Right-hander Adam Ottavino is going to decline his player option and return to free agency, reports Joel Sherman of The New York Post. The righty could have stayed with the Mets via a $6.75MM player option but will head to the open market instead.
Ottavino, who turns 38 this month, signed a two-year, $14.5MM deal with the Mets coming into 2023, with an opt-out opportunity after the first season. He made 66 appearances for the club this season with a 3.21 earned run average. His 23.8% strikeout rate was around league average and his 11.1% walk rate was on the high side, but he found success by keeping the ball on the ground. 56.3% of balls he allowed in play were grounders, significantly above the league rate of 42.5% for the year.
There may have been some good luck for Ottavino in there, as his .252 batting average on balls in play and 80.6% strand rate were both on the lucky side of average. His 4.52 FIP and 4.04 SIERA suggest he was fortunate to keep runs off the board the way that he did, but Ottavino’s got a strong track record going back years. He has a 3.42 ERA in 664 appearances dating back to 2010.
Today’s move comes as a surprise because, as recently as August, Ottavino was open about his intention to stay with the Mets. “I want to be here no matter what,” the New York native said at that time. “This is a good place for me. I love the organization. I love being able to play where I’m from.”
It’s unclear what made Ottavino change his mind, but it could be related to recent developments in the right-handed relief pitching market. Pierce Johnson and Joe Jiménez were going to be two of the top free agents this winter but they each re-signed with Atlanta before reaching the open market. Chad Green could have been another intriguing option but the Blue Jays picked up a two-year option to keep him in Toronto. Even Blake Treinen, who missed the entire 2023 season, had his option picked up by the Dodgers.
Free agency will still feature talented righties like Reynaldo López, Jordan Hicks, Robert Stephenson and others, but perhaps some of those names coming off the board early gave Ottavino and his reps a good feeling about returning to the open market and topping that $6.75MM figure.
Beyond the market changes, it seems the language of his contract played a part. Ottavino tells Sherman that $4MM of his 2024 salary was to be deferred. He was willing to take a smaller amount to return but with fewer deferrals and was also open to a two-year deal, but the Mets weren’t interested in either.
The Mets will now lose yet another arm from their bullpen. They traded away David Robertson and Dominic Leone prior to the deadline, though they will get Edwin Díaz back next year and picked up a club option on lefty Brooks Raley. Even though they might take a bit of a step back this winter relative to last year, they will likely add to the relief mix in the coming months.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Shocker. All signs were pointing towards his accepting it.
The Mutts suck. Go anywhere else.
Weird. With the new rules, every walk and single he gave up turned into a runner on second.
Dang – I thought he was a lock to exercise his option. Strange start to the day so far for the Mets.
Good decision. Mets don’t know their arse from their elbow at this stage. Just throwing money at anyone who’ll take it. Get outta dodge, Adam
Not surprised. He saw the writing on the wall when the Mets hired Mendoza. You think 39/40 year old Otto wants to be told what to do by a manager that is basically the same age as him? He knows why Mendoza was hired. The team isn’t going anywhere with Mendoza. Otto would rather sit at home and eat potato chips over following his orders, and you know what, I don’t blame him
Bruh sthu!you don’t know what’s going to happen but you are saying mendoza sucks already. What has counsell won? Zilch! Never even made it to the nlcs. Brewers are a sinking ship. Cubs gonna lose bellinger and are gonna be the same team is a bad division. Mets will sign Japanese pitcher and others in be right in everything next year. Ottavino going allows to use that savings and spend it on rodriguez who will be way better then ottavino
This Chad here thinks mendoza was hired due to a “spanish” agenda.
Racist AF
@Danny, Counsell definitely went to the NLCS in 2018. I was there when they swept the Rockies to advance.
Mendoza will be fired after wokeness dies. Cohen is an idiot who made his money frontrunning trades like Buffet.
Especially since I heard that Mendoza has promised Alex Cohen that he’s only going to speak SPANISH!!
Idiot
Idioto
Smart man.
From the Chad Green move to this Otto one today, middle reliever prices are going up again this off-season.
Lol Mets,
The hits just keep coming
Not a hit. A blessing.
377194,
What bullpen?
Transition season for Mets and he’s getting older. Probably more focused on getting with a contender than the money.
Bye. You are now free to throw your hangers and let baserunners steal everything while wearing another jersey.
Walks a batter and they steal their way to third.
There was a time when guys simply couldn’t hit that frisbee he would throw up there. It was a bit like Sergio Romo. But as with Romo, the ability to use that pitch effectively faded with age. Romo was at least an excellent teammate a great guy from everything I’ve ever heard.
Houston Astros should go after Adam Ottavino to put him in their bullpen since Hector Neris is gone. I saw when Ottavino was with the Colorado Rockies like I said he could help the Astros bullpen. So Dana Brown get this pitcher
Ottovino sucks
Not much of a surprise. He put up a solid if unspectacular 2023 season with 66 appearances and 3.21 ERA, but a 4.52 FIP that points to regression to come.
Going into his age 38 season this will likely be his last contract and he wants to optimize the dollar amount. He will get more than $6.75 million guaranteed.
The guy is like Lugo. He lets inherited runners score.
Thought he would decline the option. Multi-year deal probably waiting for him that tops the earnings from option year. Not long but two years with an option.
The Mets can move on and use the money better. Maybe signing Hader becomes financially easier.
Mets fans are wild. Hader isn’t going to be a setup man and the mets aren’t going to have 200 million committed to two guys in the bullpen. Get real.
Do not think Hader would object to being second closer/setup as long as he gets paid closer money.
Mets we’re willing to commit large sums on their pitching before and bullpen is an area of concern after watching them last year. Even if mets sign Hader I bet they continue to address the bullpen with other additions (Robertson comes to mind).
No reason to waste money on this type of reliever when the Mets won’t finish above 4th
This works well for both sides; Ottavino is a useful pitcher who can probably get a 2 year 13 million deal on the open mkt. Conversely, Adam was good for the Mets, but it probably doesn’t make sense for them to invest 2 yrs in an older pitcher.
Yeah every single walk he gave would end up at second or third. Good riddance
Guaranteed. Screenshot this. The mets will finish ahead of the marlins in 2024. That they make the playoffs is another story.
probably because he sees this team as a running joke and is running for the hills. smart move!
A lot of comments thinking he’s spurning the Mets to get out of dodge are waaay off base. He actually really wanted to stay and was willing to restructure his deal to accept less money but they told him they weren’t interested. The only reason he didn’t accept the option is because $4 mil of it is deferred. He wanted to accept it and negotiate a lower non-deferred amount or even give them a discount on a two year deal and they said they weren’t interested in either.
Facts just get in the way of trolling
Thank goodness… as a met fan, i feared he would accept it
Probably returns to Queens on a differently restructured contract.