Headlines

Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Mets Rumors

Mets Select Abraham Almonte

By | at

The Mets announced some roster moves today, placing infielder Mark Vientos on the 10-day injured list due to left wrist tendonitis, retroactive to August 16. Outfielder Abraham Almonte has been selected to take his place on the active roster. To open a spot for Almonte on the 40-man, left-hander Josh Walker has been transferred to the 60-day injured list.

Almonte, 34, has been on and off the Mets’ roster lately. Signed to a minor league deal in the offseason, he was brought up to the big leagues last week before being designated for assignment and outrighted a few days later after taking just 12 plate appearances in four games. He has enough service time that he could have rejected the outright assignment but seems to have accepted and will now make a quick return to the majors.

Prior to getting called up, he was having a strong season in the minors. He hit .244/377/.548 in 167 plate appearances, walking at an 18% clip and producing a wRC+ of 128. He’s often hit well in the minors but has struggled to replicate that production in the majors. Dating back to 2013, he’s hit .234/.301/.373 for a wRC+ of 82 in 1,375 trips to the plate in the show. He figures to join the outfield mix alongside Brandon Nimmo, DJ Stewart, Rafael Ortega and Tim Locastro.

Vientos has always crushed minor league pitching but has hit just .188/.240/.286 in his first 167 major league appearances. Despite that tepid output, the Mets will be challenged to cover third base in his absence with Eduardo Escobar having been traded to the Angels and Brett Baty also on the IL. Some combination of Jonathan Araúz, Danny Mendick and Jeff McNeil figure to be slotted into that position as well as second base. It’s unclear how long Vientos is expected to be out for.

Walker, 28, was first added to the club’s roster in May. He’s since made 13 appearances with an ERA of 8.10 in that small sample. He landed on the injured list a few days ago due to a right oblique strain and it seems it’s significant enough to end his season. Today’s transfer means he’s ineligible to return until the middle of October. Barring a miracle postseason run by the Mets, he won’t be back this year.

MLB Trade Rumors Podcast: Pete Alonso’s Future, Yankees’ Rotation Troubles and Should the Trade Deadline Be Pushed Back?

By | at

The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, host Darragh McDonald is joined by Anthony Franco of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss:

  • Should the trade deadline be moved back, as has been considered by some? (1:15)
  • Mets need to pick a lane with Pete Alonso (9:35)
  • Yankees’ rotation is dealing with injuries again (14:15)

Plus, we answer your questions, including:

  • How can the Cardinals get in shape this offseason? (20:05)
  • Can the Mariners line up on a trade with the Cards? (24:10)
  • What will be the biggest needs for the Diamondbacks this winter? (27:00)
  • What does Mitch Garver’s free agency look like this winter? (28:30)

Check out our past episodes!

Mets Designate Edwin Uceta For Assignment

By | at

The Mets announced Wednesday that right-hander Edwin Uceta has been designated for assignment in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for fellow righty Dennis Santana, whose contract has been selected from Triple-A Syracuse. Right-hander Jose Butto was optioned to Syracuse in a corresponding 26-man roster move.

Uceta, 25, was a waiver claim out of the Pirates organization back in April. He’s missed substantial time this season after undergoing surgery to address a torn meniscus in his left knee — a June procedure that sidelined him for eight weeks. The Mets only recently reinstated him from the 60-day injured list. He’s pitched three shutout frames at the big league level this season and another 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball in the minors. That said, Uceta has also walked six hitters against just two strikeouts in the minors, and he issued a pair of free passes while facing a total of 11 big league hitters earlier this season.

Command has been an issue for Uceta throughout the upper minors (13.4% walk rate in 83 1/3 Triple-A innings) and in the Majors (11.9%). Broadly speaking, he’s shown good ability to spin his four-seamer and to miss bats in the upper minors, but he hasn’t yet found much success above the Double-A level. Uceta has a 4.64 ERA in 83 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level and a 5.80 mark in 40 1/3 frames between the Dodgers, D-backs and Mets in the big leagues.

