NY Mets DFA Brandon Waddell for a former first-round pick and top 100 prospect

Luke Weaver as the big move of the day for the New York Mets. They didn’t stop there with a smaller move made later in the afternoon. Brandon Waddell has been DFA’d by the team and taking his place on the 40-man roster will be a former first-round pick, Drew Romo.

A top 100 prospect according to Baseball America (80) and MLB Pipeline (84) back in 2023, Romo was the 35th overall selection in the forgotten year of 2020. In limited big league action, all with the Rockies, he’s a .167 hitter. Batting .286 in Triple-A through 632 plate appearances, there does seem to be some offensive upside to him even if he has yet to translate it into much big league success.

The Mets have added some catching depth which might not bode well for Hayden Senger

One of the more unique stories from early last year was Hayden Senger making the team out of camp. An injury to Francisco Alvarez paved the way for Senger to make the big league roster. His fun story of working at Whole Foods made him a fan-favorite with an “everyman” mentality. For a ball club that has loved to pack as many pitchers as it can onto the 40-man roster, it’s going to be a tall task to ask them to carry two in the minor leagues, Romo and Senger.

It’s always possible Romo isn’t here for long either. Although he has a pair of minor league options, just as Senger does, the Mets may always try to float him through the waiver wire at some point as they have so many others.

Romo is regarded as a good defensive catcher with a strong arm. He kind of sounds like the lowest of what the Mets would have hoped to have out of Kevin Parada at this stage of his career. Parada seems likely to join the crowded catching crowd in Triple-A this coming year. If there’s a non-pitcher position you can never have enough of, it’s catchers.

Romo’s strong Triple-A numbers are a bit skewered because of the Pacific Coast League’s reputation as a hitter’s haven. In particular, Albuquerque where he played in Triple-A is a place where hitters tend to thrive. The offensive output is likely to sink on a more even-playing field.

This is now the second time this offseason where Romo was DFA’d. First the Rockies and now the Baltimore Orioles who brushed him aside for ex-Mets pitcher Josh Walker. Once the Weaver signing becomes official, the Mets will need to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for him. Considering they didn’t make the lateral move to DFA Senger, we’d have to figure a different player is next in line.