The Mets will select Christopher Morel‘s contract from Triple-A Syracuse prior to Monday’s game with the Padres, according to Mike Rodriguez of Rompiendo Sports. In addition to a corresponding 26-man roster move, New York will also need to make room for Morel on the 40-man roster.
Morel signed a minor league deal with the Mets right at the end of June, and he has already passed on one of three opt-out dates within the contract. July 15 marked the first of those three opt-outs, and while the other two dates weren’t known, it is fair to assume that August 15 may have been the second or perhaps final opt-out opportunity.
Contract clauses notwithstanding, Morel also might’ve earned his latest ticket to the majors the old-fashioned way — by posting huge numbers. Morel has hit a whopping .321/.382/.716 with 12 homers over his 123 plate appearances for Syracuse, so the Mets may simply have interest in seeing if Morel can continue anything close to this hot streak against MLB pitching.
Morel posted similarly big numbers in the Cubs’ farm system in 2022-23, and he also hit .241/.311/.471 with 42 homers over 854 PA in the majors over those two seasons. He managed 24 homers for the Cubs and Rays in 2024 but Morel has batted only .201/.283/.351 in his last 989 big league plate appearances. The Rays non-tendered Morel last winter and he signed a one-year, $2MM guarantee with the Marlins, but Miami designated Morel for assignment and subsequently released him after he posted a .425 OPS with 28 strikeouts in his 73 PA for the Fish.
The Marlins are still responsible for the remainder of that $2MM salary, so the Mets will owe Morel just the prorated league minimum salary for his time on the active roster. For a New York team that is well out of playoff contention, there’s no risk in bringing Morel to the Show to see if he may have really unlocked something during his time with Syracuse.
Long considered a question mark on defense, Morel has been used at several positions over his career without sticking anywhere. Syracuse continued this trend by using Morel at first base, second base, third base, and both corner outfield slots during his brief time with the team. The Mets could also deploy Morel in this utilityman fashion, so one of Cristian Pache or Gabriel Arias figures to be the odd man out if Morel steps in as a right-handed hitting bench option.
