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Dennis Santana Accepts Outright Assignment With Mets

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Mets right-hander Dennis Santana went unclaimed on waivers and has been assigned outright to Triple-A Syracuse, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. It’s the second time this season the Mets have outrighted Santana, which grants him the ability to reject the assignment in favor of free agency. I’m told that Santana has accepted the assignment and will head to Syracuse, however.

Santana, 27, has appeared in eight games for the Mets this season, tallying 8 2/3 innings but allowing six runs on eight hits — including a pair of homers — and five walks. He’s punched out 11 of 40 opponents and averaged 95.6 mph on his heater. That’s above-average velocity but still down from last year’s 97.7 mph average in Texas. Santana has also tossed 7 1/3 frames for the Mets’ top affiliate in Syracuse, notching a 3.68 ERA with an 11-to-6 K/BB ratio there.

Once considered one of the top prospects in a deep Dodgers system, Santana has begun to bounce around the league, going from L.A. to Texas to Atlanta and to Minnesota before being claimed by the Mets earlier this year. A rotator cuff strain back in 2018 wiped out most of that season, and Santana moved from a starting role to a relief role the following season. He’s seen Major League action in parts of six big league campaigns and compiled 147 2/3 innings, most of which has come with the Rangers over the past two seasons. Overall, Santana has a 5.18 earned run average 21.4% strikeout rate, 11.8% walk rate and 45.4% ground-ball rate as a big leaguer.

Santana has generated swinging strikes, chases on pitches off the plate and grounders at average or better rates throughout his Major League tenure — all while sitting at an average of 96.1 mph with a fastball that has plus spin rates each year. He’ll head back to Syracuse and continue to work on his command in hopes of earning another look at the big league level with the Mets sooner than later. Given the fluid state of the injury-plagued Mets relief corps — they’ve used 17 relievers already, tied for fourth-most in MLB — a strong showing in Syracuse could put Santana back on the big league map before long.

Mets Mulling Gary Sanchez Promotion

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The Mets are already set to call up top infield prospect Mark Vientos prior to tonight’s game, and SNY’s Andy Martino further reports that the club is also “carefully weighing” a swap of current catcher Michael Perez for veteran Gary Sanchez, who’s with the Mets’ Triple-A affiliate after signing a minor league deal earlier this month.

The Mets are the second organization of the season for the veteran Sanchez, who originally inked a minor league deal with the Giants but exercised a May 1 opt-out after not being selected to the Major League roster in San Francisco. Sanchez struggled mightily with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate, batting just .164/.319/.182 in 69 trips to the plate. He’s been much better with the Mets’ Syracuse affiliate, however, posting a .300/.500/.550 batting line with a homer and two doubles in 28 plate appearances.

Sanchez has a May 19 opt-out date in his deal with the Mets, so a decision on him is due soon one way or another. Swapping him out for Perez, a career .180/.250/.308 batter in 595 Major League plate appearances, would add more offensive upside to a team that has won just six of its past 22 games and fallen six and a half games behind the NL East-leading Braves.

The combination of Sanchez and young Francisco Alvarez isn’t an optimal pairing from a defensive standpoint. That said, it’s worth noting that Sanchez’s defensive grades improved considerably in 2022 after an offseason trade from the Yankees to the Twins (+1 Defensive Runs Saved, 28% caught-stealing rate, positive framing marks from both FanGraphs and Statcast).

It’d only be a temporary arrangement anyhow, as Omar Narvaez is expected back before too long. The veteran backstop, who inked a two-year deal in free agency this past offseason (the second season of which is a player option), has been out since early April due to a calf strain but could return by early June, based on the original timeline of eight to nine weeks the Mets provided for his injury. Tomas Nido could be back even sooner; an eye issue sent him to the 10-day IL seven days ago but was not believed to be overly serious at the time of his placement on the injured list.

Mets To Option Luis Guillorme

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The Mets are going to option infielder Luis Guillorme, per Andy Martino of SNY. Guillorme’s roster spot will go to infielder Mark Vientos, whose promotion was reported on earlier today.

Guillorme, 28, debuted with the Mets in 2018. He served as a frequently-optioned depth piece in his first couple of seasons but has generally been a fixture of the club since the 2020 season. Though not a superstar, he has been a useful member of the club as a guy who can do a lot of things well.

From the start of 2020 to the present, Guillorme has appeared in 228 games for the Mets and stepped to the plate 627 times. He only has three home runs but has drawn walks in 12% of those appearances while striking out just a 16.1% rate. His .273/.362/.335 batting line in that time translates to a 105 wRC+, indicating he’s been a bit above average. He’s done all that while moving between second base, third base and shortstop, generally considered to be a passable defender or better at any of those spots.

