The Mets will sign Sean Manaea

The Mets signed the left-hander to a three-year, $75 million contract Sean Manaeaaccording to a report from ESPN’s Jeff Passan. As noted by Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the deal is pending a physical.

Manaea, 33 years old in February, is now set to sign with the Mets for the second consecutive offseason. In the first week of January of this year, the lefty landed in New York on a two-year contract that guaranteed him $28 million and included an opt-out after the 2024 campaign. It was the second consecutive winter that Manaea sign a two-year waiver contract after signing with the Giants with a $25 million guarantee during the 2022-23 offseason.

That first contract in San Francisco was signed on the heels of a brutal 2022 season in San Diego that saw Manaea struggle to a 4.96 ERA (76 ERA+) with a 4.53 FIP in 158 innings of work. His time with the Giants was better than that; while his 4.44 ERA (94 ERA+) was still below average but he still entered the offseason boasting much stronger peripherals (3.91 FIP, 3.83 SIERA) and a solid run of starts down the September stretch where he posted a 2.25 ERA and 3.21 FIP.

The Mets clearly believed this portended better days in Manaea’s future, and it certainly did. The lefty emerged as a quality mid-rotation option for New York in 2024 as he posted a 3.47 ERA (114 ERA+) with a 3.83 FIP in a career-high 181 2/3 innings I work on 32 starts. With a career year in the books before his third consecutive trip to free agency, it appeared Manaea was looking for long-term security. The Mets chose to tag the lefties with the qualifying offer earlier in the winter, but it was hardly a surprise when Manaea turned down that one-year, $21.05 million offer and still entered the open market. After all, the lefty entered the winter ranked by MLBTR as the 10th available free agent on our annual Top 50 MLB Free Agents list and the 5th starter behind only Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell, Massimo FrittoAND Jack Flaherty.

Early in the offseason, Manaea’s QO burden led a number of clubs that likely would have had interest in a mid-rotation veteran like him to turn to alternative options. The Angels, Dodgers and Cubs turned in the early days of the offseason to unhindered free agents such as Yusei KikuchiSnell e Matthew Boyd rather than delving into qualified free agent markets like Manaea, Nick PivettaOR Luis Severino.

This isn’t a consideration for the Mets, however, as reuniting with Manaea only costs the hypothetical draft pick they would have received had he signed elsewhere. This allowed Manaea to get a good guarantee despite a rather small list of teams linked to him this winter: his three-year, $75 million contract exceeds the three-year, $60 million guarantee expected by MLBTR at the beginning of the offseason, but that’s how it is. that’s hardly a surprise given that virtually every starting pitcher’s contract has exceeded expectations.

For New York, a reunion with Manaea likely represents a milestone in the club’s efforts to rebuild its starting rotation after he, Severino, and Jose Quintana they were all released on the market last month. – added the club Frankie Montas AND Clay Holmes to their rotation mix earlier this winter, but that duo offers little stability given Montas’ struggles in 2025 and the fact that Holmes last started a game in the majors in 2018. Manaea provides that much-needed stability while slotting into the front of a rotation that also includes a talented right-hander Kodai Senga and young left-handed David Peterson.

With depth options like Paul Blackburn, Tylor MegillAND Griffin Canning all behind the scenes to help cover potential injuries, it would hardly be a surprise if Manaea’s return concludes the team’s rotation additions for the winter. This does not mean, however, that the club is complete. Even with a hefty 2025 payroll that RosterResource estimates will come in at just under $280 million as things stand, it still leaves $56 million of room to work with before the Mets reach their 2024 figure. That should leave plenty of room for the Mets to sign a corner infield bat to pair with Marco Vientosif this ends up being a reunion with Pietro Alonso or an alternative option like Alex Bregmann and perhaps strengthen other areas of the roster like the bullpen or bench.