LA Dodgers might’ve already told us what the NY Mets will do with MJ Melendez

The Los Angeles Dodgers accidentally put the whole blueprint on the projector, and it’s the exact kind of boring-smart roster trick the New York Mets are trying to pull with MJ Melendez.

Los Angeles DFA’d a guy they just gave guaranteed money to (Andy Ibáñez), reclaimed Michael Siani off waivers, and basically shrugged at the possibility of paying for someone else’s bench piece if the waiver wire went sideways. It was cold, a little chaotic, and entirely rooted in one idea that the 40-man roster is a living thing, and you churn it like you’re day-trading. 

That’s the same energy hiding inside the Melendez deal in Queens.

Mets’ MJ Melendez gamble looks different once you notice the Dodgers pattern

On paper it’s a simple buy-low flier on a former top prospect. The Mets add a left-handed bat with some positional versatility, hope the swing clicks again, and move on if it doesn’t. The headline version of this is easy, one year, $1.5 million, with up to $500K in incentives. 

But the mechanics of the contract are the tell. Multiple reports framed it as a split deal, meaning Melendez doesn’t get paid the same amount if he’s in the majors vs. the minors. A split structure makes it a lot easier for a team to treat a player like roster clay. Bring him up when you need him, option him when you don’t, and keep the whole thing from turning into an awkward sunk-cost conversation. 

The Mets aren’t signing Melendez because they’re certain he’s an everyday answer. They’re signing him because, right now, he’s a roster problem-solver with left-handed power upside, corner outfield coverage, emergency catching history, and a path to stash him if the Opening Day math doesn’t work. 

Melendez’s 2025 looked ugly in the majors — .083 in 23 games — and the Mets aren’t pretending that didn’t happen. But the minors line tells you why teams still look at him. He hit 20 homers in 107 Triple-A games, with an .813 OPS. 

The Mets are buying an option on outcomes. If Melendez shows up in camp and looks playable, he makes the team as a bench bat who can spell the corners and give you matchup flexibility. If he looks like the 2025 version, the Mets can try to slide him through the roster gray area. 

This is exactly how good teams behave when they’re serious. They don’t wait for a crisis to add depth. They collect it early, structure it smartly, and leave themselves outs. The Mets didn’t need to announce Melendez as anything more than a one-year deal. The contract shape — and the way modern contenders play the margins — already tells you what he really is in Queens.

He’s not a promise. He’s a lever.