Cowtipper

Mets Clean House Release: Eris Albino Luis Alvarez Sam Biller Yoralbert Cadiz Taylor Darden Franyel Diaz Jordan Geber Jackson Hauge Nick Lucky Adolfo Miranda Jaylen Palmer - 22nd round pick in 2018 Sam Robertson - 17th round pick in 2025 Jose Rojas Matt Rudick - 13th round pick in 2021 AJ Salgado Jack Scanlon JT Schwartz - 4th round pick in 2021 Jun-Seok Shim Onix Vega Omar Victorino Brandon Waddell Tanner Witt - 14th round pick in 2024 Sucks about Waddell, he was solid last year. Kept waiting for Geber to do something, but he never quite got there. Spent parts of three seasons at Triple-A, but never made the majors. Had some solid numbers, though. Rudick also showed occasional promise, but not enough. Diaz could strike guys out, but couldn't master his control. Same could be said for Victorino, Witt and others. Schwartz was a pretty high pick, but never showed any standout skills in the minors. Robertson had good speed and could draw a walk; they might've wanted to give him a longer look. Nick Lucky wasn't a free agent long, rejoining the independent Lancaster Stormers not long after his release. Onix Vega wasn't a free agent long, either, as he's already latched on with the independent Kansas City Monarchs. Jackson Hauge has returned to his former home, the Hagerstown Flying Boxcars and Taylor Darden has returned to his former home, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs. Nick Roselli, released in July, was signed by the independent Long Island Ducks. Mets signed a youngster named Biguey Santana. Grae Kessinger, released by the Mets in July, later signed with the Pirates. Adbert Alzolay, released at about the same time as Kessinger, later signed with the Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League. Tyler Burch, released by the Mets in June, signed with the indy Gastonia Ghost Peppers a few days ago. John Valle, released by the Mets in June, was quickly signed by the Nationals, who just as quickly released him after a few games in their system.

Dedniel Nunez: Coming off IL on Tuesday. Nunez (elbow) will be activated from the 60-day injured list Tuesday, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports. The Mets traded away most of their bullpen at the deadline aside from closer Devin Williams, so Nunez could be thrust into a high-leverage role right away. The 30-year-old right-hander underwent Tommy John surgery last July and has looked good on his rehab assignment, posting a 3.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 9:5 K:BB in nine innings for Triple-A Syracuse. In his most recent appearance Aug. 1 he appeared to be comfortably sitting around 96 mph with his fastball. Injury: Elbow. Est. Return 8/4/2026.

Dream not realized: We're getting one true prospect in Nathan Lavender, an old career minor leaguer (Yan), a Quadruple-A retread (Pache), another Quadruple-A retread who's actually done well with NY this season (Curry) and a wild card coming off the IL (Nunez). Well, we have two months left to see some young names, I guess.

I knew him as Jimmy Yank-a-boner back in the day.

I think David Stearns has proven to suck, Maybe he could handle a small market team like Milwaukee, but he was a big fish in a small pond there. Not so much in New York. He just can handle it. His unwavering commitment to stick with his methods despite their constant failures is itself a failure. I think these trades might pan out in the future, but, surprise surprise, it's because they're a slightly different tact than what he usually does, which is scratch the bottom of every barrel looking for an infinite number of diamonds in the rough and trading prospects away for veterans that might or might not pan out.

Nate Lavender. Finally.

His contract has been selected. Now the team has two old career minor leaguers on their active roster awaiting their debuts, 31-year-old Bryce Conley and 29-year old Yan.

Well, one move has been announced. 29-year-old Jefry Yan, still averaging 16,6 K/9 this year, has had his contract selected. He's not one of these "young prospects" we want to see, but at least he's not a major league retread.

I knew he did something momentous in 2024, but couldn't remember what it was. I still don't remember what it was, but that above post makes me vaguely recall it even more.

Geniuses like Stearns think too much in theory and think theory and real-life are the same thing.

