The Mets have placed right-hander Sean Reid-Foley on outright waivers, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. At this point, there’s nothing to suggest that the righty has been designated for assignment, so he seems to still be on the 40-man roster. If he goes unclaimed, the Mets could choose to outright him off the roster and open a spot. However, the waivers are not revocable, so he’ll join another club if he is claimed.
Clubs are allowed to place players on waivers without immediately removing them from the 40-man roster. It’s fairly rare that this actually happens, though the Rockies did it with Justin Lawrence just a few days ago. In that instance, the Rockies lost Lawrence when the Pirates put in a claim.
Reid-Foley, 29, has appeared in each of the past seven major league seasons. However, health has prevented him from taking on any kind of meaningful workload of late. He has never been able to throw 34 innings in a big league season. He twice got over 30 frames but hasn’t done so since 2019.
From 2018 to 2020, he served as an up-and-down depth arm for the Blue Jays. He got over 30 innings in the first two of those seasons but spent most of the shortened campaign on optional assignment. In total, he logged 71 2/3 innings with a 4.40 earned run average.
He was flipped to the Mets as part of the January 2021 trade that sent Steven Matz to Toronto. Reid-Foley logged 20 2/3 innings for the Mets that year with a 5.23 ERA but his 28.3% strikeout rate and 9.3% walk rate made for an intriguing combo. Unfortunately, some elbow inflammation sent him to the injured list that year. He avoided the surgeon’s table for a while but eventually required Tommy John in May of 2022.
He was non-tendered after that season but re-signed with the Mets via a minor league deal going into 2023. He was selected back to the roster late that year and kept his roster spot into 2024. Last year, he was placed on the injured list multiple times due to right shoulder impingements. Around those IL stints, he tossed 21 2/3 innings with a 1.66 ERA and 27.8% strikeout rate but a very high walk rate of 15.6%. He got a bit of help from a .255 batting average on balls in play and 63% strand rate. His 2.80 FIP and 3.98 SIERA were still good numbers but point to that ERA being unsustainable.
Control issues aren’t new for Reid-Foley, who now has a 14.2% walk rate in his career. Perhaps that’s due to the stop-and-start nature of his career, working around those injuries, but it’s been an ongoing theme nevertheless.
The Mets tendered Reid-Foley an arbitration contract this winter, agreeing to a salary of $800K. The righty has at least three years of service time, meaning he would have the right to elect free agency if he clears waivers and is outrighted. However, since he has less than five years of service, he would have to forfeit that salary in doing so.
Perhaps the Mets are hoping Reid-Foley will clear waivers and accept his assignment in order to keep that salary in place, which would allow them to open a roster spot and keep some depth in a non-roster capacity. But by putting him on waivers, they are risking losing him to another club. The health and the walks are a concern but some teams might be interested in his 28.8% strikeout rate since joining the Mets. Reid-Foley is out of options, but he can theoretically be controlled via arbitration through 2027.
With the strikeout numbers and mostly solid results he posted last year im sure someone will grab him off the scrap heap!
Thank god, he was flat out awful
Yeah he never made sense to me either. I always wondered if there was some adjustment they were hopeful he could make but couldn’t
Have you seen him pitch? His mechanics are horrible and are early impossible to have consistent repetition in lol
You’re probably the closer in your fantasy bullpen. Smith and Foley are fine.
As usual, you’re wrong. He wasn’t flat out awful last season, albeit a small sample size. A bigger issue is that he’s always on the IL.
Reds, let’s go….move Williamson to the 60 day or return Bowman. Need all the depth you can get.
Tough day to be an MLB player from Guam.
He never recovered from that injury on opening day in 22.
wait what? mets are in desperate need of a RP so they cut a guy who put up 3.75 era + 11.3 k/9 for them? they dont sign tanner scott, they dont go after david robertson, they re-sign stanek and his 6.06 era… the f are they doing???
Free agent signings have to be mutual to both parties. How were you going to get Tanner Scott to sign over the Dodgers when he wanted to close and we have Diaz ? Next thing you would have complained about would be paying 20MM for a set up guy if they weren’t lights out.
Was just about to reply, when I saw it was @chandlerbing posting another ridiculous comment.
Say hi to your Mom, kid!
chandlerbing:
Where are you getting that the Mets are in desperate need of relief pitching? Their bullpen looks pretty solid. This guy is extraneous.
@mike
minter missed half of 2024 with injury. is he even fully healthy yet? he hasnt thrown a single pitch in ST so probly still hurt.
diaz is erratic and gives me nausea and sweats everytime he pitches
stanek’s era was over 6 for mets, and almost 5 overall
Huascar Brazobán era on the mets was 5.14
danny young’s era was 4.54
but yea why do mets need any more RP help? they got this IN THE BAG. dodgers DONT STAND A CHANCE with that BP
*rolling eyes, and throwing up*
“minter missed half of 2024 with injury. is he even fully healthy yet? he hasnt thrown a single pitch in ST so probly still hurt.”
Weird that you’re saying this to denigrate Minter when you want them to keep SFR. Please check out SRF’s injury history.
chandlerbing:
Aren’t you taking the worst case scenarios to prove your point? Yeah Minter missed half of last year, but he had surgery and he’s expected to be ready by opening day or thereabout. Why wouldn’t I expect him to be his normal self? I know Diaz could be nerve-racking at times last year, but he still one of the better closers in baseball with the ability to be dominant. Nunez was terrific last year and should be healthy to start the season or shortly thereafter. Stanek wasn’t great during the regular season but he was better in the playoffs. I don’t expect him to be dominant, but I think he’ll be OK. Reed Garrett is solid. José Butto is very good. I’m seeing a lot more good than bad there. Sean Reid-Foley has a very spotty track record and is a borderline last guy in a bullpen. You want to add to the bullpen, fine, but Reid-Foley isn’t the answer. And they’re certainly not in desperate need of relief pitching.
Interesting. Why on March 4?
Probably to be nice to the guy and give him a legit chance to make another team. If they cut him later, he would almost definitely have to go to the minors with someone. Yeah they could keep him if they waited, but they are clearly showing that he is not in their plans at all. So why not build some good PR among players and give him a chance elsewhere on the way out.