New York Mets DFA 10-Year Veteran Outfielder
Slater appeared in nine games as a Met, going 5-for-20 with a 69 wRC+ in 21 plate appearances, and has now been designated for assignment by two organizations in less than a month.
Mets DFA'd Austin Slater After Nine Games
The Marlins DFA'd him on April 23 after a dozen games in Miami where he batted .174 with a .460 OPS.
He cleared waivers, elected free agency, and signed with the Mets on April 26 when New York also designated Tommy Pham.
Now he is gone from Queens as well.
Mets DFA Austin Slater
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) May 19, 2026
The Mets brought him in specifically as a right-handed platoon bat, a role he has filled productively throughout his career against left-handed pitching.
He scuffled badly against lefties this season, posting a .444 OPS with a 33.3 percent strikeout rate in those matchups.
With Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing both emerging as everyday outfield options and Tyrone Taylor serving as the primary right-handed bench outfielder, there was simply no longer a roster construction argument for carrying a second right-handed outfielder who was not producing in his only defined role.
Slater was released by the Tigers during spring training and has now been designated for assignment twice in less than a month across three organizations.
He has more than five years of MLB service time, which means he can refuse a minor league assignment and elect free agency if he clears waivers.
The Mets are designating Austin Slater for assignment, per @JonHeyman pic.twitter.com/pT9xFhW1s4
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) May 19, 2026
That path seems the most likely given his track record as a platoon option who other teams may still find useful at the right price.
For his career, the 33-year-old has posted a .247 average with 45 home runs and a .716 OPS across 711 games, with his most productive stretch coming during his Giants years when he was one of the better lefty-masher bench bats in the National League.
Morabito, an outfield prospect from the organization's system, gets his first big league appearance and joins a Mets team that has been trying every available combination to solve an offense that ranks last in the National League in production.
Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