The 27-year-old Santana has had better, albeit still below-average results in the Majors, working to a 5.18 ERA in 147 2/3 innings between the Dodgers, Rangers and Mets. He tossed 8 2/3 innings for the Mets earlier this season, yielding six runs in that time before being designated for assignment and passed through outright waivers. Since heading to Triple-A, he’s logged 33 innings with a 4.91 ERA, 27% strikeout rate and 13.2% walk rate. Command has been an issue for Santana as well, but he throws harder than Uceta and keeps the ball on the ground far more often.

The Mets have only gotten 6 2/3 innings out of their starters over the past two games, so swapping out Butto for Santana — at the expense of Uceta’s 40-man spot — will give manager Buck Showalter a fresh arm in the event of another short start in the next couple games. Uceta will be placed on waivers or released within the next week. He’s never been outrighted in the past and doesn’t have three years of service time, so if he goes unclaimed the Mets can retain him via outright assignment.

Mets Outright Abraham Almonte

By | at

The Mets have sent veteran outfielder Abraham Almonte outright to Triple-A Syracuse, per the transaction log at MLB.com. He’d been designated for assignment on Saturday.

A journeyman who has appeared at the MLB level with eight different clubs, Almonte got into four games for the Mets. He hit 12 times, reaching base twice via a single and walk. While a very brief stay, it marked an 11th consecutive year with some major league action for the switch-hitter.

Almonte has had a nice season when healthy at the Triple-A level. The 34-year-old has been limited to 27 games there by injury but put together a .228/.331/.564 line with 11 home runs in 118 trips to the dish. He has worked exclusively in the corner outfield with Syracuse but has a fair amount of center field experience as a professional.

It’s unclear whether Almonte will return to Syracuse. He has enough service time to decline an outright assignment in favor of minor league free agency.

Jimmy Yacabonis Elects Free Agency

By | at

August 15: Yacabonis has elected free agency, according to the transaction log at MLB.com.

August 14: Before this evening’s win over the Pirates, the Mets reinstated Sam Coonrod from the 60-day injured list. New York placed Josh Walker on the 15-day IL to clear an active roster spot while recalling reliever John Curtiss and placing him on the 60-day IL in a 40-man move. Additionally, New York sent righty Jimmy Yacabonis outright to Triple-A Syracuse after he was designated for assignment over the weekend.

Coonrod returned to throw a scoreless inning of relief in his season debut. The right-hander had missed the entire season after suffering a severe lat strain in Spring Training. Claimed off waivers from the Phillies in February, Coonrod is attempting to secure a bullpen spot in Queens going into 2024. He’s eligible for arbitration through ’25.

Curtiss was diagnosed with a loose body in his throwing elbow, tweets Tim Britton of the Athletic. The 60-day IL placement officially ends his season. The 30-year-old righty has made 15 appearances for New York, working to a 4.58 ERA across 19 2/3 innings. Curtiss missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He’s eligible for arbitration twice more but could be non-tendered at year’s end.

Yacabonis has worked 13 2/3 frames over seven outings. He’s allowed 10 runs while working mostly low-leverage relief. A journeyman who has appeared in parts of six MLB seasons with five different clubs, he’ll have the right to test minor league free agency by virtue of multiple career outrights.

Mets Explored Pete Alonso Trades At Deadline

By | at

The Mets’ selloff at the trade deadline signaled both a concession of the 2023 season and potentially more of a turn towards the 2025 campaign, though owner Steve Cohen still expects next year’s Mets to be “very competitive” if not “as star-studded a team as it was” in 2022 and 2023.  Beyond just rental players traded, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander were also dealt in a pair of blockbuster moves, leading to a lot of speculation about what other moves the Mets might have in store for players who aren’t under longer-term control.

To this end, Pete Alonso’s future in Queens has now become subject to speculation, and it appears as though the Mets at least tested the waters about also moving the first baseman at the deadline.  The New York Post’s Mike Puma writes that Alonso was “dangled” by the Mets, though “it’s unclear how serious the Mets were about trying to trade the first baseman.”  It could be that the Mets were just gauging the market, as “they never came close to” an Alonso trade since no team stepped up to meet New York’s “very high” demands for a return.

