The New York Mets designated Carl Edwards Jr. for assignment recently, and now he's chosen free agency.
The New York Mets made a series of player moves recently with their latest injury to backup shortstop Ronny Mauricio, and right-hander Carl Edwards Jr. was the odd man out. Edwards has now elected to go to free agency, but he could be back with the Mets in a matter of days, according to a report by Anthony Franco of MLBTradeRumors.com via Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.
Edwards was designated for assignment by the Mets last Thursday, although he did make a couple of appearances during the six days he was on the active roster.
The veteran actually did well in those appearances, as he struck out 11 across six innings of one-run ball. Edwards issued four walks, which was concerning, but he only allowed three hits, and his rate of swinging strikes was significant at 17.2 percent.
Those six innings actually matched his entire MLB workload last year, as it occurred over four games split between the the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels. He failed to record an out in his only MLB appearance in 2024, according to Franco, and Edwards hasn’t had an extended look for a big league club since he was a member of the Washington Nationals three years ago.
Instead, he’s spent much of that time on a variety of minor league contracts, which is how the Mets got him. He’s been a reliever for most of his career, but Edwards did start four games for Triple-A Syracuse before the Mets called him up. Edwards did sub in as a starter of sorts as the Mets shuffled their rotation last week, but the fact that he did well could make an impression going forward.
There’s a chance the Mets will sign him to a new minor league deal within the coming days, which would mean Edwards would find a home of sorts, but that’s up in the air given the way things are going with the Mets these days.
The back end of the Mets rotation has been a mess, with Sean Manaea in the bullpen, Kodai Senga hurt and David Peterson struggling before he got his first win of the season today against the Colorado Rockies. The Mets had to use two openers to nurse Peterson through his outing, though, so there’s a good chance Edwards could be back in a similar role unless another team notices him and wants to give the wayward reliever a better shot at a genuine role.