Inside The Mets

New York Mets designate veteran reliever for assignment

The Mets have surprisingly DFA'd this reliever despite his strong play.
Joe Najarian|
Jul 30, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Rico Garcia (50) throws a pitch during the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images
Jul 30, 2025; San Diego, California, USA; New York Mets relief pitcher Rico Garcia (50) throws a pitch during the eighth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images | David Frerker-Imagn Images

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New York Mets

The New York Mets made a surprising move in their bullpen after their 12-6 win over the San Francisco Giants on Saturday.

As reported by Joel Sherman of the New York Post, veteran right-handed reliever Rico Garcia has been designated for assignment. New York made the move with the intention of calling up a fresh arm for bullpen coverage; the 31-year-old had pitched on back-to-back days and in each of the Mets' last three games, which likely would have ruled him out for Sunday's game.

Despite being DFA'd by the Mets for the second time this year, Garcia was rather productive as a bullpen piece. He signed a minor league deal with the team in November 2024 and logged two scoreless appearances after being called up on July 3; although he was claimed off waivers by the cross-town rival Yankees on July 14, Garcia made a lone appearance with them before being re-claimed by the Mets a week later.

Read More: Mets' Rico Garcia proving to be a reliable bullpen piece

Upon his return to Flushing, the 31-year-old pitched nine innings across six appearances and allowed just three runs. Two of those runs came in Saturday's game against San Francisco, courtesy of a two-run home run by Willy Adames, but Garcia recorded the final out of the game immediately afterwards. Across his eight appearances (including the two he made on July 6 and July 10), the righty posted a 2.13 ERA and 0.71 WHIP, with an impressive 16 strikeouts against just two walks in 12.2 innings.

The Mets later announced that Austin Warren had been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse as the corresponding move.

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Joe Najarian
JOE NAJARIAN

Joe Najarian is the Deputy Editor and a writer for the New York Mets On SI site. He got his bachelor’s degree in journalism with a specialization in sports from Rutgers University, graduating in 2022. Joe has previously written for Jersey Sporting News and for the New York Giants On SI site. You can follow him on Twitter/X: @JoeNajarian

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