The Mets have reportedly made another veteran addition to their rotation, agreeing to a two-year, $28 million deal with lefty Sean Manaea, with an opt out after 2024.
The New York Post’s Jon Heyman was the first to report the deal, which will see Manaea earn $14.5 million in 2024 and then have the right to opt out or earn $13.5 million in 2025. The 31-year-old signed a similar deal with the Giants last year – two years, $25 million with an opt-out after 2023 – and he did use that opt out, forgoing $12.5 million salary for 2024 and, in the end, earning an extra $2 million in salary by doing do.
Now, he will join a revamped Mets rotation that has Kodai Senga at the top, includes holdovers Tylor Megill and Jose Quintana, and added Luis Severino on a one-year deal earlier this winter. The Mets also acquired Adrian Houser from Milwaukee in December and have Jose Butto and Joey Lucchesi as depth as well, and should get David Peterson back from hip surgery around mid-season.
Manaea was 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA for San Francisco, making 10 starts and 27 relief appearances. He was demoted from the rotation after posting a 7.96 ERA through mid-May, but returned to the rotation and made four starts in September for the Giants.
For his career, Manaea is 65-56 with a 4.10 ERA in eight seasons with Oakland, San Diego, and San Francisco, but has been besieged by injury throughout his 11 years as a pro.
Manaea was selected 34th overall by the Royals in 2013 did not pitch after being selected due to hip labrum surgery, and later missed the open of the 2015 season with a groin issue. He was dealt to Oakland that July for Ben Zobrist and made his MLB debut in 2016, but he missed time that season with a pronator strain and time in 2017 with a shoulder strain, and went on the IL towards the end of 2018 with a shoulder impingement that required surgery and kept him out until Sept. 2019.
The lefty has stayed mostly healthy since then, making 11 starts for Oakland in the shortened 2020 season and 32 in 2021. He was dealt to San Diego in April 2022, and threw 158 innings over 30 appearances (28 starts) for the Padres before reaching free agency.
Per advanced analytics, Manaea threw his fastball 57 percent of the time with the Giants, and his repertoire now also includes a changeup, slider, and sweeper, all of which he threw fairly equally.