The New York Mets designated catcher Tomas Nido for assignment Monday after parts of seven seasons with the club.
Nido, 29, became expendable with the emergence of rookie backstop Francisco Alvarez and Omar Narvaez's reinstatement from the injured list Monday.
Nido is batting just .125 in 22 games this season.
The Mets are on the hook for the remainder of the $3.7 million owed to Nido, provided he doesn't reject an outright assignment to the minors. Nido is 15 days shy of reaching five years of MLB service time, which would have allowed him to reject being outrighted in favor of free agency.
Nido is a career .213 batter with 13 home runs and 74 RBIs. He has thrown out 22% of baserunners trying to steal. The Mets selected him in the eighth round of the 2012 draft.