old has picked up 110 plate appearances in the majors (including 88 with the Angels last season), but he owns an unimposing .188/.241/.238 line without a home run in the bigs. While Tovar has also put up below-average offensive marks in the minors, he is known as a quality defender.
  • The Mets outrighted hurler Stephen Nogosek to Triple-A Syracuse after he cleared waivers, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com tweets. The club designated him for assignment earlier this week. The right-handed Nogosek, who will turn 25 next month, joined the Mets as part of the package they received from the Red Sox for reliever Addison Reed in 2017. Nogosek reached the Triple-A and major league levels for the first time in 2019. Although he logged encouraging results in Syracuse, evidenced by a 1.15 ERA with 8.62 K/9 over 31 1/3 innings, he walked almost four batters per nine and was the beneficiary of a 2.6 home run-to-fly-ball rate that looks out of whack in light of his 37.5 groundball mark. Nogosek wasn’t nearly as successful in a 6 2/3-inning cup of coffee as a member of the Mets, with whom he yielded eight earned runs.

Angels Outright Wilfredo Tovar

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The Angels have outrighted infielder Wilfredo Tovar, per a team announcement. He was recently designated for assignment.

Tovar, 28, had briefly appeared in the bigs earlier in his career but had just nine games under his belt when called upon earlier this season by the Halos. He ended up appearing in 31 games with the Los Angeles organization, all at the shortstop position.

Unfortunately, the results just weren’t there. Tovar slashed just .193/.239/.253 in 88 plate appearances. Through nearly two thousand career trips to the dish at the Triple-A level, the defensive specialist owns a .277/.324/.367 batting line.

Angels Activate Andrelton Simmons, Designate Wilfredo Tovar

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The Angels announced today that star shortstop Andrelton Simmons has been activated from the injured list. He is returning from a long absence due to a severe ankle sprain.

Infielder Wilfredo Tovar was designated for assignment to create roster space. In other news, the club officially placed Griffin Canning on the injured list — he was declared out for the season yesterday — while recalling southpaw Jose Suarez.

It’s all but certainly too little, too late for the sinking Halos. But it’s still good to see Simmons return to action. The peerless defensive aficionado hadn’t been hitting quite as well as he did in his prior two campaigns, but will now have a chance to get back on track before the season wraps up.

Tovar, 28, received his lengthiest stint in the majors this year for the Angels. Through 88 plate appearances in 31 games, he managed only a .193/.239/.253 slash line.

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