MLB Trade Rumors confirmed it Thursday: the Mets have designated infielder Zack Short for assignment, a routine transaction that's become anything but routine for a guy who can't seem to keep a big-league locker for more than a couple weeks at a time.
Mets Designate Zack Short For Assignment t.co/rHFgZVzSVK
The move traces back to Marcus Semien, who's rejoining the Mets after a Grade 3 left hip flexor strain, the most severe grade of that injury, put him on the 10-day IL on June 25. That kind of strain usually costs a player 4 to 6 weeks. Semien beat the clock and is back in about 3, which is genuinely great news for a Mets team that needs its middle infield stabilized. The corresponding move is what got Short again.
Short only got the call back up last Friday, brought in to cover infield depth after Mark Vientos went down with a hand injury. So this stint lasted less than a week before Semien's health forced New York's hand. It's the second time this season the Mets have specifically designated Short for assignment, on top of a year that's already been a nonstop shuffle of DFAs, waiver claims, and outrights across four organizations.
To recap the chaos: Short signed a minors deal with the Yankees over the winter, got flipped to the Nationals and then the Tigers, had a brief run in Detroit before getting DFA'd within days, got re-signed, DFA'd again in June, and then landed with the Mets on a waiver claim. New York DFA'd him once already this year when Francisco Lindor came off the injured list, outrighted him to Triple-A Syracuse, then called his contract back up on July 10, only to cut him loose again less than a week later.
None of this is really about performance, though it hasn't helped his cause. Short is hitting .140/.262/.180 this season and owns a career line of .169/.270/.286, strictly a glove-and-versatility guy who can fill in at short, second or third in a pinch. The Mets have used him almost purely as roster-flexibility depth, the kind of player who exists to be added and dropped as injuries dictate, and that's exactly the role he's played all year.
Whether Short clears waivers and sticks around in Syracuse again or gets scooped up by yet another club, the bigger story is Semien himself, a real difference-maker rejoining a Mets club fighting for position in a tight NL race as the trade deadline approaches. For Short, the whirlwind just keeps spinning.