The Mets have made their agreement with outfielder Tommy Pham official, announcing the signing today. In a corresponding move, left-hander Tayler Saucedo was designated for assignment, per Will Sammon of The Athletic.
Saucedo, 30 in June, was selected by the Blue Jays in the 21st round of the 2015 draft. He worked his way up to make his major league debut in 2021, posting a 4.56 ERA over 29 appearances. His 17.4% strikeout rate was well below league average but he got ground balls at an excellent 60.3% clip. In 2022, he made four appearances before landing on the injured list with a right hip injury. He began a rehab assignment in June but was kept in the minors for the rest of the year. He tossed 20 innings down on the farm with a 2.25 ERA and 35.3% strikeout rate, though his 11.8% walk rate was on the high side.
In November, the Mets grabbed him off waivers from the Jays and have held onto him for the past couple of months. They’ve been trying to patch together a bullpen for 2023 after Edwin Díaz, Adam Ottavino, Seth Lugo, Trevor May, Trevor Williams, Joely Rodríguez and Mychal Givens all became free agents after 2022. Díaz and Ottavino have since been re-signed, while they’ve also acquired Brooks Raley and signed David Robertson. In terms of lefties, assuming Joey Lucchesi and David Peterson will be working as starters, this move now leaves Raley as the only left-handed reliever on the club’s roster.
The Mets will now have a week to trade Saucedo or pass him through waivers. His MLB track record is still fairly limited but left-handed relief is always in demand and there are plenty of clubs that make sense to add a little more depth there. Saucedo still has a couple of option years and could be easily shuttled between Triple-A and the majors. He also has less than two years of MLB service time and could thus be retained for the foreseeable future.
We need a different sauce.
Do teach me that secret sauce of yours.
His days are pasta.
It’s too bad they had to cut someone with a cool name like Tayler Saucedo. I’ll bet Gary Cohen would enjoy saying that name.
Darin Ruf survives being cut LOL
Good chance NYM give Ruf a chance to redeem himself over a DFA. Which could cause fanbase to meltdown
@10cent
I dont mind taking one last look at Ruff in spring training. If he’s still lost cut him then.
If base can forgive his awful non performing, and stop making him the scapegoat for not bringing in a 2015/Cespedes game change bat, he may be serviceable yet against LHP. He was horrible but not the reason team didn’t show up when it was mandatory. That’s on Marte injury and Walker/Bassitt/DeGrom laying an egg in important September games.
@10cent
100%
Should of cut Drew Smith but I didn’t think Saucedo was going to be good anyway so it doesn’t really matter
Thankfully you’re not running the team
Id do a better job then Billy Eppler, my trade deadline would of gotten the Mets to a World Series spot, I could tell you that
@LFGMets
Let me guess, you could have been a MLB GM, but you’re here commenting on MLBTR by choice.
Seriously though, we all have an opinion and sometimes the consensus is that a move was bad, but a WS guarantee is a little bit out there.
He still could be cut if they sign Chafin. It could also be Ruf.
Separately, I don’t know how MLBTR thinks both Lucchesi and Peterson could be starters with that rotation. You have Scherzer, Verlander, Senga, Quintana and Carrasco who are guaranteed starters. Megill and Elieser Hernandez are both capable starters and Megill started a no-hitter. That’s nine right there out of a thirteen pitcher staff. Raley, Robertson, Ottavino and Diaz are guaranteed spots. Greene will have to be offered back to the Yankees if he doesn’t make the active roster. They also have Curtiss and Brigham. I’m not sure how many of them have options left.
Yes, there was not reason and little basis for that assumption on both for them. Of the starters you mentioned, I think Peterson is the best, and for that reason, will be sent to AAA to start and be ready when an injury happens. It also limits his service time to he has more time left when the veterans (Scherzer, Carrasco, Quintana) leave over the next two years. No reason Lucchesi could not be used out of the pen.
As for the relievers, they all have options left, as do Ridings, and Montes de Oca. The only one who is out of options is Nogosek.
technically megill and luchessi are not on the 26 man roster if i remember right. and are scheduled to be AAA starting pitchers and will stay stretched out in case they are needed. Megill will hopefully pick up that early success he had before injury, Petersen i think is your longmen and 2nd lefty in the pen with Raley. I know it probably wouldnt happen but if they keep this pitching group, I would like a 6 man rotation with every other turn in the rotation its some combo of Curtiss / Peterson / Hernandez piggyback game to hopefully give not only the rotation a rest but the higher leverage bullpen guys too.
I really would prefer Chafin signed though and push Petersen to AAA and stay stretched out then depending on how the games go implement the same every other rotation run through a 6 man rotation with Curtiss and Hernandez.
There is no 26-man roster in the winter, so that’s a moot point. The 26-man is not decided until near the end of spring training, and none of the marginal guys are “scheduled” for anything until the club sees how they perform in spring.
But Megill was on the 26-man at the end of the regular season last year as a reliever. Lucchesi was not. .