One more time for those in the back: Acquired Jefferson Rojas from Cubs for Clay Holmes and Tyrone Taylor. Acquired Sammy Stafura from Pirates for Luke Weaver and cash considerations. Acquired Chayce McDermott from Dodgers for Ben Rortvedt. Acquired Luke Gabrysh and John Spikerman from Phillies for Brooks Raley. Acquired Gabe Davis and Zach Franklin from White Sox for Huascar Brazoban. Acquired Aidan Smith, Emilien Pitre and Gary Gill Hill from the Rays for Freddy Peralta. Also, the Mets recalled Xzavion Curry.

Steve Reed (1955-2025) was a right-handed pitcher selected 23rd overall by the Cincinnati Reds in the 1974 amateur draft who spent seven seasons in the minor leagues but never reached the major leagues, finishing with a 37-41 record and a 3.35 ERA in 189 games. He showed early promise with standout seasons in 1974 and 1975 and later briefly reached Triple-A with the Milwaukee Brewers organization before retiring after the 1980 season.

Rentaro Imanishi (1924-2026) was a Japanese right-handed pitcher who played 10 seasons in Nippon Pro Baseball from 1946 to 1955, compiling an 88-102 record with a 3.23 ERA over 1,690⅓ innings while spending time with the Hankyu Braves, Taiyo Whales, and Toei Flyers. He enjoyed his best years with Hankyu in the late 1940s, winning 21 games in 1947 and 23 in 1948, before retiring after the 1955 season. Perry Pelekoudas (1934-2026) was a longtime minor league umpire whose career spanned multiple leagues beginning in 1959, and although he was named to the National League umpiring staff for 1972, he never worked a major league game. A member of a notable baseball family, he was the brother of major league umpire Chris Pelekoudas and the uncle of baseball executive Lee Pelekoudas.

Today's hint: This New Hampshire-born left-handed pitcher reached the majors for the first time at age 28 after seven seasons in the minors and made the most of his brief opportunity. In his only big league season, he went 3–0 with a 1.50 ERA in 14 bullpen appearances for the 1995 Mets, yet never pitched another major league game.

Always gave off the douchebag vibe, but you can't judge a book by its cover because he really wasn't a douchebag. His 2024 was awesome. He wasn't great, but he was steady-Eddie and always reliable. One of those unsung heroes of that 2024 campaign. By 2025, I was over him and wanted him gone. And for most of 2026, I felt that way, too. But then he redeemed himself with a memorable walk-off in May, which I remember watching, and an astounding run toward the end of his tenure. He finished his 2026 with the Mets with a slugging mark over .500. Whodathunk that would happen. From July 4, onward, he hit .341/.438/.951 with 7 home runs, 14 RBI and 13 runs scored in 41 at-bats. Half of his hits went out of the park, and another four were doubles. Shades of Glenallen Hill or Matt Carpenter (if anyone remembers those). He was solid overall.

Well, the upside is the Mets did the opposite of what they often do, which is trade solid prospects for wild card veterans. Rather, they traded solid veterans for wild card prospects. We got some legitimately good ones in this deal. And thankfully, none that have no upside. A lot of them are filler, but not necessarily filler that will peak at Single-A and never do anything. Now, the Mets have to keep those prospects, instead of doing their other habit of ditching them before they're even 24 or 25 (unless you're Baty or Vientos for some reason). Speaking of Baty and Vientos, they're two I would have liked to see traded. Alvarez always had the most upside out of all of them and is the youngest, so I've always been more hesitant to trade him. Baty and Vientos fit the standard "Mets top prospect" profile -- super hyped in Metsdom, but zoom out and compare them to the talent in the rest of baseball and they're pretty 'meh.' But Alvarez was/is a notch above them. Also speaking of Baty and Vientos, the Mets should've done even more gutting. Shock therapy -- rip the Band-Aid off now so we can have a few great years down the line. Baty, Vientos, Robert, Polanco, Williams, Senga, Bichette, Myers, Semien, Manaea, and let's not forget Megill, Garrett. All could've/should've gone if suitors were out there. They're too old and/or their contracts aren't long enough for them to be there for the future we're building. Soto and Lindor have long enough contracts and should still be good enough for when the time comes, hence they're not on the list. That would've given us a core of Soto, Lindor, Benge, Ewing, McLean, Scott, Thornton and Alvarez, Baty, Vientos et al were intended for the future that never happened, so it's time to say goodbye. The guys I would've kept will likely be there for the future that could very well happen.

