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Mets Claim Penn Murfee From Mariners

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The Mariners announced several roster moves this afternoon, chief among them the departure of right-hander Penn Murfee, who was claimed off waivers by the Mets.  In addition, the Mariners assigned three players outright to Triple-A: catcher Luis Torrens along with right-handers Easton McGee and Adam Oller.

Murfee underwent UCL surgery back in June and is expected to miss at least the first half of the 2024 campaign.  Prior to his injury, Murfee had a 1.29 ERA over 14 innings for Seattle in 2023, following up on a 2022 rookie season that saw the righty post a 2.99 ERA in 69 1/3 frames of work.  For his career, Murfee has an impressive 27.6% strikeout rate and an 8.5% walk rate, though that latter number rose significantly from a 6.6BB% in 2022 to an ungainly 17.2% total this past season.

Between the UCL injury and Murfee’s spike in walks, the Mariners had some legitimate reasons for seeing the reliever as expendable, and Murfee is also turning 30 in May.  On the other hand, Murfee had some very strong numbers since becoming a full-time reliever in the minors in 2021, and he hasn’t yet reached his arbitration years.  Should Murfee return in good health, the Mets might’ve landed themselves some quality relief help for some portion of the 2024 season and beyond, as Murfee is controlled through the 2028 season.

Torrens has the right to reject the outright assignment and elect free agency, since he has previously been outrighted in his career.  Oller and McGee, meanwhile, lack the requisite service time to reject their assignments but still figure to be eligible for minor league free agency in November.

Now perhaps nearing the end of his second stint with the Mariners, Torrens was signed to a minor league deal back in August.  Seattle didn’t tender Torrens a contract last winter, and he subsequently signed a minors contract with the Cubs before eventually moving to the Orioles and Nationals in other transactions over the course of a journeyman season for the 27-year-old catcher.  Brought back as some catching depth after Tom Murphy was injured, Torrens appeared in five MLB games with the M’s, to go along with the 13 Major League appearances he made with the Cubs during the 2023 campaign.

Never known for his defense, Torrens’ market will be limited since some teams go glovework-first when considering backup catcher options.  Torres did hit 15 homers as recently as 2021 when it looked like he might be carving out a place for himself in Seattle’s catching mix, but he has a .227/.289/.354 slash line over his 807 career plate appearances in the majors.

Torrens will surely catch on somewhere on a new minor league deal since teams are always in need of catching depth, yet he might need some spark at the plate to keep himself from another carousel of roster transactions.  This winter marked Torrens’ second trip through the arbitration process, and since he was projected to earn $1.3MM in 2024, it made for a pretty easy decision for the Mariners to part ways.

Like Murfee, McGee is in the midst of a lengthy rehab, as he underwent Tommy John surgery back in May.  That will keep the right-hander out until at least halfway through the 2024 season, with the timeline perhaps a little fluid depending on both health and whether or not McGee is built back up for a starters’ workload.  McGee has worked mostly as a starter throughout his pro career, though the Mariners (or a new team) could bring him back as a reliever next year as a way of getting him back into the field, and then fully stretching him back out in Spring Training 2025.

McGee (who turns 26 in December) was a Rays fourth-round selection in the 2016 draft, and his big league experience to date has consisted of exactly two games — three innings in an outing with Tampa in 2022, and a 6 2/3-inning start with Seattle in 2023.  His minor league resume consists of 485 1/3 innings and a 4.30 ERA, including a 4.78 ERA over 141 1/3 frames at the Triple-A level.  McGee isn’t a big strikeout pitcher, relying on good control and grounders to get results.

All of Oller’s MLB experience came with the Athletics (94 innings in 28 games) in 2022-23, though he has been part of five different organizations in his career.  Oller was a Rule 5 Draft selection for the Mets off the Giants’ roster in 2019, and Oller was part of the trade package New York sent to the A’s for Chris Bassitt prior to the 2022 season.  Seattle claimed Oller off waivers from the A’s in July but he never made any appearances for the M’s at the big league level.

