The Mets added left-hander Cionel Perez to their bullpen on May 30, selecting his contract from Triple-A Syracuse and clearing space by designating Anderson Severino for assignment and optioning Tobias Myers to Triple-A. Perez now gets another shot in Queens after Washington had outrighted him off its 40-man roster earlier this month.
The move came a day after the Mets used 10 innings to beat the Marlins 9-7, and it gives manager Carlos Mendoza another left-handed relief option in a bullpen that already includes Brooks Raley, A.J. Minter, David Peterson and Perez. For a team that leaned hard on its relief corps the night before, the timing mattered as much as the names.
Perez arrives with nine MLB seasons behind him and a salary wrinkle that followed him out of Washington. He made the Nationals’ Opening Day roster after signing a minor league deal last offseason, locking in a $1.9 million salary for 2026, but he put up a 6.19 ERA over 16 games before Washington outrighted him off the 40-man roster at the start of May. He declined that assignment in favor of free agency, and the Mets signed him to another minor league contract a couple of days later.
His recent big league line is hard to ignore. Since Opening Day 2025, Perez has a 7.41 ERA over 37 2/3 innings with 29 walks and 30 strikeouts, even though he has also given up only five homers across his last two seasons. That makes him a high-variance addition, but one with a clear lane: a left-handed look in middle relief when the Mets need it.
There is still something usable in the profile. From 2022 to 2024 with Baltimore, Perez worked to a 3.12 ERA over 164 2/3 innings and allowed only four homers, a stretch that showed why clubs keep coming back to him. The question now is whether the Mets can get that version often enough to keep him on the active roster, or whether this turns into another short stop before the next bullpen move.
Severino, meanwhile, loses his roster spot after a brief run on the 40-man. He had been selected 11 days earlier, then optioned to Triple-A, where he posted a 1.31 ERA over 20 2/3 innings with Syracuse. Myers, who has worked as a reliever in 18 games and made two pseudo-starts, was moved out after a 4.05 ERA over 33 1/3 innings this season and at least one earned run in four of his last five outings.
For now, the Mets made their choice: Perez gets the next turn, Severino is off the board, and the bullpen is again in motion.
