Mets Designate Kyren Paris, Christian Cairo For Assignment

The Mets announced that infielder Kyren Paris, who was claimed off waivers from the Angels a few days ago, has been signed to a major league contract for 2027 and designated for assignment. They announced that fellow infielder Christian Cairo has been designated for assignment as well. It was reported earlier today that Cairo, who was claimed off waivers in September, had also signed a big league deal.

Paris, who turns 25 next month, is a former second-round pick who has played parts of four big league seasons. He’s a good athlete with speed and raw power who’ll need to dramatically cut down on the strikeouts to even carve out a career as a bench player. The righty-swinging Paris owns a .147/.238/.272 slash line with seven home runs and 11 stolen bases across 263 career plate appearances. He has gone down on strikes in 38% of his trips to the plate.

New York is evidently intrigued enough by the tools and Paris’ minor league production. While he barely factored into the Halos’ big league plans this season, he’s coming off a .274/.384/.458 showing with 13 homers and 24 steals between Double-A and Triple-A. Paris has played mostly middle infield in his minor league career but has the speed to factor into the outfield mix as well.

Cairo spent the final couple weeks of the 2026 season in the organization after being claimed from the Phillies. He’s an all-glove utility infielder who hasn’t appeared in the majors yet. The 25-year-old is coming off a .230/.381/.300 showing with four homers and 25 stolen bases in Triple-A.

Both infielders were likely aware at the time they signed their contracts that the Mets intended to drop them from the 40-man roster. It’s fairly common for teams to sign depth pieces whom they like to a higher than average minor league salary in the hopes that it’ll make them more likely to clear waivers and stick around as non-roster depth. The Mets will try to get both players through the wire at some point this week.