Naturally the Mets weren’t going to move the slugger without getting a lot back, as Alonso carried a lot of value in a market short on available bats, let alone premium power threats who are controlled through the 2024 season.  However, it could be that injury concerns might have quieted the market, as Alonso spent only 10 days on the injured list after suffering a left wrist sprain/bone bruise in early June, but then struggled after his quick return.  Getting back to action on June 18, Alonso had only a .549 OPS over the 107 plate appearances following his IL stint.

Alonso has looked a lot more like his usual self over the last few weeks, giving rival teams at least some assurance prior to the deadline that his wrist was recovered.  For the season as a whole, Alonso entered today’s action with a .226/.325/.532 slash line and 35 homers over 453 PA, with solid peripheral numbers except for a minuscule .200 BABIP that has held down his batting average.

In short, Alonso would still be a big trade chip for New York to place on the table this winter, if the club did have designs on eventually moving the slugger.  Alonso has one more year of arbitration eligibility remaining so he’ll earn a raise on his $14.5MM salary for 2023, and he’ll be 30 years old on Opening Day 2025, following his scheduled trip to free agency during the 2024-25 offseason.

In a poll earlier this week on MLBTR, 51 percent of readers polled felt the Mets should sign Alonso to an extension rather than trade him or wait until the 2024 season to pursue either course.  The Mets haven’t been shy about locking up key players during Cohen’s time as owner, though Alonso is just about the only prominent Met who hadn’t yet gotten a new longer-term deal.  Of course, this doesn’t mean that Alonso’s status wasn’t or isn’t eventually going to be addressed, especially since Cohen said he wants to “work things out” on an extension, and described Alonso as “an integral part of the Mets.”

The Mets might opt to playing the waiting game on two different fronts with Alonso this winter.  If extension talks aren’t getting anywhere, the Mets could pursue a trade more fervently, with any information gathered during their deadline talks acting as perhaps a stepping stone to an eventual deal in a few months’ time.  Conversely, the Mets could hold off on long-term contract talks with Alonso until the more normal extension negotiation period of Spring Training, and only take that route after first using the winter to more fully gauge the market in case a suitor meets their asking price.

Mets Designate Abraham Almonte For Assignment

By | at

The Mets announced four roster moves in between games of their double-header with the Braves today, including the news that outfielder Abraham Almonte has been designated for assignment.  Right-hander Denyi Reyes was optioned to Triple-A, while righty Tyson Miller was called up from Triple-A and outfielder Tim Locastro was reinstated from the 60-day injured list.

Almonte signed a minor league deal with New York during the offseason, but he didn’t make his 2023 debut until four days ago, after the Mets selected his contract to the active roster.  With his appearance in the first game of the Atlanta double-header, Almonte’s tenure with the Mets could be over after four games, and one hit over 12 plate appearances.

The four-game cup of coffee at least ensured an 11th consecutive MLB season for Almonte, an Immaculate Grid favorite who has seen action with eight different Major League clubs.  The switch-hitter has a career .235/.302/.374 slash line over 1371 PA, as Almonte is known most for his outfield versatility than his prowess at the plate, though his glovework has allowed him to find backup or part-time roles for over a decade.

Assuming he clears waivers, Almonte has the right to elect free agency in the event an outright assignment, since he has been outrighed before in his career.  The Mets could also choose to release Almonte entirely, if they prefer to use younger players down the stretch rather than keep a veteran around at Triple-A.

Locastro returns after undergoing thumb surgery in May, and his thumb injury occurred during a rehab assignment when Locastro was already on the injured list recovering from back spasms.  The lengthy absence has limited Locastro to just 11 games, and he looks to get some outfield work while the Mets try to fill the void left by deadline trades and Starling Marte’s IL stint.

Mets Designate Jimmy Yacabonis For Assignment

By | at

The Mets have announced to reporters, including Tim Britton of The Athletic, that right-hander Jimmy Yacabonis has been designated for assignment. His roster spot will go to Denyi Reyes, whose selection was reported yesterday.

Yacabonis, 31, began the year with the Mets on a minor league deal. This is the second time he has been designated for assignment by the club this year, as he was also on the roster from mid-April until late May, though he spent most of that time on the IL with a left quad strain. His first DFA resulted in him clearing waivers and accepting an outright assignment, which got him back onto the roster a week ago.