Oller has a 7.09 ERA over his 94 innings for Oakland, and a 4.50 ERA in 526 1/3 career innings in the minors.  It seemed as though Oller had turned a corner in 2021 with an impressive years in the Mets’ farm system, but things soured in 2023 as Oller struggles both the big leagues, and at the Triple-A level with the Athletics’ and Mariners’ top affiliates.

Latest On Mets' Pursuit Of Craig Counsell

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  • The Mets have not yet scheduled an interview with Brewers manager Craig Counsell, who formally interviewed with the Guardians yesterday. That being said, Jon Heyman of the New York Post indicates that while the meeting between the sides hasn’t been “firmed up yet”, the expectation is that a meeting will happen soon. What’s more, Heyman adds that the Mets figure to be the highest bidder for Counsell’s services in terms of salary. While Heyman suggests that the Mets are unlikely to offer a salary at the level of Joe Torre’s record $8MM figure as manager of the Yankees, he notes that still leaves plenty of room for the Mets to offer Counsell a contract richer than the $4.5MM salary recently-retired Guardians manager Terry Francona received in 2023, which was the highest in the majors this year.

Mets Could Rely On Internal Options At Third Base In 2024

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  • SNY’s Danny Abriano recently discussed the options the Mets have at their disposal at third base for the 2024 season. While the third base market features interesting names such as Candelario and top option Matt Chapman, Abriano suggests that the club should stick to its internal options at the hot corner for the 2024 campaign. Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio would appear to be the club’s top contenders for the everyday third base job internally. Baty struggled badly with a .212/.275/.323 slash line in 389 trips to the plate in the majors this year, though his pedigree as a consensus top-30 prospect and his phenomenal minor league numbers suggest the 23-year-old could take the next step in 2024. Mauricio, meanwhile, also struggled at the plate (.248/.296/.347 in 108 plate appearances) and is widely regarded as having a lower offensive ceiling than Baty, but brings quality defense and baserunning to the table when compared to Baty’s defensive miscues at the position. Another factor for the Mets could be top infield prospect Luisangel Acuna, who Abriano suggests will eventually take over second base, which could free up Jeff McNeil to move to third if Baty and Mauricio both struggle in the early parts of the 2024 season.

Rob Manfred Discusses Eppler Investigation, Potential Rules Changes

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Rob Manfred spoke to reporters (including Evan Drellich of The Athletic) ahead of the World Series opener this evening. The conversation covered an array of topics regarding the game, including the ongoing investigation into former Mets GM Billy Eppler and potential future rule changes.

Manfred told reporters that the investigation into Eppler, which looks into allegations of improper injured list use, should be completed before the end of the calendar year. While Manfred makes clear the league is not currently aware of a more widespread issue beyond the Mets, he does note that he directed the league’s department of investigations to “figure out whether we have a bigger problem” regarding misuse of the injured list. While Manfred notes that the issue with the Mets isn’t “quite the same” as other issues the league has investigated that, in his words, “arguably affect the integrity of the game,” he still considers the alleged offense by the Mets to be one of significance, adding that the investigation is a high priority for the league.

Of course, so-called “phantom IL” stints have been commonplace in the league for decades, and have occurred on every team at one point or another, with some players even openly admitting that they aren’t actually injured while on the shelf. More nebulous diagnoses such as soreness or fatigue can be used by a club to offer a struggling player a physical and mental reset while clearing their roster spot for a period of time. While the practice is technically illegal, it’s not currently clear what specific injured list transactions are at issue that spurred the league to investigate Eppler and the Mets specifically for the relatively widespread practice.

