The Mets are claiming infielder/outfielder Andy Ibáñez off waivers from the Athletics, reports Francys Romero of BeisbolFR. The A’s designated him for assignment a few days ago. The Mets have an open 40-man spot after designating Carl Edwards Jr. for assignment earlier today. Ibáñez is out of options and will need to jump onto the active roster, so they will need to make a corresponding move in that regard when he reports to the team.
Ibáñez, 33, is a utility guy who provides defensive versatility. His offense has been mercurial and is currently at a low ebb. He had solid seasons in 2021 and 2023, with a swoon in 2022. Over the 2024 and 2025 campaigns, he slashed .240/.297/.355 for the Tigers. That production led to an 85 wRC+, indicating he was 15% worse than league average. Detroit could have retained him via arbitration but non-tendered him instead, sending him to free agency.
Teams around the league still believe in his potential. The Dodgers signed him to a one-year, $1.2MM deal in January. The designated him for assignment a couple of weeks later, which may seem odd, but was by design.
Ibáñez has just over three years of service time. Players with at least three years of service have the right to reject outright assignments after clearing waivers. However, if they have less than five, they have to walk away from their salary commitments. The Dodgers were hoping that the contract was enough for other teams to pass on him. Once he passed through waivers, he wouldn’t want to walk away from the $1.2MM, so he would surely stick around as non-roster depth.
The A’s interrupted that plan, claiming him back in February. He stuck around for a few weeks but hit .118/.167/.118 in 18 plate appearances. Despite that poor showing in recent weeks, the Mets are going to take a shot on him.
Ibáñez will at least provide some flexibility off the bench. He has experience at all four infield spots and the outfield corners. His shortstop work consists of just nine innings but he has over 1,000 innings at second base and almost 800 at third, with good numbers to boot. Combining that with improved offense would be ideal but it’s been a few years. His most recent above-average offensive season was 2023, when he hit .264/.312/.433 for a 103 wRC+.
More to come.
