Braves claim Guillermo Heredia off waivers from Mets

The Braves have claimed outfielder Guillermo Heredia off waivers from the Mets, according to Ken Rosenthal. The 30-year-old right-handed hitter was designated for assignment earlier this week to make room for fellow outfielder Kevin Pillar on the 40-man roster.

The Mets claimed Heredia off waivers from the Pirates in late August last year. He wound up getting 18 plate appearances with the Mets for a total of 36 at the major league level in 2020. Between his time in Pittsburgh and New York, Heredia hit .212/.278/.394 with two home runs and an 82 wRC+. For his career, Heredia has a .239/.316/.344 line with an 84 wRC+.

With the Mets having signed Pillar and Albert Almora Jr. and traded for outfield prospect Khalil Lee, Heredia was pretty expendable despite the fact that the Mets still don’t have a ton of great outfield options in the upper minors. But for the 2021 season, some combination of Brandon Nimmo, Michael Conforto, Almora, Pillar, Dom Smith, J.D. Davis, Jeff McNeil, and perhaps Lee will presumably cover the vast majority of the outfield innings for the Mets.