The Mets announced that they have returned the lefty AJ Minter on the 60-day injured list. Additionally, infielder/outfielder Jared Young he was put back on the 10-day injured list with the midfielder Eric Wagaman is selected from the list. In the motion of the parallel operating system, the external player Tyrone Taylor placed on IL for 10 days with a right hip flexor strain, while the right hand Jonathan Pintaro and foreign player Nick Morabito are selected. As for the 40-man spots for Minter and Wagaman, the Mets have one spot. They said a similar move to open another venue would be announced before game time. Tim Britton and Will Sammon of The Athletic reported most of this years before the official announcement.
Minter and the Mets agreed to a two-year, $22MM deal through the 2025 season. They haven’t been able to get much of a return on that investment yet. Minter threw 11 innings last year before a lat strain sent him to the IL and ultimately required season-ending surgery. Here in 2026, he and the Mets begin his spring tour a little behind other pitchers. He started the season in IL but was able to start a rehab assignment in April. Unfortunately, left hip discomfort slowed him down, prompting him to move to the 60-day IL.
Ideally, Minter could now finally provide the Mets with a healthy stretch and positive results. Before this injury odyssey, he was a successful executive for a team rival. From 2020 to 2024, he posted an Atlanta earned run average of 2.85 over 243 innings, striking out 30.1% of the batters he faced during that span. But he’s been injured for nearly two years, actually starting before the Mets signed him, as he dealt with hip problems in 2024 and needed surgery that summer.
Brooks Raley it has been the key to releasing the team this season. Sean Manaea it is also in the bullpen but works more like a mass release. Minter and Raley should be the primary options in situations where lefty relief is needed.
The Mets got off to a rough start, with a 22-32 record, which put them 7.5 games out of a playoff spot. If they can’t move up in position, they can enter the deadline as sellers. Minter and Raley can become free agents, so both would be natural trade candidates if that’s the way things go.
Wagaman was claimed by the Mets last month and was selected in the minors. It wasn’t long before he was withdrawn and released. He has posted a massive .372/.462/.581 line in the 13 games for Syracuse since that claim. He now returns to the 40-man roster.
While it’s nice that Wagaman has been crushing the ball, the caves are working. For one thing, that line came in a limited sample of 52 plates. For one, he had a whopping .424 batting average in balls played during that time. In addition, Wagaman often puts up good minor league numbers. From 2022 to 2024, he had a .276/.348/.473 line and a 131 wRC+ in 897 plate appearances on the farm.
That led to him getting big league opportunities that he was unable to take advantage of. He has a .250/.293/.381 line and an 85 wRC+ in 588 trips to the plate in the majors. The Marlins chose him to work in the winter and sold him to the Twins. Minnesota kept him in the minors to start the year and designated him for assignment for a month during the season, which is when the Mets wanted him.
Wagaman has experience at all four corners, though the Mets have been using him as a first baseman and designated hitter for Syracuse. The Mets are getting the results they deserve Mark Vientos earlier this year. With Jorge Polanco in IL, most DH at-bats went to it MJ Melendez. Although Melendez was red-hot when the Mets first called him up, he has a .119/.288/.167 line since the calendar flipped in May.
In a foreign country, Juan Soto, AJ Ewing, Carson BengeMorabito and Taylor have been splitting work over there. Now that Morabito and Taylor are out, Young will jump in and maybe Wagaman can get some time in the outfield as well.
Photo courtesy of Reinhold Matay, Imagn Images
