The New York Mets and right-handed starting pitcher Frankie Montas have agreed to a two-year, $34 million deal, reports ESPN.
Montas, 31, was 7-11 with a 4.84 ERA (89 ERA+), 1.37 WHIP and 148 strikeouts in 150 ⅔ innings with the Reds (19 starts) and Brewers (11 starts) in 2024. As a member of the Oakland Athletics, he was on his way to an All-Star season in 2019 before a PED suspension and then finished sixth in Cy Young voting in 2021. There’s obvious upside here, even if it’s been a few years since Montas resembled a frontline starter.
The Mets reached the NLCS last season, but three rotation fixtures hit free agency in Luis Severino, José Quintana and Sean Manaea.
As things stand, the Mets’ rotation could be Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Montas, Tylor Megill and Paul Blackburn, but the expectation heading into the offseason was that the club would land several starting pitchers. They’ll still add at least one more and maybe two or even three. They have been rumored to be in on some of the big-name free agent starters such as Corbin Burnes and Max Fried, too.
Through this lens, view the Montas signing as depth. He won’t be expected to pitch toward the top of the rotation. The Mets will instead shoot for him to be the fourth or fifth starter come Opening Day.
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“The cat chased the mouse around the house.”
Rewritten sentence:
“Around the house, the mouse was chased by the cat.”