Mets retain Sean Manaea for three years, $75 million: sources

Sean Manaea was a key piece for the Mets in the postseason, so they will retain him for three years and $75 million

Left-handed pitcher Sean Manaea and the New York Mets have reached an agreement on a three-year, $75 million contract, sources told AM850which will keep the veteran with the team he helped lead to a surprise appearance in the National League Championship Series.

Manaea, 32, became a first-half of the rotation starter for the Mets this year, going 12-6 with a 3.47 ERA, and striking out 184 in 181.2 innings pitched. The deal, which is pending a physical, will more than double Manaea’s career earnings and extends a winter of lavish spending for the Mets.

Last winter, Manaea signed with the Mets for two years and $28 million. The contract included a termination clause, which Manaea exercised. When he turned down New York’s one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer, he became a free agent and drew interest from a wide variety of teams.

The starting pitching market, in particular, has been a boon for players, with Manaea being the sixth pitcher to sign a free agent contract exceeding $21 million per year and the 12th to exceed $13 million in average annual value. Manaea left a strong enough impression on the Mets – both on the field, with his new position at arm leading to a breakout year, and in the locker room, where he became a team leader – than to add him to the team’s winter haul. The Mets were too attractive to pass up.

The Mets had already handed out the largest contract in sports history, a 15-year, $765 million deal for outfielder Juan Soto. And with Luis Severino and Jose Quintana being free agents, the Mets filled their rotation with right-handers Frankie Montas and Clay Holmes, the latter of whom plans to transition from a relief role to a starting pitcher. Additionally, the Mets had signed right-handed starter Griffin Canning. His total spending as a free agent this winter is $916.25 million.

New York’s desire for Manaea’s return was strong enough that he joined Blake Snell, Max Fried and Nathan Eovaldi in this winter’s club of starting pitchers making $25 million per year. Since coming to the Kansas City Royals with the 34th pick in the 2013 draft, Manaea has been a physical gem, with his 6-foot-5, 250-pound frame creating deception that helped make his 90-mile-per-hour fastball work. better.

With the Mets, Manaea returned to a much more sinker-heavy arsenal after two years of throwing almost exclusively four-seam fastballs. That, along with shrinking his arm slot to mimic NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale, did wonders for Manaea’s production and made him look more like the 2021 version of himself.

He also excelled in the postseason, allowing two runs in five innings in a wild-card round start and pitching seven innings of one-run ball in a division series victory against the Philadelphia Phillies. After allowing two earned runs during a Game 2 victory of the National League Championship Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Manaea was removed from Game 6 in the third inning of what could have been his last start for New York.

But it wasn’t, and he will spend his 10th MLB season in Queens during a career in which he has pitched 1,184.1 innings with a 4.00 ERA, 1,109 strikeouts, 335 walks and 158 home runs allowed and which has also included stints with the Oakland Athletics (2016 to 2021), the San Diego Padres (2022) and the San Francisco Giants (2023).

Meanwhile, the Mets could go in multiple directions to further complement the addition of Soto to the lineup. First baseman Pete Alonso and third baseman Alex Bregman are the top hitters left as free agents, and the Mets could re-sign Alonso or sign Bregman and move Mark Vientos from first to third. The Mets have also dabbled in the free agent outfield market, sources said, and also remain active in trade negotiations.