Between those two stints, he’s tossed 13 2/3 innings over seven outings, allowing 6.59 earned runs per nine frames. In last night’s 7-0 loss to Atlanta, he tossed 3 2/3 innings in relief of starter Tylor Megill, allowing one earned run. Though manager Buck Showalter was appreciative of that performance, it likely made him unavailable for today’s doubleheader. Since he’s out of options, he’s been squeezed off the roster and into DFA limbo for a second time this year.

The Mets will now have a week to put him on waivers. The last time this happened, he cleared and stuck around, which could perhaps play out again. Though it’s also possible some new job openings have opened up after various trades were made prior to the recent deadline. Yacabonis has a career ERA of 6.08 in 131 2/3 innings dating back to 2017. Though he’s out of options, he has less than two years of service time and could be theoretically retained for future seasons without a huge cost.

Mets To Select Denyi Reyes

By | at

The Mets will start right-hander Denyi Reyes in the first game of tomorrow’s doubleheader with Atlanta, the team informed reporters (including Tim Healey of Newsday). Since Reyes isn’t on the 40-man roster, New York will officially select his contract before the game.

Reyes made six appearances for New York earlier this season. An offseason minor league pickup, he made it to majors by the first week of the year. Reyes was on and off the active roster for the next couple months before being designated for assignment on July 4 and subsequently waived.

The 6’4″ hurler has allowed five runs in 7 1/3 innings over his big league work thus far. He has started 13 of 15 outings for Triple-A Syracuse, pitching to a 5.77 ERA through 64 innings. A sky-high 2.39 homers per nine innings has been the main culprit for the lackluster run prevention, although his 17.7% strikeout rate is a few points below average.

Reyes is a solid strike-thrower who’s capable of working multiple innings either out of the rotation or long relief. The Mets are headed into day two of a stretch of 14 games in 13 days. New York has a full 40-man roster, so they’ll need to make a corresponding transaction to accommodate his promotion.

José Bautista To Officially Retire

By | at

José Bautista hasn’t played in a big league game since 2018 but had never officially retired in the years after his last appearance. Shi Davidi of Sportsnet was among those to report today that Bautista will sign a one-day contract with Toronto to officially retire as a Blue Jay, as part of the ceremony wherein he will be added to the club’s Level of Excellence on Saturday.

Bautista, now 42, didn’t have the typical path to baseball stardom as he wasn’t a high draft pick or top prospect. The Pirates selected him in the 20th round of the draft in 2000 and he would get some modest attention from prospect evaluators after that, with Baseball America ranking him #14 in the system in 2002 and #7 in 2003.

In 2004, he had an especially unusual season, getting selected by the Orioles in the Rule 5 draft. As the season wore on, he was claimed off waivers by the Devil Rays, then was subsequently traded to the Royals, Mets and back to the Pirates. He would stick with the Pirates for a few years, mostly as a third baseman but also playing some outfield. He showed glimpses of his potential at the plate, hitting 16 home runs in 2006, 15 the year after and another 15 in 2008.

That 2008 season saw him traded to the Blue Jays in August for a player to be named later, which was eventually revealed as Robinzon Díaz. A fairly forgettable transaction at the time, it would later prove to be the start of the defining era of Bautista’s career.

His first full season as a Blue Jay wasn’t especially noteworthy, as Bautista hit 13 home runs in 2009, though there were a few developments that would prove to be important in later years. He began incorporating a leg kick into his swing and also started to spend more time in right field, with his strong throwing arm a good fit for that spot.

In 2010, at the age of 29, Bautista broke out in stunning fashion. He launched 54 home runs for the Jays that year, setting a new single season record for the franchise. He also showed a keen eye at the plate, drawing walks in 14.6% of his plate appearances. His .260/.378/.617 batting line amounted to a wRC+ of 165, indicating he was 65% better than the league average hitter. The Jays decided to bank on that breakout, giving Bautista a five-year, $65MM extension that covered his final arbitration season and four free agent years, with a club option for 2016.

He followed that up with an even better season overall. His home run tally dropped to 43 in 2011, but his patient approach allowed him to take advantage of pitchers giving him less to hit. He was walked in 20.2% of his trips to the plate in 2011, leading to a .302/.447/.608 slash line. His 180 wRC+ was the best in the majors that year and would eventually prove to be his personal best as well. He was considered to be worth 8.1 wins above replacement by FanGraphs and 8.4 by Baseball Reference. He came in third in AL MVP voting behind Justin Verlander and Jacoby Ellsbury.