Manfred also spoke about potential rule changes the league could see in the future. The 2023 season saw one of the more aggressive changes to the league’s rule set in recent years, as the league implemented a pitch clock, larger bases, and shift restrictions ahead of the campaign. Those changes have generally been well-received after their first season in use, and it appears the league could look to continue making rule adjustments. Specifically, Manfred acknowledged recent discourse around the league’s playoff format— which has seen six of the eight teams that secured a first-round bye over the last three seasons fail to win a series— has prompted the commissioner’s office to “discuss” possible changes, though he notes that he’s a fan of the playoffs as currently designed.

“My own view on this is that our teams play really hard all year long to get into the playoffs,” Manfred said, “But one of the greatest things about the playoffs in baseball is, anybody can win. …I don’t think what happened this year is all that out of line with history.”

Another change Manfred discussed was potentially lowering the maximum allowable number of pitchers on the active roster to 12. He noted that the 13 pitcher limit currently in place hasn’t “had the desired effect” of encouraging teams to push their starting pitchers to stay in the game longer. While the eight teams that saw their starting pitchers throw less than 800 innings this season is a noticeable drop from 12 in 2021, the last season before the current limit was introduced, it’s actually one more than in 2022 and the same number as 2019. Prior to 2019, only the 2018 Rays and the 2012 Rockies had gotten less than 800 innings out of their starting pitchers in a season this century.

Such a change, however, would not be on the table for the 2024 season. Manfred didn’t discuss potential rules changes for the 2024 season, though he did note that any changes would be on a smaller scale after the significant rules adjustments the sport experienced in 2023.

NL East Notes: Nola, Eppler, Hefner, Lundquist

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The longest-tenured player on the Phillies, All-Star starting pitcher Aaron Nola, is set to hit free agency following the conclusion of the World Series. Meanwhile, his long-time rotation mate, Zack Wheeler, is entering the final season of the five-year, $118MM pact he signed ahead of the 2020 campaign.

Speaking to members of the media on Thursday (including Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia), president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said that re-signing Nola is a priority and he hopes to retain the former Cy Young finalist. Nola, for his part, told reporters on Tuesday (including Matt Breen of The Philadelphia Inquirer), “I hope I’m back, for sure.” Thus, there seems to be mutual interest in keeping the right-hander in Philadelphia for the long haul.

However, a deal still has to get done, and both sides have acknowledged that it might not happen. Dombrowski says he will pivot to other front-line starters on the open market if he can’t come to an agreement with Nola, while the 30-year-old starter was more cryptic, simply admitting that he doesn’t know “what the future holds.” The two sides reached an impasse in extension talks last winter, with the ace reportedly seeking a much longer deal that the team was willing to offer.

Dombrowski also expressed a vague desire to keep Wheeler beyond the terms of his current contract, although he would not reveal if extension negotiations were part of his offseason plan.

In other news from the NL East…

  • Earlier this month, Billy Eppler stepped down from his role as general manager of the Mets amidst an investigation into his misuse of the injured list and injury rehab assignments. His departure from the organization came as quite a surprise, since most were expecting him to stay on as GM under new president of baseball operations David Stearns. Now, however, Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that Eppler would have been fired had he not resigned, and thus, he will be paid for the two years remaining on his guaranteed contract. Sherman notes that the inquiry is still ongoing, and it is unlikely MLB will announce a ruling before the end of the World Series. Given the scope of the investigation, it’s not hard to understand why the team chose to part ways with Eppler; Stearns has a busy enough offseason ahead of him as it is.
  • Sticking with the Mets, Martino reports that other teams are “under the impression” that Mets coaches are essentially available for hire, given the likelihood that a new manager will come in and clean house. Indeed, pitching coach Jeremy Hefner is already drawing interest from at least one other club, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post. However, Hefner prefers to wait and see if he fits into the team’s future plans (in other words, if the new manager wants to keep him on) before he takes an interview with another club. Hefner, who played for the Mets from 2012-13, has already survived two managerial hirings in his four years as the pitching coach, so it makes sense that he isn’t ready to pack his bags just yet.
  • Back to the Phillies, the team has announced that bullpen coach Dave Lundquist will not return for the 2024 season. Lundquist, 50, has been with the organization since 2018, starting as the pitching coach for Triple-A Lehigh Valley before becoming assistant pitching coach and then bullpen coach for the major league team. The bullpen has become a legitimate strength under his guidance, going from one of the worst in the league to one of the best in just three seasons. The Phillies are also parting ways with assistant hitting coach Jason Camilli, who joined the staff in 2022 after spending 15 years as a minor league hitting coach with the Nationals, Diamondbacks, and Reds organizations.

