MLB roster cuts: Mets DFA Canó, Yankees option Andújar
By Jake Mintz & Jordan Shusterman
FOX Sports MLB Writers
As the calendar flipped to May, all 30 front offices had some big decisions to make.
In response to the shortened spring training and quick ramp-up to a delayed Opening Day following the lockout, MLB opted to expand active rosters from 26 to 28 players through the end of April. So with April now behind us, teams were required to trim a pair of players as rosters returned to the customary 26-man limit.
The bulk of these moves involved players who were already on the fringes of rosters, guys likely used to bouncing back and forth between the big leagues and Triple-A. But some moves caught our eye more than others, so let’s get into the most interesting cuts on a day when the number of active spots on big-league rosters shrunk from 840 to 780, beginning, of course, in Queens:
Mets DFA Robinson Canó
In the end, it was unceremonious.
Robinson Canó — who once upon a time seemed destined for Cooperstown before he twice tested positive for PEDs and had his on-field production fall off a cliff — was designated for assignment Monday afternoon by the New York Mets. With the league’s 28-man roster period expiring, Canó (and his $24 million salary) was one of two players squeezed off the roster.
Why Canó?
To put it bluntly: He was stinking up the farm. Canó was just 8-for-41 with a single home dinger in the early going, and at 39 years old, he’s a horrific defender at second base. The Mets have the second-best record in baseball and ambitions of October champagne celebrations, and so the Mets could not carry dead weight.
In the days preceding Monday’s deadline, there was much speculation about who would be sent a-packing. The other candidates tossed around — namely, Luis Guillorme and Dominic Smith — proved themselves too valuable to cut. Guillorme can play shortstop on days the Mets wish to rest Francisco Lindor, something no one else on the roster is capable of (Canó included).
Smith was perhaps Canó’s biggest "competition," as both are defensively limited, left-handed swingers. Before his four-hit game Sunday against Philly, he had been seriously struggling at the plate, going 2-for-16, and he looked in danger of getting the heave-ho. Maybe his big performance on national TV saved him, or maybe Canó was already cooked, but either way, Smith racking up four knocks certainly didn’t hurt.
In all reality, considering his abysmal hitting so far, there were only two reasons Canó might have stayed with the Mets: (1) His role as a generally liked veteran in the clubhouse, especially among the Latin players and (2) the enormity of his contract. Steve Cohen and his deep pockets were intelligent enough to identify the latter as sunk cost, and the former didn’t matter enough at the end of the day.
See ya, Robbie.
What happens now?
Canó will go through waivers and could, in theory, be claimed by one of the other 29 clubs. But that won’t happen because nobody is paying him $24 million to be a one-dimensional bench bat that probably can’t hit. Most likely, he’ll pass through waivers unclaimed, at which point he’ll either report to Triple-A Syracuse or elect free agency, as is his right as a player with more than three years of service time.
He’ll almost certainly choose to elect free agency because do you really think Canó is going to grind it out in the International League with Travis Blankenhorn and Patrick Mazeika? Chances are somebody will give Canó one last shot and the MLB minimum — think 2021 Albert Pujols to the Dodgers — to see if new scenery might squeeze a few more homers out of him.
But if that doesn’t happen, and this is the end of Robinson Canó, Major League Baseball player, what a sad ending it would be. Canó once stood at the summit of our sport, cooler than the other side of the pillow, smoother than a clean shave, richer than god. Nobody — not even Ken Griffey Jr. — had a more nonchalant swing that produced such prodigious power. — J.M.
OTHER NOTABLE MOVES
Rangers option Willie Calhoun
This was one of the more surprising subtractions across the league, as Calhoun had seemingly entered this season squarely a part of Texas’ plans. While he exhibited near-elite plate discipline in the early going, Calhoun reportedly was not elevating the ball or producing enough power for the Rangers to think they could continue to give him regular at-bats, so back to the minors he went.
It has been a tumultuous partnership between the Rangers and Calhoun since he arrived as the headliner in the Yu Darvish trade at the 2017 deadline, and it never quite felt like they were on the same page about how important he was to the next good Rangers team. That said, early in his baseball career, Calhoun was in a situation where he wasn’t wanted, he got the change of scenery he badly needed, and he ultimately flourished because of it.
Could that happen again at the big-league level? It remains to be seen.
Yankees option Miguel Andújar
While there are indeed rules that limit the number of times a team can send a player to the minors, the bizarre trajectory of Andújar’s career since he finished second in the 2018 AL Rookie of the Year voting has made it feel like he has been optioned 10,000 times already.
Yet here we are again, with Andújar the odd man out of another Yankees roster crunch. Things are going great in the Bronx right now, so Andújar’s situation isn’t exactly pressing, but you have to wonder if his time as a meaningful contributor in New York is nearing an end. Injuries have clearly dampened his ability to produce the past few seasons, so it’s tough to tell what his true talent level is at this stage.
That said, it’s also difficult to tell if the Yankees are still holding on to him because they value his talent as depth or because the perception of Andújar as a player has lessened so much that he doesn’t have nearly the trade value one might assume. Either way, it’s looking like another frustrating year of yo-yoing between New York and Scranton for the 27-year-old.
One of the reasons the Rays can consistently trade away good major-leaguers and continue to contend in the AL East is their staggering amount of depth at the upper levels of the minors in the form of both high-end prospects and competent call-ups. When Tampa Bay opted to trade All-Star Austin Meadows to the Tigers a few days before Opening Day, Lowe, a 24-year-old outfielder and former first-round pick, seemed like the obvious candidate to come up quickly and fill Meadows’ shoes.
His future is likely still awfully bright, but his first go against big-league pitching was a struggle, as he hit just .188 with a 38% strikeout rate in his first 71 MLB plate appearances across 19 games. Struggles such as these are hardly uncommon, of course, and are in no way a referendum on his long-term potential, but Tampa Bay will need to rely more on guys such as Harold Ramirez and Brett Phillips to step up while Lowe gets back on track at Triple-A Durham.
There sure were flashes of brilliance, though, including this majestic blast to center field for his first career homer.
Don’t be surprised if Lowe tears it up in Triple-A and earns a return to the big leagues in time to help the Rays down the stretch.
Mariners option Justus Sheffield
A bullpen chock-full of breakout reclamation projects was a huge part of why the 2021 Mariners were able to win 90 games despite their pitiful run differential. But one odd feature of last year’s tremendous relief corps was the reliance primarily on just one southpaw over the course of the season: Anthony Misiewicz. Misiewicz was perfectly solid, but asking him to do the same in 2022 seems unrealistic if the Mariners are serious about contending.
Sheffield, known as the headliner in the James Paxton trade a few years back, was never much of an option in 2021, as he struggled mightily all season. But he did seem like a candidate to move to the bullpen full-time if he could figure out a way to be the second lefty option for manager Scott Servais, especially after the team opted not to add any significant southpaw relievers in the offseason.
Instead, after a few respectable low-leverage outings to start the season, it appears that Sheffield will head back to Tacoma, leaving Misiewicz as the lone lefty once again. While Sheffield continues to work on things, keep an eye out for familiar face Roenis Elias, who could be preparing to return to the big leagues for what would be his third stint in Seattle. — J.S.
Jake Mintz and Jordan Shusterman, creators of the Twitter account Céspedes Family BBQ, write about all things baseball for FOX Sports.