Mets outright Anthony Recker and Wilfredo Tovar to Triple-A Las Vegas

New York Mets catcher Anthony Recker and infielder Wilfredo Tovar have cleared waivers and have been sent outright to Triple-A Las Vegas. With that, both players are off the team's 40-man roster. And according to Adam Rubin, both players will be free agents by this evening.

In parts of three seasons with the Mets, Recker hit .190/256/.350 with 15 home runs and 51 RBIs in 432 plate appearances. He found himself third on the team's catcher depth chart once Kevin Plawecki got called up. It was Plawecki who made the playoff roster as Travis d'Arnaud's backup.

Tovar played in nine games for the big club between 2013 and 2014 and made just 18 total major league plate appearances. Know best for his glove work, he hit .283/.327/.356 in 388 plate appearances in Las Vegas this year.

As the Mets prepare to protect players ahead of the Rule 5 draft and potentially acquire new players this winter, there could very well be more moves like these to make room on the 40-man roster.