Guillorme’s bat has taken a bit of a step backward here in 2023, as he has been punched out in 22.1% of his plate appearances while slashing .233/.324/.267 for a wRC+ of 77. The Mets are off to a sluggish start this year, currently 20-23 and in fourth place in the National League East. It seems they are looking to shake things up to try to find some more offense, bringing up Vientos and his .333/.416/.688 Triple-A batting line.

It’s easy to see why the Mets see that as an upgrade worth pursuing, but there will be a bit of risk on the defensive side of things. Guillorme was backing up several infield positions and the club will be a bit short-handed there, particularly up the middle. Vientos and Baty will have third covered but neither has any recent work at second or short. With Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil getting the starts up the middle most days, it would appear Eduardo Escobar is the backup there. He has plenty of shortstop experience but only two innings at the position since 2018, while McNeil has just one career inning there, which was earlier this season.

Guillorme will head to the minors to try to get back into good form at the dish. From a service time perspective, he came into this season with three years and 167 days, meaning he’s already gone over the four-year mark. Assuming the Mets recall him again at some point this season, he’ll remain on track for free agency after the 2025 season. However, once he spends 20 days in the minors, he’ll burn his final option season and be slated to be out of options in 2024. He’s making $1.6MM this year and would be eligible for an arbitration raise this winter if the Mets tender him a contract.

Mets To Recall Mark Vientos

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The Mets are set to recall infield prospect Mark Vientos from Triple-A Syracuse, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan (Twitter link). It’ll be Vientos’ first appearance at the MLB level this season, though he did have a brief 16-game call to the Majors late in the 2022 campaign as well.

The 23-year-old Vientos was the Mets’ second-round pick in 2017 and has ranked among the organization’s top prospects regularly since that selection. He’s out to a massive .333/.416/.688 start through 166 Triple-A plate appearances, during which he’s already slugged 13 home runs and tallied 11 doubles. Vientos has drawn a walk in 11.4% of his plate appearances and, after fanning at a 28.6% clip in 101 Triple-A games last season, punched out in just 20.5% of his trips to the plate in 2023.

The Mets have underperformed to begin the season and are currently in the midst of a woeful 6-16 stretch that has seen them plummet to fourth place in the National League East standings. They’re currently six and a half games behind the division-leading Braves and also trail both the Marlins and Phillies by margins of one and one and a half games, respectively.

While starting pitching has been a bigger issue for the Mets, due in no small part to considerable injury troubles, the offense is hardly a juggernaut. The Mets rank 21st in MLB with 179 runs scored, and their collective .240/.322./382 slash line leaves them sitting 19th in batting average, 14th in on-base percentage and 24th in slugging percentage. Veterans Tommy Pham, Starling Marte and Eduardo Escobar, in particular, have struggled at the plate.

With fellow prospect Brett Baty hitting decently at third base and Pete Alonso entrenched at first base, Vientos’ two positions are largely spoken for. However, he could still mix in at designated hitter, provide a right-handed complement to the lefty-swinging Baty at the hot corner, and perhaps occasionally spell Alonso at first base. The Mets have taken a short look at Vientos in left field in the past as well, though he has just 109 career innings there and hasn’t played the position since the 2021 season, when he was still in Double-A.

The Mets have received just a .220/.327/.340 slash line out of their DH spot so far in 2023, with a considerable amount of that production coming from Alonso, who’s gone 3-for-10 with a homer and two walks out of the DH slot. Daniel Vogelbach has logged a .247/.370/.364 line out of the designated hitter spot, showing his characteristic keen eye at the plate but hitting for less power than is typical for the slugger. New York has also mixed in Pham, Mark Canha, Brandon Nimmo and Tim Locastro (one plate appearance) for varying levels of action at DH. When facing a left-handed pitcher, Mets designated hitters have combined for a miserable .180/.250/.320 output, so that’s one easy area to view Vientos as an upgrade.

Regardless of where Vientos plays, manager Buck Showalter figures to mix him in with a good bit of regularity, particularly with the Mets struggling as a whole lately. Over the past two weeks, the team carries just a .236/.297/.360 batting line.

As far as service time is concerned, while Vientos picked up 26 days during the 2023 season, that still left him 146 days shy of a full year. At this stage of the season, the most service time he could accrue would be an additional 137 days, meaning he’ll wind up shy of one year even if he’s in the big leagues to stay. Were he to stick on the roster for the rest of the year, he’d be on track to be a slam-dunk Super Two player, making him arbitration-eligible four times rather than the standard three, beginning in the 2025-26 offseason (barring future optional assignments). The earliest he can become a free agent would be in the 2029-30 offseason.

