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.
I am so glad they got the pitcher they needed.
Raven, I’m a Cubs fan, and, while I understand your concern about your team’s pitching–you are going to be very glad about this trade in time. Canario is going to hit a lot of homers for the Mets, and fans around baseball will wonder why Jed Hoyer ever let him go. (Cubs fans already know why, but it’s not something that can be talked about in public forums in these strange times.)
Ooooh, Alan has inside information! Is it because his walk-up song was Pepas?
Not inside information, but common sense. I can see who they keep and who they don’t. And the pattern has been consistent since Hoyer became POBO.
It was the same during the last years of the Wrigley regime, and yes I go back that far and farther. But ’nuff said.
Bet you he never sees an MLB regular season game for the Mets.
Only if the fences are brought in. Other than hoyer can’t analyze talent, why was he cut loose?
34% strikeout rate. In the minors.
And, no, that’s as a hitter!
why!!! use the darn farm system for situations like this. I get having the kids down there get more at bats, but at some point they gotta be given a chance to play at this level.
How does this impact the use of their really bad prospects? Rushing overhyped players like Baty does little to help an already struggling team with no pitching. I guess maybe you hate Canario as much as our traitor senile President does.
Never Remember: Is Trump senile in addition to being a traitor? He does turn 79 this year.
wrong website
I never understood the need to bring political discussions on a baseball site
Steinbrenner2728: I never understood the need to take everything you read so seriously.
so you won’t even stand by your statement? pathetic
Blah blah blah: What does that even mean?
I never understood why you only post negative comments on this site
OK
A) What farm system? What outfielders do the Mets have in the farm system?
B) Situations like what? What, exactly, is it that you think prompted this move? Madrigal’s injury? No, Madrigal is an infielder, and the Mets do have several of those in triple-A.
I thought they were out of roster space…
I think Marte is on the move
I think Marte is on the move.
Who said he was getting a roster spot.
Mets Era… because thats how DFA works. When you take a player who was designated, you take him at the level he was before the DFA. The Mets can remove him from the roster by designating him themselves. But until they do that, he is on the 40-man roster.
Yes but not on the 26 man roster. This is nothing more then a spring training invite at this point.
@SadMsFan
Dodgers have infinite roster spots so I think the Mets can too.
Madrigal is going to the 60 Day IL.
Well they can’t have 7 outfielders and no back up infielders.
It’s a calculated bet that teams are overcorrecting on K-rates while undervaluing raw power and athleticism. If Canario clicks, the Mets could have landed a legitimate middle-of-the-order bat for almost nothing.
I read that he’s a poor defender, so not sure how athletic he really is – and he’s had frequent injuries. I doubt that it’s only about the K’s.
@goob
Most good hitters are terrible defenders. The guy with the biggest contract is a terrible defender yet MLB teams wanted to pay top dollar for him. That tells the hitter market that you can be terrible at fielding and they’ll still pay you if you can hit.
I’m saying that the Cubs didn’t let him go for pocket change, solely because of his K-rate.
@Pronklington
I’m not sure why I can’t reply to you as there is no reply button, so I’ll reply to myself.
There are thousands and thousands of baseball players in the world that are athletic and touted as great players but can’t make the cut. If he doesn’t make the cut, it costs nothing.
@goob
It’s pocket change. As I said, he if pans out with the Mets, great, if not, there wasn’t much of a cost in the first place. You expect most guys to not pan out and a few of them end up sticking around.
“As I said, he if pans out with the Mets, great, if not, there wasn’t much of a cost in the first place.”
Well, of course…I never claimed otherwise.
Like how Franchy Cordero was long touted for his athleticism and power. Doesn’t help if it doesn’t translate on the field.
@goob Thing is, Marte is an awful defender, so bad he should never play the field again, among the worst in MLB acc to Statcast—and that was at age 35. Now he’s 36.
