The New York Mets have announced RHP Peyton Battenfield, RHP John Curtiss, RHP Elieser Hernández, RHP Bryce Montes de Oca, RHP Denyi Reyes, and OF Tim Locastro have been placed on outright waivers. This creates six open spaces on the 40 man roster in advance of free agency beginning on November 6.
Battenfield and Hernández did not throw a pitch for the Major League club this season. Due to injury, Hernández only made eight minor league appearances during the season.
Curtiss and Reyes bounced between Triple-A and the majors over the course of the season. Curtiss was arbitration eligible, and he was a non-tender candidate before being released.
Locastro dealt with injuries and spent most of the season on the IL. He played 43 games posting a 0.4 WAR. Like Curtiss, he was a non-tender candidate prior to the club making this decision.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of this group was Montes de Oca. Montes de Oca, 27, appeared slated to make the 2023 opening day roster before needing to undergo Tommy John surgery on the eve of the season.
Bryce Montes de Oca:
101.2 mph, 17 inches of horizontal break
— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) September 11, 2022
Montes de Oca does have minor league three options remaining. If he goes unclaimed, the Mets do have the option to assign him to the minors. The same is also true for Battenfield.
Like with recently claimed reliever Penn Murfee, Montes de Oca will not be available at the start of the season as he will be rehabbing. Of note, Montes de Oca’s surgery occurred three months prior to Murfee’s.
The Mets have had a flurry of activity releasing players after David Stearns was hired as president of baseball operations. It should be noted this is what every organization does at the end of the season, and is therefore not being driven solely by a new person in charge of player personnel decisions.
