Mets claim Robel Garcia off waivers, designate Ryan Cordell for assignment

The Mets have claimed Robel Garcia off waivers from the Reds and designated Ryan Cordell for assignment. The Reds had claimed 27-year-old Garcia off waivers from the Cubs back on July 26, but he did not play for them during the pandemic-shortened season.

All of Garcia’s major league experience thus far came with the Cubs in 2019. In 93 plate appearances, the switch hitter hit .208/.275/.500 with 5 home runs and a 93 wRC+. He spent the vast majority of his time in the field playing second base, but he logged some innings in left field and right field, too. And he’s had a unique minor league career, having spent the 2010 through 2013 seasons in the Cleveland organization and then not playing in affiliated ball again until the Cubs signed him ahead of the 2019 season.

In the minor league portion of his 2019 season, Garcia hit .284/.369/.586 with 27 home runs in 388 plate appearances between Double-A and Triple-A—with 296 of those plate appearances taking place at the latter level.

Cordell joined the Mets as a free agent last November, and he was released in late June but re-signed with the team a couple of days later. Having looked good in the original spring training, he wound up getting just eight plate appearances with the Mets this year, going 1-for-8 with a single.