At best Marte was only going to slip a little at 36 and put up a 95-100 OPS+ and never play the field. As a short side platoon DH that’s a disastrously limited player, one who limits the Mets to just three backups on the 26-man, even though casual fans keep thinking he’s still the Marte of 2022 if not earlier. He isn’t.
Canario on the other hand put up average numbers as a corner OFer on defense. That’s a guy you at least can put in the field without wincing, particularly if Nimmo’s out with a long-term recurrence of plantar fasciitis. Canario can also hit RHPing, so if Winker’s injured he may well be worth DHing against both sides.
With an .866 OPS in AAA, .880 in AA, and an .857 in MLB, it was definitely worth a shot—and the Mets have the rest of ST to figure out if Canario is for real. Marte’s slot was a significant weakness. This gives them a chance at significant improvement, turning “let’s hope he doesn’t decline too much” into “did the Cubs just toss a middle of the order DH out in the trash?”
He will not click. He will spend more time on the injured list than the active roster. When he does play he will strikeout more than he sees first base.
Some really insanely stupid comments by embarrassing Mets fans
Good luck to Canario. He’s out of options. Have fun watching him strike out frequently and crush the ball occasionally, Mets fans.
Thanks, though 593 K in 2253 milb PA is nothing serious. It’s 158 K per 600 PA. If you’re concerned with the number of K’s in his career 45 MLB PA, then have SSS caveats apply tattooed somewhere prominent for ready reference.
Even with 19 K in 45 MLB PA Canario put up a line of .283/333/524 with a 136 OPS+. If you think strikeouts matter when you hit like that, they don’t. Consider that if your entire lineup hit like that, even with perfectly average pitching you’d never not win your division. And among the benefits of K’ing? He has no GIDP.
That people still think K’s, broadly speaking, matter… you have to blame the parlous state of public education.
Nice move Mr. Stearns. LGM.
Fine depth. Nothing drives the fans more bananas
Weak side DH platoon with Winker. Bye bye Marte.
Yep. He’s in the last year of his deal so I think he gets DFA’d and released.
Honestly minimal risk. Cost next to nothing if he can’t hit you dfa him. Not like he’s on a bloated contract
The risk comes in deciding to keep him, which means dealing Marte for a bag of balls while eating $18m in salary since you can’t stash Canario in the minors for a rainy day. The Mets would have to gamble on him as their 5th OFer and DH against LHPing and live with the consequences.
I haven’t seen it happen, but if they could do it you’d think teams would effectively ‘buy’ an option from a player, letting them yoyo him between the majors and the minors as they needed or in the event he slumped they could stash him in the minors to work it out without losing him, but it never seems to happen except with guys signed in FA to split contracts and the like.
Amazing they got “something” for this bum and got absolutely NOTHING for Schwarber a few years ago.
where were the Jays? we tried trading Jansen for him last year and we could’ve had him for cash now – what?
Nice young acquisition for mets, surprised cubs gave him up for nothing
Right? The lack of options is an issue. You can’t send him down if he struggles and expect to keep him, and if they deal Marte because Canario has a standout spring then goes into a month long slump, they’ll have to go fish for a 95-100 OPS short side DH.
Though they can probably compensate by resting their regulars and having them DH against lefthanders. Still, throw in an injury or two and suddenly you’re struggling to get enough from the DH slot if Canario falters. I suppose Marte is hardly a sure thing, either, at 36, and this kid would appear to have more upside. A lot more—and Canario got to AA and AAA at 22 and killed at both stops. That’s uncommon, and it would also be uncommon for a player like that to not succeed as a hitter at the MLB level.
With his strong record this feels like a personality clash more than that they couldn’t find room for him, though the Cubs have a sort of an odd roster crunch going. Good pickup by the Mets, and it suggests they’re not content with Marte.
Not a personality clash, exactly, but you’re getting closer.
Ricketts is a big fan of Cohen Cash.
Never know, may be this guy can help some, and as for pitching, I thought they would pursue someone. , but also may be Sproat could look good in spring training and surprise some people. And please, leave the politics out of these baseball websites.
I had hoped the Giants would bring him back.