Mets Diamond Notes: Hairston and Torres Put on Waivers, Murphy to Have MRI

Before the Mets took the field in their 2-1 win yesterday afternoon at Citi Field, they made some headlines, as both Scott Hairston and Andres Torres were placed on waivers. Although Sandy Alderson has said multiple times he wants to keep the Amazins as competitive as possible moving into September, it looks like he’s willing to hear what each of these outfielders are worth to any interested suitors.

Adam Rubin was the first to break this story Sunday morning, and mentioned that putting both of these players on waivers now makes a lot of sense. For players to be eligible to be put on a postseason roster, they must be dealt before September 1st, and with Hairston possibly becoming a free agent and Torres likely getting non-tendered, it’s worth it to see what they could bring back in a potential trade. If one of them get claimed, there are a few scenarios that can happen that Rubin spelled out: the Mets could work a trade with the interested team, they could pull the player off waivers, or they could simply dump the remaining contract on the team. If they clear waivers without anyone putting in a claim, they would be eligible to be traded to anyone.

With a little over a month left in the season, Hairston is only owed another $230K, and given what he’s done to left-handed pitchers this season (.320, 9 HR, 27 RBI in 147 ABs), he could be a hot commodity for teams in a pennant race, specifically looking at the Tigers, who held an interest in him around the non-waiver deadline last month. As for Torres, he hasn’t had the best season (.230/.334/.324), he’s a solid defender in the outfield, has decent speed, and has also shown he’s capable of getting on-base against lefties as well (.297/.414/.396). He’s also under team control, and even though he could get a contract around $3 million in arbitration, an interested team could use him as a rental and non-tender him as well.

Lucas Duda returned to the roster after a month-long stay in Triple-A with the Buffalo Bisons. He went 0-for-2 with a walk as he made the start in left field. To make room for him on the roster, Jordany Valdespin (.242/.282/.453) was optioned back to Buffalo. The plan was for Valdespin to play second base for the next week with the Bisons, as he hadn’t been able to focus much on his primary position because of the Mets’ need for him to play the outfield. However, with Daniel Murphy suffering a posterior strain in his right shoulder during an eighth inning at-bat yesterday, “the man” may not even make it to Buffalo before he gets recalled. An MRI Monday on Murphy’s shoulder will tell whether he needs to head to the DL or not.

Dillon Gee had his scheduled follow-up appointment with doctors in St. Louis to evaluate his progress since he had surgery to repair an artery in his throwing arm over the All-Star break after he reported numbness that revealed a blood clot. Gee has been cleared by doctors to begin throwing, but a return to the Mets in 2012 is out of the question, especially with New York out of the playoff hunt. He was transferred to the 60-day DL earlier this month to make room on the 40-man roster, and is expected to make a full recovery this winter and competing for a spot in the starting rotation in February. In 17 starts for New York this season, Gee went 6-7 with a 4.10 ERA in 109.2 innings pitched.