NY Mets waiver claim from the Phillies Christian Cairo looks like he has one elite skill

The New York Mets aren’t going to just rest and wait out the rest of the year. Intrigued enough by a recent outcast Philadelphia Phillies minor league, they put in a successful waiver claim on 25-year-old Christian Cairo.

Previously a Cleveland Guardians farmhand, Cairo has spent most of his professional career playing second base, third base, and shortstop with a few appearances in the outfield as well. Just a .226 batting average across all minor league levels, one thing he has done well is show off an exceptional eye at the plate.

Pitchers have little reason to fear Cairo. A season high of only 6 home runs since debuting in 2019, he’s drawing walks at an exceptional rate purely out of the quality of his eye at the plate. A career .359 OBP with only a .313 slugging percentage, Cairo is the kind of spunky utility player you ask to field the position, maybe extend some at-bats, and see if maybe the .227 batting average he has this year in Triple-A can translate the same in a minimal role at the major league level.

Christian Cairo isn’t taking anyone’s job, but he can help the Mets through some injuries

Rather than the grief of seeing Zack Short over and over again, Cairo comes to the Mets with three minor league options remaining. One was already used in 2026. If he doesn’t become DFA’d or non-tendered by the Mets, he’ll head into next year with 2 remaining.

Cairo never did get to play in the majors for the Phillies this year despite showing an incredible eye at the plate. His 90 walks in 590 plate appearances helped give him a .378 OBP despite batting only .227. A poor .298 slugging percentage has him profiling as a guy who’ll be more Luis Guillorme than anything else at his absolute best.

A small-ball style of player, Cairo joins the Mets with team control, a cheap contract, and the “what if?” factor which at best would have him replicating the same numbers he has in Triple-A. The Mets have shown they’re willing to accept a guy hitting in the low .200s if he can do other things well. Aside from drawing walks, Cairo can steal a base with 33 last year and another 25 this season in Triple-A. Managing to put down 5 successful sacrifice bunts as well, Cairo is a guy who’ll float between the majors and minors whenever the Mets need infield depth for a short period of time. Consider him the guy the Mets might call upon rather than add a prospect to the 40-man roster unnecessarily.

Speaking of the 40-man roster, with so many decisions to make ahead of the Rule 5 Draft, there’s always a chance Cairo ends up tossed aside. The Mets don’t have a lot of upcoming free agents, but they do have guys like Robert Stock, Cristian Pache, and Christopher Morel who don’t make a whole lot of sense to stick around on anything more than a minor league contract. Each out of options themselves, it’s roster spots belonging to veterans like them that should get handed off first.

Will we see Cairo before the season is over? Syracuse has only a week of action left. The Mets showed a lack of patience with Gabrial Arias back in August for a similar role. Cairo might not get much more of a courtesy. The eye at the plate is outstanding, apparently. The versatility alone can help make him a keeper.

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