The Guardians designated Mercado for assignment Tuesday.
Mercado lost his spot on the 40-man roster with the Guardians needing to open up a spot for designated hitter Franmil Reyes (hamstring), who was reinstated from the 10-day injured list in a corresponding move. The move isn't overly surprising, considering Mercado had fallen behind all of Steven Kwan, Myles Straw, Oscar Gonzalez and Richie Palacios in the pecking order in the outfield after producing a weak .202/.227/.377 slash line across his 119 plate appearances in the majors this season. If Mercado isn't traded or claimed off waivers, he'll stick in the organization and report to Triple-A Columbus.