The Angels have claimed Robert Carson off of waivers, and the Dodgers have done likewise with Mike Baxter. The Mets also announced that pitchers Sean Henn and Greg Burke have been outrighted off of the 40 man roster. The roster currently stands at 36.
Carson, 24, has had two stints with the Mets over the past couple seasons and has not been impressive, posting a combined 6.82 ERA in 31 relief appearances. The hard-throwing lefty spent most of the 2013 season the 51s, where he had a 4.06 ERA in 43 relief appearances. He was originally drafted by the Mets in the 14th round of the 2007 draft.
Baxter was selected off of waivers by the Mets from the Padres back in the summer of 2011. The 2012 campaign was easily his best, where he served as the team's fourth outfielder while hitting .263 with a .365 on-base percentage in 89 games. He didn't find the same success last year, hitting .189 with a .303 on-base percentage in 74 games with New York.
Henn was signed to a minor league deal by the Mets in April 2013, and had a 3.38 ERA in 4 relief appearances. He spent most of the year in Las Vegas, where he had a 2.81 ERA in 52 relief appearances.
Burke was signed as a free agent by the Mets in November 2012. He was expected to be a low-risk, potential moderate reward free agent, and he ended up disappointing. His 5.68 ERA in 32 big league appearances wasn't too impressive, and neither was his 4.55 ERA in 31 appearances with the 51s.
Even though Carson showed promise, he was way too inefficient to be considered a long-term piece for this team. The left-handed specialist job was wide open, and it seemed that every time he was called upon he would disappoint. He isn't arbitration eligible until the 2016 season, so the Angels have a few years of team control under him. If he can find a way to work on his control, and make his fastball more effective, he could be a semi-decent pitcher in this game.
Baxter's 2013 campaign was a big setback in his career. He was strongly considered to be the team's 4th outfielder coming out of camp, but struggled early on, leading to an eventual demotion to the minor leagues. Despite his heroics in Johan Santana's no-hitter one year ago, he hasn't really done much for the Mets over the last few years, being a fringe player at best. The Dodgers will likely just store him away as outfield depth, and he'll continue to be a backup player for them.
As for Henn and Burke, both were brought in on low-risk deals, and did not really prove anything with the Mets. Henn was solid in Triple-A, and did somewhat well in his handful of appearances for the varsity club, but Burke on the other hand struggled in both levels. They'll likely start the 2014 season in Triple-A, and possibly be considered for a roster spot if they find success there.
The Mets will certainly be making more of these roster-cutting moves. They still need to add Jacob deGrom, Jeff Walters, Greg Peavey, Cory Vaughn, and Steven Matz to the 40 man roster to protect them from the Rule V draft. Also, the eight players on the disabled list, which include Matt Harvey and Bobby Parnell, will need to be added to the roster as well within five days after the World Series.
Adam Rubin of ESPN New York recently suggested that the Mets could cut Jordany Valdespin, Scott Atchison, Zack Lutz, Kirk Nieuwenhuis, and Andrew Brown (as well as Baxter, Carson, Henn and Burke) to make room on the roster.
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