The New York Mets are in a spot nearly nobody expected them to be in at the end of May. Currently, the blue and orange are 54-48 and in the second wild-card spot, just 0.5 a game back of the Atlanta Braves for the top spot.
With the recent competitiveness, the Mets have been attempting to strengthen their roster as well as gain some 40-man roster flexibility prior to the trade deadline.
On Friday, they made a flurry of moves in an attempt to do just that, including designating a former starter turned reliever for assignment.
The Mets have designated Adrian Houser for assignment
According to a post from the organization on X, the Mets have designated starting pitcher turned reliever Adrian Houser for assignment.
Houser, along with outfielder Tyrone Taylor, came to the blue and orange this past offseason in exchange for pitching prospect Coleman Crow.
The 31-year-old was coming off a solid 2023 when he pitched 111.1 innings across 23 appearances, 21 of which were starts, to a 4.12 ERA with a 1.392 WHIP, and struck out 96, but he failed to replicate those results in Flushing.
Houser struggled as a starter, pitching 33.2 innings across seven starts to an 8.55 ERA with a 1.782 WHIP and 20 strikeouts before being demoted to the bullpen.
After some initial success as a long reliever, the Oklahoma native has struggled recently, allowing nine runs over his last five appearances before being designated for assignment.
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What does this mean for the Mets?
Houser just hasn’t quite looked like the same pitcher in 2024, so the Mets decided to cut bait by designating him for assignment. However, that doesn’t mean the 31-year-old will be walking for nothing, as the blue and orange still have until the deadline to ship him elsewhere, akin to what the Los Angeles Dodgers just did with James Paxton.
With all the clubs desperate for starting pitching and the market being so limited it wouldn’t be surprising if the Mets got something in return for Houser.
Time will tell what happens with the Oklahoma native, but his tenure with the blue and orange appears to have come to an unceremonious conclusion.