Stragglers: Baltimore Orioles acquired Codi Heuer from Brewers for cash considerations. Baltimore Orioles acquired Rece Hinds from Marlins for cash considerations. Baltimore Orioles acquired cash considerations from the Pirates for Johnathan Rodriguez. Cincinnati Reds acquired Juan Brito from Guardians for cash considerations. Cincinnati Reds acquired $250K of international bonus pool money from Cardinals for Caleb Ferguson. Los Angeles Angels acquired Kyle Robinson from Pirates for Kirby Yates. Happened a while ago, but just to be thorough: Detroti Tigers acquired cash from the Mets for Matt Seelinger.

The Pirates acquired right-hander Lake Bachar from the Marlins in exchange for prospects Brandan Bidois, Hyun Seung Lee, and Brian Sanchez.

The Diamondbacks acquired outfielder Lars Nootbaar from the Cardinals in exchange for left-hander Sandro Santana, right-hander Daniel Eagan, and a player to be named later. The Yankees acquired outfielder Heliot Ramos from the Giants in exchange for left-hander Henry Lalane and shortstop Kaeden Kent.

News of trades are still rolling in, so maybe the savior blockbuster trade is still to come.

The Rays acquired right-hander Tyler Wells from the Orioles in exchange for prospect Michael Forret. The Guardians acquired first baseman Nathaniel Lowe from the Reds in exchange for pitching prospect Alejandro Rivera. The Padres acquired pitcher Casey Mize and infielder Gage Workman from the Tigers in exchange for left-handers Kash Mayfield and Jackson Wolf. The Rays traded catcher Hunter Feduccia and minor league pitcher Jacob Kmatz to the Dodgers for minor league outfielder Jack Suwinski and international bonus pool money. The Athletics acquired reliever Seth Johnson from the Phillies in exchange for outfielder Colby Thomas. An update on this trade: The Red Sox acquired left-handed reliever Erik Miller and outfield prospect Carlos Gutierrez from the Giants in exchange for former top infield prospect Marcelo Mayer.

The Marlins acquired reliever Victor Vodnik from the Rockies in exchange for infielder Connor Norby and minor league pitcher Aiden May.

Astoundingly, one of the Mets longest-tenured players when he was traded. A very good reliever who never had a bad season in New York. Was with the Mets for four seasons, but played only one full season with them. Had a 2.31 ERA and 181 ERA+ in his Mets career. Very impressive guy, especially considering he didn't join the Mets until he was 35.

15 minutes left! The Twins acquired right-hander Jeff Hoffman from the Blue Jays in exchange for minor leaguers Dasan Hill, John Klein, and Dameury Pena. The Red Sox are acquiring left-handed reliever Erik Miller from the Giants in exchange for former top infield prospect Marcelo Mayer, pending medical reviews. The Astros acquired center fielder Daulton Varsho from the Blue Jays for right-hander Spencer Arrighetti, with Toronto covering part of Varsho’s contract. The Guardians acquired left-hander Foster Griffin from the Nationals in exchange for Will Dion, Josh Hartle, Kendeglys Virguez, and Nick Mitchell.

I remember him being an odd-looking duck. Strange eyes. Also remember not being too impressed by him, save for this year. I was cautiously optimistic with him this year, expecting the rug to be pulled out from underneath us, but it never happened. I remember too many meltdowns and unimpressive performances. I didn't quite like his acquisition when we got him in 2024, and he proved why when he pitched that year. 2025 was better, but too inconsistent. I remember he started off insanely well -- he had 1.62 ERA through his first 30 games. After that, his mark was 6.75. Unfortunately, that was from mid-June onward, so we had to deal with mediocrity for a while. In 2026, I was kind of rooting for him to make the All-Star team.