Why Carl Edwards Jr. parted ways with Mets by leaving contract mid-season

TL;DR

Carl Edwards Jr. has parted ways with the New York Mets and is now a free agent after clearing waivers. He is eligible to sign with any MLB team following recent roster changes.

Key points

Carl Edwards Jr. is no longer with the New York Mets.
He is now a free agent after clearing waivers.
Recent roster changes prompted his departure.

New York Mets

Why Carl Edwards Jr. parted ways with Mets by leaving contract mid-season originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Carl Edwards Jr.'s long and winding baseball journey is going to continue.

He will no longer be pitching for the New York Mets after some roster maneuvering in the last week.

Edwards is a free agent, and he's free to sign with any MLB team after clearing waivers, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo.

MORE:Tyler Rogers is 51 degrees different than every other pitcher in MLB

Why is Carl Edwards Jr. a free agent?

Edwards had a clause in his contract that allowed him to elect free agency rather than report to Triple-A Syracuse.

The Mets designated him for assignment last week to remove him from the 40-man roster and send him down to the minor leagues. But a player with Edwards' veteran status can essentially refuse the assignment and become a free agent instead. That's what Edwards did.

He pitched twice for the Mets recently, allowing just one run in six innings while striking out 11.

Apparently even in this bumpy Mets bullpen, that wasn't enough to stick around.

Edwards pitched briefly for both the Rangers and Angels in 2025, but he's very much in the journeyman stage of his career.

A long time ago now, he was a promising prospect in the Chicago Cubs' system as a starting pitcher, but he's strictly a reliever now and can't seem to stick around anywhere.

There's always a chance he circles back to the Mets if there isn't an MLB offer for Edwards out there, but he's pursuing such an opportunity first in case he can stay in the big leagues rather than going to Triple-A.