Mets Claim Cameron Weston

The Mets announced that they have claimed right-hander Cameron Weston off waivers from the Orioles and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse. Baltimore had designated him for assignment earlier this week. To open a 40-man spot for him today, the Mets have designated catcher Shawn Ross for assignment. Weston, 26, was an eighth-round pick of the Orioles back in 2022. He was added to the club’s 40-man roster in May but made just one appearance, throwing one scoreless inning, before getting optioned back to the minors. That’s the entirety of his big league track record so far. The Mets are presumably intrigued by his minor league work. He doesn’t have overwhelming stuff but has an interesting arsenal. Back in April, FanGraphs ranked him 14th in the Orioles’ system, noting that he has a fastball, slider, changeup, splitter and cutter. Per the Statcast data on his FanGraphs page, he has thrown three pitches this year, characterized as a sinker, slider and forkball. The scouting report gives him a floor of a depth starter thanks to that mixture, with the possibility for more depending on how things play out. The rotation in Queens has lots of uncertainty in it. Freddy Peralta, Clay Holmes and David Peterson were all traded this year. Kodai Senga has been moved to the bullpen. They are currently giving the ball to Nolan McLean, Christian Scott, Zac Thornton, Sean Manaea, Robert Stock and Justin Hagenman. Stock is a 36-year-old journeyman who surely isn’t in the long-term plans. Thornton and Hageman are largely unproven, with a combined 21 big league games between them. The Mets will surely make moves to address this group in the offseason but it’s rare that a team gets through a season using only five, six or even seven starters. All teams rely on Triple-A depth and Weston will still be optionable for two seasons after this one. To add that pitching depth, the Mets are potentially losing some catching depth, although Ross was just claimed off waivers from the Pirates a month ago. The Mets have Francisco Alvarez and Luis Torrens in the big leagues, with Hayden Senger on optional assignment in Triple-A, so perhaps they felt Ross wasn’t as important for them in the long run. Since the trade deadline has passed, Ross will have to be placed on waivers. Catching depth is usually in demand, so backstops with options can often draw interest, even if they have flaws in their profiles. That’s certainly the case with Ross, who has some pop and takes his walks but also has big strikeout issues. His big league track record consists of just five plate appearances so far. In 245 minor league trips to the plate this year, he has 11 home runs and a huge 16.7% walk rate but an eye-popping 37.6% strikeout rate. If he were to pass through waivers unclaimed, he would have to accept an outright assignment because he does not have a previous career outright nor does he have at least three years of big league service time. Photo courtesy of Daniel Kucin Jr., Imagn Images