The Mets announced that they have signed free agent reliever . Its reportedly a two-year, $22MM contract. The Bledsoe Agency client can opt out after the first season. The Mets had an opening on the 40-man roster. Minter, 31, has been a strong performer in recent years. However, there is at least some uncertainty due to his health. He went on the injured list twice in 2024 due to left hip inflammation and eventually underwent surgery in August. Its unclear exactly when Minter will be fully healthy again but the surgery doesnt seem to have hurt his market. Hes been connected to the Blue Jays, Cubs, Rangers and Red Sox over the past couple of months and now has a strong pact with the Mets. Perhaps that indicates clubs arent too worried about his recovery from the hip procedure impacting him in 2025. Just looking at Minters results, the robust interest makes plenty of sense. From 2020 to 2024, the lefty made 267 relief appearances, allowing 2.85 earned runs per nine innings. He struck out 30.1% of batters faced while limiting walks to a 7.8% clip. He was a key relief arm for Atlanta, who let him earn 16 Bob Nystrom Jersey saves and 92 holds in that time. Even while pitching through the hip problems in 2024, he managed to throw 34 1/3 innings with a 2.62 ERA, 26.1% strikeout rate and 8.2% walk rate. Despite the hip surgery, it was fair to expect Minter to be one of the most popular relief arms in this winters market. him for a two-year, $16MM pact but almost all pitchers have been outearning their projections this winter, with Minter no exception. He gets a $22MM guarantee and also an opt-out, meaning he will have the ability to become a free agent again next winter if he demonstrates his health and has a strong season. The Mets are a sensible landing spot for Minter, as their bullpen is in a state of flux. At the end of the 2024 season, they saw , , , and become free agents. The club also came into the winter particularly shorthanded in terms of left-handed relief. Raley was one such member on the 2024 club, though he underwent Tommy John surgery at the end of May, well before he became a free agent. was released during the season. was traded around the same time. was non-tendered at the end of the year. All of that left the Mets with as their only southpaw reliever on the roster, so an addition made plenty of sense. They signed to a minor league deal and have been connected to free agents like and . Signing either Scott or Hill could still be an option but the lefty contingent of the Mets bullpen now looks much stronger with Minter in it. Per , the Mets are unlikely to continue pursuing Scott with Minter now on board. For the Mets, perhaps this is yet another move away from their relationship with . As recently as yesterday morning, it seemed po sible that the Mets and Alonso would work something out. But reporting from yesterday afternoon indicated that the Mets didnt want to have a prolonged staredown with Alonso. Since they had other players on their radar, they planned instead to move on and spread money around to various different players. In the past 24 hours, they have agreed to new deals with and now Minter. The deal with Minter pushed the clubs payroll and competitive balance tax number up to $297MM and $293MM respectively, in the eyes of . Last year, those numbers were $336MM and $346MM. If they are willing to get to similar levels in 2025, they still have lots of space to work with. That could be enough room to bring back Alonso but the Mets might also look to make further bullpen upgrades. They are already between the third and four tiers of the CBT, which are $281MM and $301MM this year. As a third-time payor, they will be facing a tax of 95% for any more money they add up to the fourth line and a 110% rate for spending beyond it. Since Steve Cohen became owner of the team, the tax has never really seemed to be any kind of obstacle for the Mets. first reported that the Mets had an agreement with Minter. reported the two-year, $22MM guarantee. was first on the opt-out provision. Semyon Varlamov Jersey