Mets ink Desmond Jennings to minor league deal

Tampa Bay Rays' Desmond Jennings hits an RBI-ground out off Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Yordano Ventura during the fifth inning of a baseball game Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Fla. Rays' Kevin Kiermaier scored. (Chris O'Meara/AP)

Tampa Bay Rays' Desmond Jennings watches from the dugout during a baseball game against the Minnesota Twins Saturday, Aug. 6, 2016, in St. Petersburg, Fla. (Steve Nesius/AP)

The Mets have signed outfielder Desmond Jennings to a minor league deal and assigned him to Triple-A.

Jennings, a seven-year MLB veteran with the Tampa Bay Rays, will give the Mets more outfield depth, especially in center field as Juan Lagares and Brandon Nimmo are both on the disabled list.

Jennings, 30, was released by the Reds at the end of March. Las Vegas manager Pedro Lopez said he would likely play up to four games a week.

“He kind of floats around with everybody out there in the outfield,” Lopez said. “He’ll float around with (Victor) Cruzado, (Matt) Reynolds.”

Jennings was drafted in the 10th round of the 2006 draft by the Rays and released by the Rays last August. In between that, he hit .245 with 508 hits and 55 home runs and 191 RBIs over seven seasons.

The 51s have not yet made a corresponding move, but the likely move will be sending catcher Jeff Glenn to the disabled list.

Contact Betsy Helfand at bhelfand@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BetsyHelfand on Twitter.