The Mets have acquired utility player Vidal Bruján from the Twins for cash considerations, and to make room for him on their 40-man roster, they’ve also designated left-handed pitcher Richard Lovelady
for assignment.
Entering his age-28 season, Bruján has struggled pretty mightily at the plate in his major league career despite having been a consensus top-100 prospects from 2019 through 2022. He’s made 645 plate appearances in total over the past five seasons, playing for five different teams, and has hit .199/.267/.276 with five home runs, 16 stolen bases, and a 54 wRC+. He’s accumulated -2.0 fWAR over the course of his career thus far, and it would be somewhat surprising if he were to make it to the end of spring training without being designated for assignment.
As for Lovelady, this isn’t his first, second, or third time getting DFA’d by the Mets, as this marks the fourth time the team has removed him from the 40-man roster in less than a year. Despite the previous three instances and the 8.49 ERA that Lovelady had in the big leagues last year, the Mets signed him to a one-year major league contract in October. We’ll see if he remains with the Mets after this one.
