Logan Verrett was optioned to the minor leagues on Tuesday to make room for Jenrry Mejia on the active roster.
Both Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins said Verrett simply fell victim of the fact he had an available player option, whereas other candidates for Mejia to replace – such as Alex Torres and Carlos Torres – do not.
In his first appearance back in Las Vegas, Verrett started for the 51s in the second game of a doubleheader on Thursday and pitched five scoreless innings in their 2-0 win over the Salt Lake City Bees.
Presumably, Verrett just became an option to replace Steven Matz in the six-man rotation. The Mets won’t need the sixth starter for a couple of weeks, so Verrett could make one or two more starts with Las Vegas before the Mets recall him. And if the Mets bring him back within 20 days of the optional assignment, they can rescind the player option they used on Tuesday.
However, that still doesn’t mean Verrett should have been demoted.
He unquestionably deserved to be retained even though his performance was based on a small sample size.
But the Mets seemed to have made a decision out of fear of losing other players who, quite frankly, haven’t performed that well. The decision was not based on merit, and it seems like the Mets didn’t make the decision with the absolute best interests of the roster in mind, even if the other two pitchers eventually start pitching better.
Having said that, maybe the decision will serve as a blessing in disguise. And, the Mets did know Matz was dealing with a lat issue when they demoted Verrett, so perhaps the decision wasn’t so terrible after all.
Just Mets 