Rob Gardner Passes Away

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Former major leaguer Rob Gardner has passed away, per an obituary from the Press & Sun-Bulletin out of Binghamton, New York. He was 78 years old.

Gardner was a left-hander pitcher who played in the majors from 1965 to 1973, bouncing around the league as a frequently-traded journeyman. His career began as a starter with the Mets in 1965. He created a memorable piece of baseball trivia in his final start of that season, taking the ball for the Mets’ game against the Phillies in October 2. Gardner tossed 15 shutout innings, an unfathomable accomplishment in today’s game, as both clubs failed to score. It was eventually declared a 0-0 draw after 18 innings.

The southpaw served a swingman role for the Mets in 1966, tossing 133 2/3 innings with a 5.12 ERA, the largest major league workload of his career. He was traded to the Cubs for the 1967 season and then to Cleveland for the campaign after that, playing a limited role with both clubs. He was stuck in the minors for all of the 1969 campaign but was traded to the Yankees before the following season.

That set the stage for Gardner to create another memorable piece of trivia in the coming years, though not for anything he did on the field. He and Ron Klimkowski were traded to the Athletics for Felipe Alou in April of 1971. Gardner was traded back to the Yankees in May and stayed with them through the 1972 season. Then he was traded to the A’s yet again, this time with Felipe’s brother Matty Alou going to the Yankees, giving Gardner the distinction of having twice been traded from the Yankees to the A’s with one of the Alou brothers going the other way.

Gardner also spent some time with the Brewers in 1973, then spent a couple more years in the minors before hanging up his cleats. He finished his career with a 4.35 ERA in 331 innings, having struck out 193 opponents. After retiring from baseball, he spent time as a firefighter and paramedic in Binghamton. MLBTR sends our condolences to all his family, friends and loved ones.

Mets To Interview Craig Counsell For Managerial Vacancy

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The Mets have received permission from the Brewers to interview Craig Counsell, reports Andy Martino of SNY, and will interview him soon.

Counsell, 53, has been the manager of the Brewers since 2015 but has been a speculative fit for the Mets for a while now. David Stearns had been general manager/president of baseball operations in Milwaukee for roughly the same period of time that Counsell was manager and recently made the move to the Mets. Upon joining his new club, he almost immediately fired Buck Showalter and opened the manager position in Queens.

Given the longstanding relationship between Stearns and Counsell, many made the logical conclusion that Stearns would bring Counsell to the Mets with him. But that assumed reunion has been on hold recently, as Counsell is still technically the manager of the Brewers. It was previously reported that his contract runs through the end of October, which seemed like it was going to push any interviews with the Mets or other clubs until November, though it now appears the Brewers will let him talk to the Mets about a week early.

The Brewers have generally been successful during the Stearns-Counsell period, making the playoffs in five of the past six seasons despite not running up huge payrolls. That has naturally led to interest from other clubs, wondering what they could do with more resources. Stearns is already aboard with the Mets but it’s not a guarantee Counsell will follow him. As Martino adds, Counsell is expected to pursue other openings just as the Mets are expected to consider other candidates.

The Guardians, Angels and Padres also have managerial vacancies and would presumably have some level of interest in Counsell. It’s been reported that Dusty Baker may step away from managing as well, which would add the Astros to that list. It also can’t really be ruled out that Counsell stays with the Brewers. While he may be tempted by a bigger market and a presumably larger salary, he grew up in Wisconsin and has long-standing ties to the region. His father worked for the Brewers and Craig spent part of his playing career with the club before his managerial career began.

