Right-hander Luis García has been released by the Mets, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He was designated for assignment on the weekend. He’ll head to free agency once he clears release waivers, if he hasn’t already.
García, 39, is a veteran with over ten years of service time. Any player with at least five years of service has the right to reject an outright assignment to the minor leagues while also keeping his salary commitments in place. It seems the Mets have decided to skip over the formality of that process.
The Mets signed García to a one-year, $1.75MM deal in the offseason. That’s relatively modest by the standards of big league contracts these days, though the Mets also face a huge tax bill as a repeated tax payor with a massive competitive balance tax number.
Despite making that financial commitment to García, the club quickly decided to pull the ripcord. He made six appearances, logging 6 1/3 innings. He allowed five earned runs via 11 hits and two walks while striking out four. It certainly wasn’t a good performance but that’s a tiny sample of work.
Despite his age, García was a solid relief arm as recently as last year. He tossed 55 1/3 innings for three different clubs with a 3.42 earned run average. His 20.6% strikeout rate and 11.2% walk rate weren’t amazing but he induced grounders at a strong rate of 49.7%.
Presumably, the Mets signed him because they thought he could still be effective in 2026 but they have quickly given up on that. Perhaps they were worried by his diminished stuff. His sinker averaged 96.9 miles per hour last year but has been at 94 mph so far this season, while his splitter and slider are also down about two ticks.
Garcia should land with another club shortly. Since the Mets are releasing him, they will remain on the hook for his salary. Another club could sign him and would only have to pay him the prorated portion of the league minimum for any time he spends on their roster. Given all the pitching injuries around the league, there will surely be clubs interested in a veteran arm who can be had for a minimal financial commitment.
Photo courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images
