Minter Condition

Weekend Fix: Saturday, January 18

☀️ Good Morning:

The Mets have made a left turn in the wake of reaching a stalemate in negotiations with Pete Alonso.

After bringing back Jesse Winker as a left-handed complement to the lineup, they have added southpaw A.J. Minter to the bullpen.

Minter is leaving the only franchise he has ever known in Atlanta to join a division rival on a two-year, $22 million deal, with an opt out after the first season.

That’s up to $20 million (including incentives on Winker’s deal) towards the 2025 payroll — or what you can imagine is the gap in annual value between Alonso’s asking price and the Mets’ “last-ditch” offer — but possibly for only one year instead of three.

The two signings slot the 2025 payroll within a long kiss of $300 million (~$291 million to be exact) and in the double-tax threshold (95%), with more transactions likely to come.

It’s hard to say the Mets are a lot better this morning than they were a few days ago.

• Winker brought incredible energy and memorable home runs to Citi Field last season, but he’s still a limited player as a left-handed DH, one who slugged below league average in New York a year after living on the interstate in Milwaukee.

• Minter arrives off a serious injury.

But they are definitely better. And both players will take on important roles on a competitive club.

In a market where teams are spending ~$11 million to acquire a win in free agency, the Mets paid nearly double that in their supposed pivot away from Alonso.

As we discussed ad nauseam on Friday, the Amazins had moves to make independent of the Alonso outcome. These are those moves. Unless there is a hard budget at $290-300 million, there is still opportunity to improve even more.

☕️ Grab your coffee for your morning dose of Mets Fix!

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This is not your typical David Stearns signing.

Bullpens are temperamental. You never know what you are going to get one year to the next, save a select tier of reliable veterans. That’s why savvy executives, like Stearns, tend to operate on the margins in building a bullpen, counting on scouting eyes and coaching tweaks to turn undervalued arms into hidden gems, like Reed Garrett.

Minter has certainly proven to be among the select tier of relievers who consistently gets the job done. Mets fans have witnessed it first hand. Under normal circumstances, signing a high-volume left-hander with extensive playoff experience would be a no brainer.

THE A.J. MINTER THE METS ARE GETTING is one who has seen his fastball velocity and strikeout rate decline, and perhaps an explaining factor, is coming off season-ending hip surgery to repair a torn labrum, a hip impingement and a lesion on his femur.