About a week ago, Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported that the Brewers felt he would stay in Milwaukee if he was paid “what he believes is fair.” He reportedly made $3.5MM in 2023, though it’s unknown what level of compensation he would consider a reasonable bump. Given the free-spending ways of the Mets, they would likely be able to offer him a higher salary than the Brewers, though it’s unknown whether that would be enough to pry Counsell away from the club where he has those aforementioned connections.

Some might interpret the Brewers giving him permission to talk to the Mets as a sign they aren’t committed to Counsell, though another explanation would just be about timing. Teams generally prefer to have a manager in place when the offseason begins and they start talking to potential free agents. Therefore the Brewers could have it in their best interest to have Counsell start assessing his options so that they can get clarity on whether he may come back or if they themselves need to start interviewing new candidates.

Five Mets Elect Free Agency

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The Mets announced this afternoon that five players — infielders Jonathan Araúz and Danny Mendick, outfielder Rafael Ortega, catcher Michael Pérez and right-hander Vinny Nittoli — went unclaimed on outright waivers. All five players declared minor league free agency. The Mets had waived that group along with left-hander Anthony Kay, claimed by Oakland, last week.

It’s not surprising to see any of the others go unclaimed. Only Mendick held a spot on the 40-man roster for the entire season. The righty-hitting utilityman had signed a $1MM free agent deal after being non-tendered by the White Sox. He spent the bulk of the season on optional assignment to Triple-A Syracuse, where he had a decent .282/.369/.424 batting line. Mendick didn’t produce much in a limited MLB look, hitting .185/.232/.277 in 35 games.

Ortega has the most MLB experience of the group. The lefty-swinging outfielder has appeared for six teams over a seven-season big league run. He topped 100 games with the Cubs in both 2021 and ’22, operating as their starting center fielder and leadoff man for a time. The 32-year-old played most of this past season in Triple-A, hitting .228/.352/.388. He got into 47 games for New York late in the year, running a .219/.341/.272 line over 136 trips.

Pérez has played in nine games for the Mets over the last two seasons. The depth catcher owns a .179/.248/.306 line in 599 career plate appearances between the Rays, Pirates and Mets. Araúz has played parts of four seasons between the Red Sox, Orioles and Mets. The switch-hitting infielder owns a .184/.253/.308 slash in 95 games, including a .136/.203/.288 showing this past season.

Nittoli made three MLB appearances after coming over from the Cubs in a minor trade. He turns 33 next month and has six big league outings between three teams. The Xavier product posted a 4.64 ERA over 42 2/3 innings in Triple-A this year.

A’s Claim Anthony Kay

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The A’s announced they’ve claimed lefty reliever Anthony Kay off waivers from the Mets. New York had attempted to outright him off the 40-man roster last week.

Kay, a UCONN product, was selected by the Mets with the #31 pick in the 2016 draft. The Mets sent him to the Blue Jays as part of the Marcus Stroman deal. Kay pitched parts of four seasons with the Jays, working to a 5.48 ERA through 70 2/3 innings. Toronto lost him on waivers to the Cubs last offseason.

While Chicago quickly ran Kay through waivers themselves, they added him back to the roster in mid-June. He pitched 13 times for the Cubs, allowing eight runs in 11 1/3 innings. The Mets snagged him back via waivers with a couple weeks left in the season. He made four appearances with his original organization, working 3 2/3 frames of three-run ball to close the year. Kay’s fastball sat just under 95 MPH on average, yet he managed just an 11:9 strikeout-to-walk ratio between the two clubs.

The 28-year-old has yet to find much major league success. He has allowed 5.67 earned runs per nine, striking out an average 22.4% of batters faced against a lofty 12% walk rate. Kay showed some intriguing swing-and-miss numbers in Triple-A this year, combining for a 3.76 ERA while fanning over a third of opponents in 40 2/3 frames. While a 13.3% walk percentage still hints at real control woes, the solid minor league season and his decent velocity intrigued the A’s front office.

