The New York Mets made two minor league signings on Thursday, bringing in relief pitcher Arquimedes Caminero and outfielder Rymer Liriano on non-guaranteed deals, as per a team release. Both received an invite to major league camp.
The organization’s outfield depth chart was desperately bare in the upper-levels before this offseason.
So far, Mets general manager Brodie Van Wagenen has done all he can to solidify that aspect, bringing in Rajai Davis and Gregor Blanco on minor-league deals. Adding a former Top-50 prospect in Liriano can’t hurt.
The 27-year-old Dominican native signed with the Padres as a 16-year-old in 2007, then bounced around the league after being traded to Milwaukee in 2016 (White Sox, Angels, back to the Brewers).
Over 150 major league plate appearances, Liriano has a .220/.293/.287 slash line. Though, his MiLB line is a bit more flattering.
Over nine minor league seasons, the outfielder has a .272/.346/.436 slash line, including a .253/.342/.472, 20 home run, 59 RBI (in 404 plate appearances) Triple-A campaign split between Salt Lake and Colorado Springs.
Caminero, 31, last pitched in the majors in 2016 (Seattle and Pittsburgh), owning a 3.56 ERA over 18 relief appearances.
The 31-year-old was a flamethrower the last time we saw him in the majors. As per Fangraphs, the average velocity of his fastball in 2015 and 2016 was 99 MPH and 98.7 MPH, respectively.
Since 2017, the Dominican native has played for the Yomiuri Giants in Japan’s Central League.
In 2017, Caminero had an outstanding year, pitching to a 2.42 ERA with a 1.247 WHIP, 67 strikeouts, and 23 walks over 63 innings (57 appearances).
He pitched in just 20 games in 2018 for the Giants, suffering a sever dip in efficiency (6.27 ERA, 1.768 WHIP, 21 strikeouts, eight walks).
The Mets also signed catcher Dustin Houle, right-handed pitcher Casey Coleman and infielder Arismendy Alcantara to minor league deals.
