The Mets made a move to bolster their catching depth this week, claiming 24-year-old Drew Romo off waivers from the Orioles. To make room on the roster, New York designated left-hander Brandon Waddell for assignment.
Romo, a former first-round pick (No. 35 overall in 2020), was once seen as one of the more promising young catchers in the game. Back in his Rockies days, he was a consensus top-100 prospect, thanks largely to his defensive chops - we’re talking about a catcher with a plus arm and solid receiving skills. But while the glove has held up, the bat hasn’t quite followed the same trajectory.
After a strong 2023 campaign that saw him hold his own across High-A and Double-A, Romo’s offensive production has taken a step back in each of the last two seasons. In 2024, he was a league-average hitter at Triple-A.
But this past year, the struggles became more noticeable. His strikeout rate jumped significantly - from 17.8% to 25.8% - and that spike in swing-and-miss led to a dip in overall effectiveness at the plate.
On paper, Romo’s 2025 Triple-A line of .264/.329/.409 doesn’t look bad. But context matters, and in the high-octane hitting environment of the Pacific Coast League - especially in places like Albuquerque - those numbers don’t carry quite the same weight. When adjusted for league and park factors, Romo was actually 25% below league average offensively (as measured by wRC+).
He’s had only a brief taste of the majors - just 56 plate appearances - and the results haven’t been pretty: a .167/.196/.222 slash line with a 37.5% strikeout rate. Still, Romo comes with two minor league options remaining, which gives the Mets some flexibility.
He’s not expected to push Francisco Alvarez or even backup Luis Torrens for playing time in Queens, but he adds a glove-first depth piece to the organizational catching pool. He’ll likely slot into Triple-A Syracuse, where he could share duties with Hayden Senger.
As for Waddell, the 31-year-old southpaw’s time with the Mets comes to an end - at least for now. After spending three seasons in Korea with the Doosan Bears and a stint in Taiwan’s CPBL, Waddell returned to MLB action in 2025 and gave the Mets 31 1/3 innings of 3.45 ERA ball.
On the surface, that’s a solid return. But some of the underlying numbers suggest he may have been pitching a bit over his head.
His strikeout rate sat at just 16.4%, and while his 8.2% walk rate was manageable, advanced metrics like SIERA (4.64) and FIP (4.54) painted a less optimistic picture. A high strand rate (82%) and low BABIP (.260) helped keep runs off the board, but those are often tough to sustain over time.
Waddell’s arsenal includes a four-seamer that averaged 90.7 mph, a similarly paced sinker, and a pair of offspeed offerings - a changeup and a slider - that sit in the low 80s. He’s out of minor league options, which likely factored into the Mets’ decision to DFA him. Over five Triple-A seasons, he’s posted a 4.22 ERA, though that number is skewed by a rough 2019 campaign.
Now, Waddell will either be traded or placed on outright waivers. That process typically wraps within a week, so his next destination should be known soon.
For the Mets, this is a low-risk move aimed at reinforcing their depth behind the plate - something every team needs over the course of a long season. Romo’s bat remains a work in progress, but the defensive tools are real. And in a league where catching depth is always at a premium, that makes him a worthwhile flier.