mets and right Adam Piccolo They agree to a contract to bring him back to Queens. It will be a two-year, $14.5 million deal with Ottavino having the ability to opt out after the first year. The transaction is pending physical.
Ottavino, 37, has had some ups and downs in his career, but his overall record of delivering effective relief pitches goes back a decade now. He debuted with the Cardinals in 2010, but stood out with the Rockies over seven years from 2012 to 2018. In that time frame, he pitched in 361 games and scored 390 2/3 innings, posting a 3.41 ERA with a 27.6% strikeout rate, 10.1% drop. walking rate and 46.1% the globe rate. His strikeout rate has skyrocketed during his time at Colorado, reaching 36.2% in 2018, though he has had some control issues, passing 16% of the batters he faced in 2017 and 11.7% in 2018.
He made it to free agency and signed with the Yankees in 2019, signing a three-year, $27 million contract. The first year of that deal went very well as he posted a 1.90 ERA for the Bronx, though that swelled to 5.89 in 2020. That was a small sample of 18 1/3 innings in the shortened season, but it was enough for the Yanks to move on, and turn it around. to the Red Sox in the payroll dumping trade. Ottavino then posted a 4.21 ERA for Boston in 2021, with his strikeout rate dropping to 25.7% and his walk rate hitting 12.7%.
The Mets signed Ottavino to a modest one-year deal for 2022 worth $4 million plus incentives and he was rewarded with a stellar rebounding campaign. The righty appeared in 66 games for the Mets in 2022, finishing the year with a 2.06 ERA, striking out 30.6% of hitters while walking just 6.2% of them. He also grabbed ground balls at 51.9% balls in action while making 3 saves and 18 steals for the year. Based on that strong comeback campaign, MLBTR sign Ottavino can secure himself a two-year, $14 million contract, which he narrowly surpassed here.
The Mets were facing a huge exit from the bullpen this offseason, with Ottavino, Edwin DiazAnd the Seth LugoAnd the Trevor WilliamsAnd the Julie Rodriguez And the Trevor May Everyone got into free agency a few weeks ago. Since then, they have remedied the situation by re-signing Diaz David Robertsonto trade Brooks Raleigh And now he’s putting Ottavino back in the fray, too.
In addition to these moves, the club has been very active in free agency to handle other roster parts. A number of holes also appeared with rotation Jacob DeGrumAnd the Chris Bassett And the Taeguan Walker They all became free agents. These three have been replaced by signature Justin VerlanderAnd the Kodai Singa And the Jose Quintana. The club has also boosted its player mix by re-signing Brandon Nemo and sign Omar Narvez.
The Mets already have one of the highest payrolls in the league in 2022 and these moves have catapulted them to incredible new heights. list resource She got it at $344 million before factoring in the Ottavino deal, with a competitive credit tax number of $356 million. Since the Mets are the ones paying for the second time and exceeding the fourth CBT limit of $293 million, they now pay a 90% tax on any additional spending. Ottavino would add $7.25 million to that CBT figure, resulting in additional taxes of $6.525 million, meaning the club would effectively pay $13.775 million for Ottavino’s services in 2022.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal first reported the Mets sign Ottavino and sophomore year with an opt-out structure (Twitter links). ESPN’s Jeff Bassin First it was the dollar numbers.