The New York Mets have placed four hitters and two pitchers on the waiver wire in order to free up room on the roster heading into the 2023 MLB offseason.
Who the Mets Gave Up To Prepare For a Big Free Agency
Anthony Dicomo of MLB.com reported the news on Twitter on Friday, Oct. 20:
Anthony Kay experienced a spike in ERA after moving to the Mets from the Chicago Cubs in the midst of the season. Kay sported a 7.36 ERA in four games as a Met.
Vinny Nittoli also saw limited time in New York. Over 3.2 innings pitched, he allowed four hits while maintaining an efficient 189 ERA+.
Rafael Ortega produced a lackluster .219/.341/.272 slash line and struck out 33 times in 114 at-bats over 47 games played. Fourth-year veteran Jonathan Araúz appeared in 15 of his 27 games in New York at third base. He committed only one error in the infield but could not find his groove at the plate, with a .136 batting average.
This season marked the first time that catcher Michael Peréz saw less than 100 plate appearances since 2020, only enjoying eight at-bats. Former Chicago White Sox infielder Danny Mendick posted a career-low .509 OPS and four runs in 33 games.
Who the Mets Will Aim For This Offseason
The Mets have been tied to Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Yuki Matsui of the Japanese NPB league. Both international pitchers have several big market franchises, entertaining the possibility of luring them into their organizations.
Shohei Ohtani remains the biggest draw on the free agent market heading into this winter. There have been no concrete reports on any team holding the edge in stealing the former MVP from the Los Angeles Angels.
Albeit, Mets president David Stearns landing the two-way superstar would change the makeup of a pitching staff that finished with a 4.30 ERA and the tenth-worst WHIP (1.36) in the majors in 2023.
Should Kay and the rest of the players clear waivers, they will become free agents themselves, giving the Mets the room to make a play for one or more of the dynamic pitchers or add a dynamic bat to their order.