NEW YORK – A complicated week of juggling on duty led to the departure of three Mets players, including a prominent member of the 2020 bullpen.
The Mets assigned right-hander Brad Brach to free up space in the 40-man squad on Thursday, completing a series of deals that also saw DFA start pitcher Corey Oswalt and catcher Ali Sánchez.
When a player is assigned to an assignment, that player is immediately removed from the list of 40 players in your club, and from the list of 25 men if he was also on that list. The Mets have seven days from the time of each DFA to negotiate these players, place them on permanent waivers or release them.
Assigning players to make room for acquisitions is not uncommon and, for Mets, it was necessary; they acquired outfielder Albert Almora, infielder Jonathan Villar and prospect Khalil Lee in less than a week, forcing them to discard three others from their 40-player roster.
Less common is to designate someone under a guaranteed contract, like Brach. A 2019 commercial acquisition of the Cubs, Brach later resettled in New York for a year with a player option in 2021. Then he exercised that option, which had inflated to $ 2.075 million due to a series of prorated incentives.
As such, Brach thought about reprising his role in the Mets bullpen in 2021. But the team subsequently acquired substitutes Trevor May and Aaron Loup, among others, reducing Brach’s role.
A New Jersey native and longtime fan of the Mets, Brach also struggled in 2020, missing most of the Summer Camp and the first two weeks of the season due to a diagnosis of COVID-19. The right-hand posted an ERA of 1.50 in his first 11 appearances, but ended his season with three ugly outings, which included eight walks, six runs and a single recorded.
If the Mets cannot negotiate with Brach, any team that claims his exemption will be able to hire him at least from the Major League; Mets would be on the hook for the difference. Even before assigning Brach for assignment, the Mets were looking to continue improving their bullpen with additional in-depth signings.
Oswalt’s DFA is expected to affect the Mets’ initial pitch in a similar way, with the acquisitions of Joey Lucchesi, Jordan Yamamoto and Sean Reid-Foley covering his possible exit. Oswalt has spent the past three seasons as one of the Mets’ replacement rotation options, but has struggled in that role, posting an ERA of 6.19 in 13 matches and 10 relief appearances. He was much more effective at Triple-A Syracuse, where he posted an ERA of 2.91 in 16 matches in 2019.
Sánchez, a defensive spirit catcher, made his Premier League debut last summer, but entered 2021 buried behind James McCann, Tomás Nido and Patrick Mazeika at the depth table.