MLB Trade Rumors confirmed Friday that the Mets have released reliever Alex Carrillo outright and sent fellow righty Guillo Zuniga to Triple-A Syracuse after he cleared waivers. Neither move is a headline-grabber on its own, but together they capture how relentlessly New York has been reshuffling the fringes of its 40-man roster in July.
Mets Release Alex Carrillo, Outright Guillo Zuniga t.co/Xuvy7gt2jh
Carrillo's exit has been building for a while. He was designated for assignment earlier this month when the Mets activated Jorge Polanco off the 60-day injured list, and he never got back on a mound for Syracuse afterward, despite not landing on the minor league injured list. Add that to a rough 5.57 ERA and a startling 26 walks across just 21 Triple-A innings, and the release starts to look less like a roster-crunch casualty and more like a quiet exit for a guy dealing with something the team hasn't spelled out.
Zuniga's path was shorter and less dramatic. He signed a minor league deal with the Mets back in May, got a cup of coffee in the big leagues, and actually turned in a scoreless relief inning against the Braves on July 6 before getting DFA'd days later to make room for a newly acquired arm. Now he's ticketed back to Syracuse as organizational depth instead of hitting the open market.
None of this moves the needle on the Mets' actual pitching plans heading into the trade deadline, but it's a reminder of how much housekeeping happens beneath the marquee deals. Every DFA, release and outright assignment clears 40-man space for the moves that do matter — and with New York reportedly still shopping for bullpen help, expect more names to cycle through this same churn before the deadline hits.