The Mets signed outfielder Eddie Rosario to a minor league contract, the group’s Triple-A membership with Syracuse introduced this night. Pat Ragazzo of Sports activities Illustrated first reported the settlement on Tuesday (X hyperlink). The veteran outfielder elected free company after being designated for task by the Braves over the weekend.
Rosario is now on his third NL East membership of the season. He started the 12 months on a minor league cope with the Nationals. Rosario broke camp with Washington, securing a $2MM base wage within the course of, and went on to play 67 video games. He hit simply .183/.226/.329, sandwiching a stable efficiency in Might with nearly no manufacturing in April or June. The Nats minimize Rosario free after they promoted prime prospect James Wooden at first of July.
Atlanta then circled again to their previous left fielder. The Braves inked Rosario to a minor league pact and nearly instantly known as him up. It by no means appeared possible that Atlanta would get the type of scorching streak that helped propel them to a World Collection title three years in the past. They had been presumably hoping for one thing near final 12 months’s league common .255/.305/.450 displaying. Rosario’s return to Truist Park didn’t reinvigorate his bat. He hit .154/.181/.282 by means of 84 journeys to the plate earlier than being launched.
This has been a career-worst displaying for the 10-year MLB veteran. Rosario carries a .175/.215/.316 slash in 319 plate appearances between the 2 groups. No hitter with 300+ PAs has a decrease on-base mark. Solely Mitch Garver (.167) has a decrease common, whereas Rosario is seventh from the underside in slugging. That makes it troublesome for a group to proceed affording him huge league alternatives, however there’s no draw back for New York in taking a minor league flier. Rosario has been a really streaky hitter all through his profession, so the Mets may give him a while with Syracuse to see if he can discover his kind.
No matter whether or not he makes it to the massive leagues in Queens, Rosario will probably be a free agent subsequent offseason. It’s a depth pickup for the stretch run for a group that’s only a sport out of the playoff race. The Mets have Brandon Nimmo, Harrison Bader and Jesse Winker as their major outfield. J.D. Martinez is locked in at designated hitter, whereas Tyrone Taylor is working because the fourth outfielder. Lefty-hitting Ben Gamel is on the roster as a fifth outfielder/bench bat, whereas DJ Stewart is on non-compulsory task to Syracuse. Barring damage, Rosario would presumably have to outplay each Gamel and Stewart to get a chance at Citi Area.
Rosario could be eligible for postseason play with New York. A participant can take part within the playoffs as long as they’re in that group by September 1. It’s not mandatory for the Mets to name Rosario up earlier than that date to get him on the postseason roster; the league routinely permits groups to name gamers up as damage substitutes in the event that they had been enjoying on a non-roster contract by the beginning of September. Rosario would actually need to catch hearth to make {that a} consideration even when the Mets snag a Wild Card spot.
