NEW YORK – A complicated week of roster juggling has led to the departure of three Mets players, including a prominent member of the 2020 bullpen.
The Mets named righthanded Brad Brach to free up 40-man roster space on Thursday, completing a series of transactions that included DFA-starting pitcher Corey Oswalt and catcher Ali Sánchez.
When a player is assigned for assignment, that player is immediately removed from his club’s 40-man roster, and the 25-man roster if he was on it. The Mets have seven days from the time of each DFA to trade those players, place them outright, or release them.
Designating players to make room for takeovers is not uncommon, and for the Mets it was necessary; they acquired outfielder Albert Almora, infielder Jonathan Villar and prospect Khalil Lee in the space of less than a week, forcing them to jettison three others from their roster of 40 men.
Less common is appointing someone with a guaranteed contract, such as Brach. Brach, a 2019 trade purchase of the Cubs, later re-signed in New York for a year with a 2021 player option. He then exercised that option, which was inflated to $ 2,075 million as a result of a series of prorated incentives.
As such, Brach thought to reprise his role in the Mets’ bullpen in 2021. But the team subsequently acquired relievers Trevor May and Aaron Loup, among others, reducing Brach’s role.
A New Jersey-born and lifelong Mets fan, Brach also struggled in 2020, missing most of summer camp and the first two weeks of the season due to a COVID-19 diagnosis. The righthanded man posted a 1.50 ERA over his first 11 appearances, but ended his season with three ugly appearances, including eight walks, six runs and a single.
If the Mets are unable to trade Brach, any team claiming to have waivers can sign him to the Major League minimum; the Mets would be on the hook for the difference. Even before Brach was assigned for assignment, the Mets reportedly wanted to keep improving their bullpen with extra depth signings.
Oswalt’s DFA should affect the starting pitching of the Mets in a similar way, with their acquisitions of Joey Lucchesi, Jordan Yamamoto and Sean Reid-Foley covering his possible departure. Oswalt spent the past three seasons as one of the Mets’ replacement rotation options, but struggled in that role, posting a 6.19 ERA across 13 starts and 10 relief appearances. He was much more effective at Triple-A Syracuse, where he posted a 2.91 ERA over 16 starts in 2019.
Sánchez, a defensive catcher, made his Major League-debut last summer, but went into 2021 buried behind James McCann, Tomás Nido and Patrick Mazeika on the depth map.