Mets left-hander Adam Kolarek rejected an outright assignment to Triple-A Syracuse after clearing waivers and elected free agency, per the transaction log at MiLB.com. Outfielder Abraham Almonte, also designated by the Mets over the weekend, went unclaimed and has been assigned outright to Syracuse as well. Like Kolarek, Almonte has the right to elect free agency, but there’s no indication yet that he’s chosen to do so.
Kolarek, 34, now stands as an interesting, last-minute depth addition for playoff hopefuls seeking to stockpile bullpen arms in advance of Friday’s postseason eligibility deadline. The sidearm southpaw has appeared in parts of seven big league seasons, logging a combined 3.62 ERA with a well below-average 15.9% strikeout rate but strong command (6.8% walk rate) and a mammoth 63.9% ground-ball rate. He’s tossed six shutout innings with a 7-to-1 K/BB ratio between the Dodgers and Mets in 2023, plus another 35 1/3 innings of 2.55 ERA ball in Triple-A (albeit with an uncharacteristic 13.5% walk rate in that time).
Kolarek struggled with the A’s in 2021-22 (5.74 ERA in 26 2/3 innings) but has had success at every other stop in his big league career, including with the Rays, Dodgers (two stints) and Mets. He’s not a hard thrower (as is the case with most sidearmers), but he’s held opponents to an ugly 87.2 mph exit velocity in his career and allowed less than a third of the batted balls against him at 95 mph or more — both strong marks. He’ll presumably draw some interest on a minor league deal from a playoff hopeful, and with rosters set to expand to 28 players on Friday, a return path to the big leagues could be all the more realistic.
As for the 34-year-old Almonte, he went 1-for-15 with eight punchouts in 16 plate appearances with the Mets. The journeyman outfielder has suited up for eight teams in parts of 11 seasons at the MLB level. He’s typically been a reserve outfielder, never topping 258 plate appearances in a season, and is a career .233/.300/.371 batter in 1379 plate appearances. Almonte is a lifetime .287/.388/.493 hitter in parts of nine Triple-A seasons, including a .228/.331/.564 slash in 118 plate appearances with Syracuse this season.