The Mets signed infielder Ty Kelly to a minor league deal on Monday, according to a source. It’s not clear if the pact includes an invitation to spring training, but signings of this nature usually do.
The 29-year-old has hit .280/.381/.381 in the minor leagues since the Baltimore Orioles drafted him in 2009.
Kelly originally signed with the Mets in November of 2015 and made his major league debut the next May after spending seven seasons in the minor leagues. In 58 at-bats across 39 major league games in 2016, Kelly hit .241 with a home run and seven RBI. He notably picked up one of only four hits against Madison Bumgarner in the 2016 National League Wild Card game.
After making the opening day roster in 2017, Kelly was designated for assignment and claimed off waivers by the Toronto Blue Jays, who traded him to the Philadelphia Phillies 12 days later. Kelly spent the majority of last season in a limited bench role with the Phillies, hitting .193 with two home runs and 14 RBI in 69 games. Only 14 of those appearances were starts.
As a versatile depth option, there isn’t much to dislike about the signing. As was the case in 2015, Kelly will be one of the first infielders with a shot to be added to the 40-man roster mid-season.
How many retreads must we watch?????
The only benefit I see is he provides depth in LV…
You won’t have to watch him – he’ll be in Vegas. This was a minor legue signing. Every team in baseball sugns several players of this type every winter.
Not sure what kind of depth he provides. The system is already overloaded with AAA-caliber infielders and at least a couple of them will be forced into the OF or down to AA.
Actually, i think there is something to dislike about this signing. Ordinarily, I don’t trash these types of signings. Every organization inks a few of these types every winter. Its just standard operating procedure.
But in this case, they’re adding another body to an over-crowded Vegas infield.
All this serves to do is reduce someone else’s playing time.
Kelly can play all three outfield positions passably, so I imagine he’ll get some time out there in AAA.
It doesn’t make a difference, nor does it help any.
Reynolds, McNeil, and Evans are all better OFs than Kelly already. All will need to play the OF in order to get the appropriate amount of playing time. And each of them has either more value now (Reynolds), more uspide for the future (McNeil), or both now and the future (Evans).
Kelly simply adds no value to the equation, but takes playing time away from others who are more deserving.
And by the way, his OF play is bad, not passable, both IMO and by the metrics.