Mets outright Alex Torres to Triple-A Las Vegas

The Mets have outrighted left-handed relief pitcher Alex Torres to Triple-A Las Vegas. Torres was designated for assignment earlier this week when the Mets traded for fellow left-handed relief pitcher Eric O'Flaherty. In order for the Mets to be able to send Torres to Vegas, he had to clear outright waivers, which means the rest of the league passed on taking him from the Mets.

In 34.1 innings with the Mets this year, Torres had a 3.15 ERA and struck out 9.17 opposing hitters per nine innings. But his walk rate—6.82 per nine—was worrisome and quite a bit higher than his career norm. On top of that, Torres allowed home runs at a higher rate than he ever had before. As a result of those two things, he had a 5.69 FIP. It's possible that he could pitched effectively despite those problems, but it's understandable that the Mets wanted to try someone else.

Torres was acquired by the Mets in a trade just before the season started. They gave up right-handed pitcher Cory Mazzoni and a player-to-be-named-later, which turned out to be left-handed pitcher Brad Wieck. It wouldn't be a shock if Torres gets another shot with the big league club between now and the end of the season, but he would have to be added to the 40-man roster first.