His production would continue in fairly similar fashion for years to come, defined by both his power output and on-base abilities. From 2012 to 2016, he hit between 22 and 40 home runs each year with his walk rate never finishing below 13.1%. Despite that excellent production, and that of another late-blooming star in Edwin Encarnación, the Jays struggled to push too far beyond .500 in most of those seasons.

The 2015 season finally changed that, with the Jays aggressively bolstering the roster by adding Josh Donaldson, Russell Martin and others in the offseason. The trade deadline saw further aggression, with the club adding a batch of players headlined by Troy Tulowitzki and David Price. The moves paid off when the Jays surged in the final months of the season and finished 93-69, winning the American League East and cracking the postseason for the first time since 1993.

Bautista’s first opportunity to play in the playoffs would lead to a singular moment and image that are now cemented in the minds of millions of baseball fans. The Jays squared off against the Rangers in the Wild Card series, which had a best-of-five format at that time. The Jays lost the first two games but rallied to tie it up and force a fifth contest.

In the deciding game, the Jays fell behind in the top of the seventh 3-2 on a strange play wherein Rougned Odor scored when Martin’s attempted throw back to pitcher Aaron Sanchez hit the bat of Shin-Soo Choo and ricocheted away. Home plate umpire Dale Scott initially ruled the ball dead but the umpiring crew eventually allowed the run to score. That soured the mood in the stadium, with many fans throwing debris to express their displeasure.

In the bottom of the frame, several defensive miscues from the Rangers allowed the Jays to tie the game up before Bautista launched a two-out, three-run home run to give the Jays a 6-3 lead. Bautista reacted to the emotionally-charged atmosphere by flipping his bat high into the air, which proved to be controversial in some baseball circles, though it would quickly become an iconic moment among Jays’ fans. Toronto held on to win that game but would lose to the Royals in the ALCS.

After Bautista’s extension ended, the Jays gave him a $17.2MM qualifying offer for 2017. He rejected that and became a free agent but eventually returned to Toronto via a one-year, $18.5MM deal. He still hit 23 home runs and walked in 12.2% of his plate appearances, but his overall production fell to .203/.308/.366 and a wRC+ of 81.

In 2018, he returned to the journeyman status that started his career, bouncing to the Braves, Mets and Phillies. He didn’t sign with a club in the years to come, though he did reportedly consider a comeback as a two-way player in 2020, but later threw some cold water on those reports. He played for the Dominican Republic team in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were pushed to 2021 by delays related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now it seems his playing days will be officially ended during this weekend’s festivities, tying a bow on one of the more unique baseball journeys. Though Bautista began and ended his career as a journeyman, he had a late bloom that led to a lengthy stretch as one of the best players in the league. From 2010 to 2015, he hit 227 home runs, easily the most in the league for that time with Miguel Cabrera second at 199. He slashed .268/.390/.555 in that time for a wRC+ of 156 and tallied 33.2 fWAR, that latter figure placing him sixth among position players. His 60 outfield assists in that stretch were topped by just three other big leaguers. He engineered many memorable moments during that peak, too many to list here, featuring both his tremendous talents as well as his fiery and standout personality.

Over his career as a whole, he played 1,798 games and took 7,244 trips to the plate. He launched 344 home runs and walked at a 14.2% rate, leading to a .247/.361/.475 batting line and 126 wRC+. He had 1,496 hits, 1,022 runs scored, 975 driven in and stole 70 bases. He tallied 35.3 fWAR and 36.7 bWAR. He made six straight All-Star teams from 2010 to 2015, led the league in home runs twice, earned a couple of Hank Aaron awards and three Silver Sluggers. As a Blue Jay, his tallies of 38.3 bWAR and 36.2 fWAR are both the best in franchise history among position players, with only Dave Stieb and Roy Halladay ahead of him overall.

We at MLB Trade Rumors salute Bautista on an incredibly special career and wish him the best in all his post-playing endeavors.

Images courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Show all

MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

hide arrows FOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top