The New York Mets season has turned around as the blue and orange currently sits in the final Wild Card spot despite that seemingly unfathomable back in late May.
With the Mets’ newfound competitiveness, president of baseball operations David Stearns has made some moves to improve the roster’s depth. One of those moves came on Thursday when Stearns inked catcher Logan Porter to a major league contract after the Arizona native triggered a contract opt-out 48 hours earlier.
To make space for Porter on the 40-man roster, the Mets had to designate a veteran reliever for assignment.
The Mets have designated Cole Sulser for assignment
According to a post from the organization on X, the Mets have designated relief pitcher Cole Sulser for assignment in a corresponding move to the signing of Porter.
Sulser came to the Mets on a minor league contract this past offseason and had a cup of coffee in the big leagues, pitching 4.2 innings across four appearances to a 9.64 ERA with a 1.929 WHIP and seven strikeouts.
The 34-year-old fared much better pitching for Triple-A Syracuse, throwing 30.1 innings across 24 appearances, one of which was a start, to a 1.48 ERA with 1.055 WHIP and 34 strikeouts while also picking up a pair of saves.
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What does this mean for the Mets?
The move to get rid of Sulser makes plenty of sense despite his stellar Triple-A numbers. The California native has never shined at the big league level across his lengthy career, and the Mets desperately needed the roster spot to have a third catcher in case either Luis Torrens or Francisco Álvarez got injured.
There is still a chance that Sulser could remain in the organization if he went unclaimed, but for now, it seems like the 34-year-old’s time with the blue and orange has come to a conclusion.