Mets To Select Josh Walker

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The Mets have optioned left-hander David Peterson, per Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. His active roster spot will go to fellow lefty Josh Walker, who was not previously on the 40-man roster, though the club already had a vacancy in that regard and won’t need to make a corresponding move.

This is the first time that Walker, 28, has been on a major league roster and he will be making his debut as soon as he’s put into a game. A 37th round selection of the Mets in the 2017 draft, he got some work in the lower levels of the minors in the 2017-2019 stretch before the minor league were canceled by the pandemic in 2020.

In 2021, he shot through three levels, going from High-A to Double-A and Triple-A. He tossed a combined 115 2/3 innings with a 3.73 ERA, striking out 21.5% of opponents against a 6.4% walk rate. Last year, he was limited by injury to just 13 1/3 innings over 13 appearances and has been working exclusively in relief here in 2023. He has tossed 13 1/3 innings over nine Triple-A outings with a miniscule 0.68 ERA, 34% strikeout rate, 11.3% walk rate and 32.1% ground ball rate. He’ll give the Mets a second left-handed relief option alongside Brooks Raley.

As for Peterson, he was called on to join the rotation as the Mets were dealing with injuries to Carlos Carrasco, José Quintana, Justin Verlander and the sticky stuff suspension of Max Scherzer. Unfortunately, he’s been lit up so far this year, currently sporting an 8.08 ERA through eight starts. There’s likely a bit of bad luck in there as Peterson actually has strong strikeout and walk rates of 24.7% and 7.7%, respectively. A .404 batting average on balls in play and 58.8% strand rate have helped some extra earned runs across the plate, but so have the eight homers Peterson’s allowed so far.

With Verlander and Scherzer both now back and Carrasco expected to rejoin the club in the near future, Peterson will head down to the farm and try to get things back on track for whenever the club needs reinforcements again.

Tigers Claim Seth Elledge From Mets

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The Tigers announced that they have claimed right-hander Seth Elledge off waivers from the Mets and optioned him to Triple-A Toledo. The Mets had designated him for assignment on the weekend. In order to open a spot for Elledge on their 40-man roster, the Tigers transferred right-hander Beau Brieske to the 60-day injured list.

Elledge, who turns 27 on Saturday, has changed uniforms a few times in recent years. He got to the majors with the Cardinals in 2020 and 2021 but was outrighted at the end of that latter season and signed a minor league deal with Atlanta. He spent 2022 with the Triple-A Gwinnett Stripers and impressed enough to get added to Atlanta’s 40-man roster at season’s end. He was optioned to the minors again to start this year but was designated for assignment in early April, getting claimed by the Mets, who also put him on waivers about a month later.

Amid all of those roster moves, he’s made 10 Triple-A appearances on the year with a 6.75 ERA in 14 2/3 innings, striking out 21.1% of batters faced against a 14.1% walk rate. He was much better last year, posting a 3.88 ERA in a larger sample of 46 1/3 innings. He struck out 33.7% of opponents on the season while walking just 8.6%. Though he’s out to a slow start this year, it’s understandable why clubs keep finding roster room for him based on last year’s results and the fact that he still has a couple of options remaining. He also has that small bit of major league experience, tossing 23 1/3 innings for the Cards with a 4.63 ERA. The Tigers have a couple of relievers on the injured list in Freddy Pacheco and Trey Wingenter, so Elledge can head to Toledo to give them a bit of extra depth.

As for Brieske, he’s been on the injured list all year due to a right ulnar nerve entrapment and hasn’t even begun a rehab assignment. This move will make him ineligible to return until 60 days from his initial IL placement, which was March 27, meaning he could technically come back next week if he were healthy. But there’s nothing to indicate a return that soon is on the table, making this move a fairly inevitable formality.

Mets Activate Brooks Raley, Designate Dennis Santana For Assignment

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The Mets have announced that they’d designated right-hander Dennis Santana for assignment and activated lefty reliever Brooks Raley from the 15-day injured list.

Santana, 27, had been added to the Mets’ roster earlier today for the first game of the day. The right-hander, who sported a career 5.22 ERA and 4.25 FIP coming into today’s game, pitched one scoreless inning against the Nationals this afternoon, allowing one hit and no walks while striking out one. The Mets will now have seven days to trade or waive Santana. If he clears waivers, the club can assign him outright to Triple-A, but Santana would have the right to reject such an assigment, as he has been assigned outright previously during his career.