As for last year, the initial plan was to stretch them out as starters during their rehab assignments. But that was partly because the rotation was experiencing injuries. Both of their recoveries went much slower than expected, and by the time they started rehab, there would not have been enough time left in the season for them to get stretched out, so the organization decided to get Megill up to two innings and bring him back up as a reliever. Lucchesi’s rehab started later, and they tried to stretch him out, but he never made it past 47 pitches, and he only got through two innings on those 47. that time. The same thing had happened when they extended him from 15 to 30: he wound up using 27 pitches to get through just one inning before getting pulled.
Whether you want to admit there is a 26 in the offseason or not it is is for the most part set for about 21-22 spots or so of those spots minus injury/trades. there are obviously exceptions like alonso where you blow things out of the water and force your way, but lets be honest these are guys playing for the fringes and “roles” players as there really is no competition for the regular spots with who they have currently…
Your rotation is pretty much set (5),
Your starting lineup players are set (9)
Your catchers are set (2) .. alvarez i think is fringy as he is probably starting (blows away spring and in majors or starting in minors)
Your main bullpen pieces are set (4) – 2 setups and closer with lefty reliever
2 bench players Guillorme and Pham
Thats before you factor in options and rule 5, but even before you factor that in if my count is right thats 22 spots accounted for. Which leaves you one or two bench bats and 3 or 4 relief pitchers with one of those being the long man.
I kinda hope Baty or Alvarez gets one of the other bench spots and I also wouldnt be surprised if both are in the minors to get everyday at bats. Ruf is gone please be gone ruf please swallow your pride eppler and just cut him so we can forget about that trade. They should pickup or have someone take some reps at first as i think outside of Alonso and maybe Canha they really dont have another 1b even in the minors unless you move Vientos to 1st and he has not played mlb. Maybe take a shot on Voit backup 1st baseman and power lefty on the bench since you have pham for righty?
that leaves 2 or 3 relievers spots open depending on bench spots … considering they just traded a solid prospect for Hernandez and i believe he is out of options that leaves you with one spot maybe two with one being long man. Peterson can handle that role but he has options and would rather keep him stretched out to jump in as regular spot. Curtiss i think gets the spot. I would like the extra lefty in the pen (still hopeful Chafin gets signed and short the bench one spot)
Also Joey L was on tj recovery so obviously he couldnt end the season as a 26 but he still has options and doubt he was considered for starting spot. My guess is its Megill Peterson Joey L and then maybe Butto for depth. With Megill and Peterson being interchanged depending on if they going to be facing more righty or lefty teams coming up.
Tayler Saucedo was a good RP for the Jays before the injury. If he didn’t come back all the way from the injry I could see him being a AAAA player, but if he is healthy and back to form he can successfully pitch in the big leagues.
Darragh, I’ve got to question why you would assume that Peterson and Lucchesi will both be working as starters when the Mets currently have ten starters on the 40-man roster. Five of those starters are now ahead of these lefties on the depth chart.
And FYI, Tylor Megill, another starter, is also a lefty.
Sure, the club needs to keep some starters stretched out in AAA and ready to step in when injuries hit. But one, or even two of them can easily be moved to the pen – one as a lefty specialist, and the other as a long reliever/spot starter.
is there some troll post im missing? There are definitely not 10 starters on the 40 man over Peterson and megill is most certainly not a lefty unless he had some crazy training in the offseason or major surgery.
my mistake on Megill. Re ten starters: I did not say that there were ten starters ahead of Peterson.
What I said is that there are ten total starters on the 40-man roster, five of whom are ahead of Peterson. As such, there is no reason to assume that Lucchesi and Peterson BOTH remain as starters. If the Mets were to decide that one of these is suited to the bullpen role, there is no reason they could not use him there.
I do think Peterson is the top starter not guaranteed a spot in the MLB rotation, that he’s earned a rotation spot, and is getting screwed by the Senga signing. For that reason, despite how good he is and how wrong this sounds, I think the Mets could send him to the Syracuse rotation so he remains stretched out and ready to come in and start whenever an injury occurs in the Mets rotation.
got it..
Personal preference in i think Megill is a better starter than Peterson but thats like saying Verlander vs Scherzer. Its personal preference as i think Megill has shown the higher ceiling where i think Peterson would be a little more consistent and has more experience.
Its also for that reason i see that Megill goes to the minors and Peterson stays up as a long man / 2nd Lefty in the bullpen. If the mets get say Chafin (which i hope they do) i think Peterson goes to the minors and Curtiss becomes the long man / spot starter. Luchessi regardless is in the minor as there just is no room for him on the 26 roster and will need time to get back to the flow after TJ surgery.
This gives the mets a rotation of 8 with the 3 minor leaguers that should be solid to decent back end guys. With the uncertainty of age with verlander and scherzer, Senga being new to the league, and big question marks on Quintana and Cookie they will be needed. I personally would have taken a chance on Cueto before Quintana or sign both with Quintana being in the bullpen to be the long man / spot starter and peterson in the minors. if needed. Cueto has some upside but atleast can chomp some innings until the younger guys come up and not that expensive.
Another great opportunity for the Cubs to shuffle deck chairs…
Texas needs to jump on this guys asap!
I’m hoping Ruf gets cut when the Mets sign Chafin. Could happen.
Could happen, but I think another pitcher is more likely.
What pitcher would you have off the 40 man roster?