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The New York Mets have reached an agreement with free-agent lefty reliever A.J. Minter, according to Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Minter is slated to make $22 million over a two-year term. He will have the ability to opt out and return to the free-agent market after the first season if he so desires.
Minter, 31, has amassed a 3.28 ERA (131 ERA+) and a 3.43 strikeout-to-walk ratio in nearly 400 career big-league appearances — all of them coming as a member of the Atlanta Braves. He didn’t pitch after Aug. 11 last season after undergoing hip surgery.
Nevertheless, CBS Sports ranked Minter as the No. 48 free agent available this winter. Here’s what we wrote at the time:
This is a touch lower than Minter deserves to be based on his track record as a high-leverage lefty, but we’re hedging our bets on how teams will react to the season-ending hip surgery he underwent in August. To his credit, he continued to be effective when he was available; to his debit, his velocity and both his strikeout and home-run rates declined to the worst of his career. Attributing those marks to Minter’s physical ailment seems fair. At the same time, it’s probably wise to account for the possibility that he never quite regains his peak form again.
Minter joins a Mets bullpen that figures to also include closer Edwin Díaz, José Buttó, Reed Garrett, and Dedniel Núñez. The Mets had previously been linked to fellow left-hander Tanner Scott and former Yankees southpaw Tim Hill. It’s unclear at the moment if Minter’s signing will take the Mets out of the running for those arms.
Minter is the second free agent the Mets have added in the last two days. On Wednesday, they inked outfielder Jesse Winker to a one-year deal.