Santana’s departure from the roster makes room for Raley, who the Mets acquired from the Rays this past offseason. Raley joined the Rays ahead of the 2022 season with a career ERA of 5.62 in 107 1/3 big league innings, but proved to be a revelation in Tampa last season, as the 34-year-old lefty dominated to the tune of a 2.68 ERA (136 ERA+) and 2.74 FIP in 53 2/3 innings of work. That performance caught the attention of the Mets, who swapped lefty Keyshawn Askew to the Rays in exchange for Raley’s services.

One could argue Raley got off to a shaky start in Queens, pitching to a 4.76 ERA with a 5.85 FIP in 11 1/3 innings of work. Those top-line numbers are somewhat deceiving, however, as four of Raley’s six earned runs were allowed in a single appearance against the Brewers, with twelve scoreless outings in fourteen appearances total this season. Raley was placed on the injured list with elbow inflammation at the end of April, and has been out of action ever since, leaving high leverage duties in the Mets bullpen primarily to David Robertson and Adam Ottavino. Raley seems likely to re-enter the late inning mix for the Mets going forward, if he can return to putting up scoreless outings going forward.

Latest On Gary Sanchez

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  • More details have become available on the minor league deal between the Mets and catcher Gary Sanchez, as The Athletic’s Will Salmon reports that Sanchez has an opt-out in his deal on May 19. That gives New York just a few more days of Sanchez’s guaranteed services in the minors before he can test free agency again to look for a better opportunity elsewhere. Sanchez has raked through four games at Triple-A Syracuse, with six walks and six hits (including a home run) against just five strikeouts in 19 plate appearances. The Mets have suffered a rash of injuries behind the plate, leaving the club with Michael Perez backing up top prospect Francisco Alvarez.

Mets Designate Seth Elledge For Assignment, Select Dennis Santana

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According to Tim Britton of The Athletic, the Mets have designated right-hander Seth Elledge for assignment. That clears a spot on the 40-man roster for Dennis Santana, who Tim Healey of Newsday notes has been selected to the 40-man roster and recalled from Triple-A Syracuse. Healey goes on to note that left-hander Joey Lucchesi has been optioned to Triple-A to make room for Santana on the active roster.

Elledge was a 4th round pick by the Mariners in the 2017 draft. He made his MLB debut with the Cardinals in 2020, ultimately pitching to a 4.63 ERA in 23 1/3 innings of work across two seasons before being designated for assignment in October 2021. He later signed with the Braves on a minor league deal the following March, before being added to the 40-man roster in November 2022. He did not ultimately make an appearance for the Braves, as the 26-year-old was designated for assignment in April before being claimed by the Mets.

Now that he’s been DFA’d once again, the rest of the league will have the opportunity to claim Elledge off of waivers. After that, the Mets will have the opportunity to assign Elledge outright to Triple-A, though Elledge can refuse that outright assignment, as he has been assigned outright previously in his career.

Elledge’s departure clears room on the 40-man roster for Santana, who had previously appeared in seven games for the Mets prior to being designated for assignment and sent outright to Triple-A. In those seven appearances, Santana struggled to a 7.04 ERA with a 6.03 FIP in 7 2/3 innings of work, walking five while striking out 10. Prior to his arrival in New York, Santana pitched for the Dodgers and Rangers, working to a 5.12 ERA and 4.15 FIP in 139 innings of work.

Making room for Santana on the active roster is Lucchesi, who heads to Triple-A after starting yesterday’s game against the Nationals, allowing one run over two innings before the game was suspended due to inclement weather. Lucchesi departs the Mets rotation with a 4.43 ERA through five starts (22 1/3 innings). Lucchesi is looking to rebound after missing much of the 2021 campaign and all of 2022 while rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, and figures to serve as key depth going forward for a Mets rotation that has been wrought with injuries throughout the young 2023 campaign.

Latest On Max Scherzer

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  • Jon Heyman of the New York Post suggests that the Mets, while not concerned about the neck issue that caused veteran right-hander Max Scherzer to be scratched from his start earlier in the week, are worried that the 38-year-old’s ailment near the scapula, which caused the club to push back one of his starts in mid-April, could be an issue that Scherzer will need to manage all year. It’s been a difficult start to the 2023 campaign for Scherzer, who has posted a 5.56 ERA in 22 2/3 innings amid multiple injury concerns and a 10-game suspension for violating the league’s policy on foreign substances.
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