Frankie Montas signs two-year deal with Mets

Frankie Montas signs two-year deal with Mets

Free-agent pitcher Frankie Montas has signed a two-year, $34 million deal with the New York Mets, ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan first reported Sunday evening.

Montas, 31, is returning to The Big Apple after spending the latter-half of the 2022 season and 2023 with the New York Yankees. That was a time to forget, however, pitching to a 6.15 ERA and a 4.90 FIP in just nine combined starts. He dealt with a right shoulder injury during that time–one that kept him out practically the entire 2023 season.

He progressed toward the mean with the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers last season. In 30 combined starts, he sported a 4.84 ERA with an 89 ERA+, 11 percent below league average. Montas also had a 4.71 FIP with 148 strikeouts to 66 walks in 150.2 innings. His 10.1 percent walk rate was the highest in a single season where he pitched at least 60.0 innings with the third-lowest strikeout rate (22.6 K%) and second-lowest chase rate (38th percentile), per Baseball Savant.

Montas becomes the first new face of what looks to be a brand new Mets rotation, with Sean Manaea, Luis Severino and Jose Quintana all becoming free agents this offseason. Kodai Senga is the tip of the iceberg, though the 31-year-old right-hander slots ahead of David Peterson, Paul Blackburn and Tylor Megill.

A two-year deal isn’t the worst in the world, though this is a slight overpay based on his recent level of production. New York turned Manaea, Severino and Quintana into quality-level starters last year, so I understand the dart throw. Do you think the same happens with Montas?

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