Mets Outright Kyren Paris

The Mets have sent infielder Kyren Paris outright to Triple-A Syracuse after he cleared waivers, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Paris had been designated for assignment last week. This is the first career outright for Paris and he has less than three years of big league service time, so he will have to accept the assignment. It’s a strange birthday present for Paris, who will turn 25 on Wednesday. The Mets claimed him off waivers from the Angels towards the end of October. Paris has not yet qualified for arbitration. In spite of that, a few days after the waiver claim, the Mets announced that they had signed Paris to a deal for 2027 and then designated him for assignment. The financial details of that contract have not been reported. It might seem odd for a club to sign a player and then immediately bump him from the roster but it was by design. Teams do this with the hope that the player’s salary is high enough for other clubs to pass on claiming him from waivers, thus allowing him to stick around as non-roster depth. The player, meanwhile, usually gets paid a minor league salary much higher than the minimum for that level. In this case, it had worked. The Mets can keep Paris without him taking up a spot on the 40-man. He will probably receive a non-roster invite to big league camp in spring training and will try to earn his way back on. Paris was once a prospect of note with the Angels, as that club took him with a second-round pick in 2019. Baseball America ranked him as one of the top prospects in the Halos’ system for much of this decade. His speed and defense are both considered assets. He has frequently racked up double-digit stolen base totals in the minors, including 44 in 2023. With the glove, he has spent most of his time in the middle infield but has also dabbled at all three outfield spots. There are pros and cons with his offense. He can draw walks and do damage with the bat but also strikes out a lot. Over the past four seasons, he stepped to the plate 1,317 times on the farm. His 30.2% strikeout rate in that time was very high but he also drew walks at a strong 14.8% clip and hit 37 home runs. He had a combined .240/.360/.407 line and 103 wRC+. He also made 263 big league plate appearances with a 9.1% walk rate, 38.4% strikeout rate and .147/.238/.272 line. Paris exhausted his final option season in 2026 and is now out of options. He got nudged off the Angels’ roster but the Mets grabbed him and have now put him through waivers unclaimed. Going into 2027, the Mets have Francisco Lindor projected as their shortstop. Second base could go to Brett Baty, Marcus Semien or Ronny Mauricio. Middle infield prospects Jefferson Rojas, Émilien Pitre and Mitch Voit are knocking on the door. Paris will now be in that mix as well. Photo courtesy of Joe Camporeale, Imagn Images View Comments (5)