Kay is out of options, so the A’s can’t send him to the minors without first running him through waivers (at which point he’d have the ability to elect free agency). If they keep him on the 40-man roster all offseason, he’d need to secure a job in the MLB bullpen.

Details On The Mets’ Interest In Yoshinobu Yamamoto

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Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto is expected to be posted by the Orix Buffaloes of Nippon Professional Baseball in the coming months, which will make him one of the top free agents available to major league clubs this winter. The Mets are one of many clubs that have reported interest in him and Will Sammon of The Athletic provides some details of their upcoming courtship.

The Mets already made one big signing of a pitcher making the move from Japan, inking Kodai Senga to a five-year deal less than a year ago. That deal is looking good for the club right now, with Senga being one of the few bright spots during a tough 2023 season. He made 29 starts and threw 166 1/3 innings, finishing the year with an earned run average of 2.98.

Yamamoto is expected to be an even more appealing investment than Senga, due to a couple of factors. Senga had an ERA of 2.59 in his NPB career before coming to North America, whereas Yamamoto has a mark of 1.82. Senga dropped his ERA to 1.94 in his final NPB season but Yamamoto’s has landed at 1.21. Furthermore, Senga made the move for his age-30 season whereas Yamamoto just turned 25.

Sammon makes reference to a piece by his colleague Ken Rosenthal, who reported in April that some people in the league think that Japanese players don’t like being on the same team as other Japanese players. This seems like an absurd assertion given that NPB teams are composed primarily of Japanese players and Japanese clubs have also performed extremely well in international play, with their World Baseball Classic triumph earlier this year giving them a third title out of the five times the tournament has been held. Regardless of the merits of that line of thinking, Sammon reports that it wouldn’t apply here, with Yamamoto having no reservations about wearing the same uniform as Senga. Furthermore, Senga has openly told Mets’ management that he wants Yamamoto on the team. Sammon also reports that Yamamoto wants to play in a large market, which should work in the Mets’ favor.

Sammon goes on to address the departure of Billy Eppler, who was with the Yankees when they signed Masahiro Tanaka and with the Angels when they signed Shohei Ohtani. This may have helped him and the Mets in getting Senga aboard, but Eppler recently stepped down as general manager, with president of baseball operations David Stearns now the primary baseball decision maker. Whether the transition from Eppler to Stearns has any impact on the pursuit of Yamamoto isn’t really known.

Beyond those factors, the financials will undoubtedly be significant. Given Yamamoto’s youth and talent, it’s expected by many that he could get himself a lengthy contract with a guarantee in the range of $200MM. That gives an edge to the higher-spending clubs, a group that certainly includes the Mets, with owner Steve Cohen allowing the 2023 club to have the highest payroll in baseball history.

One thing that arguably undercuts the connection to the Mets is that the club is giving hints they won’t be as aggressive this offseason. If the team is planning a sort of reset year after the disappointing 2023 campaign, giving the new president time to assess the organization and build the farm system, then landing one of the top free agents would seem to be a bit incongruous.

But the club does need starting pitching, having dealt away Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer at the deadline. Carlos Carrasco is also about to hit free agency, leaving the club with a rotation of Senga, José Quintana and a few question marks beyond that. Quintana only has one year left on his deal, creating further uncertainty down the line. The position player prospects in the Mets’ system are also generally regarded higher than their pitching prospects. Since Yamamoto is so young, it’s possible the Mets could view this as a rare opportunity to add a pitcher with many prime years remaining, which would push them to make an earnest pursuit and improve their long-term pitching outlook even if the overall offseason plan is going to be less aggressive than it was a year ago.

The Mets making a legitimate run at Yamamoto seems plausible but they figure to have plenty of competition, as he’s already been publicly connected to the Phillies, Giants, Cardinals, Cubs, Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Rangers, Tigers, Yankees, and Red Sox.

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