The Mets are bringing back right-handed reliever Ryne Stanek. New York is reportedly in agreement with the MVP Sports Group client on a one-year, $4.5MM guarantee with an additional $500K available in incentives. The Mets will pay a 110% luxury tax on the contract, pushing their investment to $9.45MM. The team has yet to announce the signing, which is still pending a physical.
Stanek, 33, played the 2024 season on a one-year, $4MM deal originally signed with the Mariners. Seattle flipped him to the Mets over the summer in a deal netting them minor league outfielder Rhylan Thomas. Stanek had a pair of very rough outings early in his Mets tenure but finished out the regular season on a hot streak (2.92 ERA, 18-to-4 K/BB ratio in 12 1/3 innings) before playing a key role in the Mets’ postseason run. The big 6’4″ righty held opponents to three runs on five hits and three walks with eight strikeouts in eight frames during the playoffs. He got the final out in three Mets victories during the postseason (all of them non-save situations): Game 1 of the Wild Card Series and Games 1 and 3 of the NLDS.
Since establishing himself as a big leaguer back in 2018, Stanek has been consistently successful in short stints. He’s pitched 382 1/3 innings and logged a 3.53 ERA, fanning a very strong 27.6% of opponents against a less palatable 11.6% walk rate (about three percentage points north of average). Stanek has technically “started” 56 games in his career, though those were all working as an opener in Tampa Bay.
Stanek is typically good for one to two innings of high-octane relief, averaging 97.8 mph on his four-seamer in his career — including 98.1 mph over the past three seasons. His strikeout rate is strong, and his bat-missing ability is elite, evidenced by a hefty 15.1% swinging-strike rate in his career (and a mark of 15% or better in five of his seven seasons). Since Stanek debuted in 2017, only nine of the 214 pitchers with at least 400 innings pitched have a better swinging-strike rate — and that list is a veritable who’s-who of star pitchers (Josh Hader, Edwin Diaz, Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer, Raisel Iglesias, Ryan Pressly, Craig Kimbrel, Shane McClanahan). Poor command undercuts Stanek’s raw ability to generate whiffs at times, but that ability and his potent raw stuff continue to intrigue clubs.
Stanek joins A.J. Minter — who inked a two-year, $22MM deal — as a late-inning addition for president of baseball operations David Stearns this offseason. That pair will help set up for Edwin Diaz. The Mets have a deep collection of other arms to consider for the bullpen. Free agent pickup Griffin Canning seems ticketed for a long relief/swingman role, while short-relief candidates include Reed Garrett, Jose Butto, Danny Young, Sean Reid-Foley, Dedniel Nunez, Huascar Brazoban, Austin Warren, Max Kranick, Kevin Herget and Tyler Zuber. Each of Butto, Young, Reid-Foley and Dylan Covey are on the 40-man roster but out of minor league options; there’ll be some movement among this collection of depth arms between now and Opening Day.
Stanek is the third free agent addition for the Mets in the past couple weeks. They’ve also added Minter and Jesse Winker in that span — all at a time when they’re reportedly expecting longtime cornerstone Pete Alonso to sign elsewhere after he rejected a three-year offer from the team. The potential for a reunion there will continue to linger, owner Steve Cohen’s recent public comments notwithstanding, but the Mets have now added $23-24MM in 2025 salary and another $25-26MM worth of luxury taxes since Alonso turned down that offer.
Anthony DiComo of MLB.com first reported that the Mets and Stanek were in agreement on a one-year deal. SNY’s Andy Martino indicated the salary would land between $4MM and $5MM. Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reported the $4.5MM guarantee and the $500K in bonuses.
Dodgers strike again.
Mets spending more than LAD this offseason, but LAD get all the press. smh
It’s because no one takes the Mets seriously
This comment must have been in moderation for a few years
@rundmc. Agreed, and the blue jays didn’t make any moves, but they signed Santander and got gimenez
Are you dumb? The reason is that Mets had a lot more free agents this year so obviously will spend more looking to fill the roster. smh…
@doss44 — Nothin’ to do with the 765M RF, right?
@RunDMC
Like the Dodgers didn’t sign Ohtani for 700 last year…and actually, were trying to sign Soto too.
@doss44 — Which has nothing to do with my original comment.
@RunDMC
Your original comment is insignificant when the Dodgers spent more than a billion dollars last year and this year have been the most active team doing again the ridiculous deferrals and the Japan ambassador bringing the best prospect MLB ready with paying rookie money. Obviously they are getting more press than any other team, and will continue getting the press for at least the next 10 years.
doss44, all you’re saying is that the Dodgers spend their money much better than the Mets lol. You failed to mention the few off-seasons before where the Mets dropped $40M/yr on two late 30 year old pitchers. Cohen and Eppler also overpaid Nimmo, which has probably hurt them when negotiating with Alonso.
The Mets signed those two older pitchers, but then flipped them for 3 top 100 prospects.
They did a good job of cutting bait and at the very least basically buying some quality prospects.
theruns, that’s because they were still willing to pay Scherzer and Verlander’s salary lol. They still paid for those mistakes, at least financially. It was smart to make those trades obviously, but not everyone can pay $80M to make players go away.
Ok, how about last year? Lol.
I’m a Mets fan but have to admit the Dodgers have done better with their spending and moves over the past two years than the Mets. Dodgers have a better lineup, SP Staff, Pen, and Defensive team than the Mets. The one thing in the Mets defense is a lot of the Dodgers Salary is deferred which will hurt them down the line.
Even with decimation to their SP’s the Dodgers overcame it with their deep talent and Pen to win the WS. The only weakness that can take down the Dodgers is Injuries.
@KennyF’nPowers the deferred money will not hurt them in any way since they will get that money back easily in these 10 years. The deferred money will not be present in the payroll so they only need to put the money they will earn in these years to take interests and they will be fine when is time to pay Ohtani, Teoscar, Freeman and Mookie. Is a loop hole that no one saw coming and will be a problem in the CBA at the end of the year. But to be honest, the only way you can do that is having the best player in the league that at the same time is Japanese so you have both markets at the same time.
I am a Mets fan and don’t dislike the Dodgers (I like Mookie Betts & Freddy) but what are they going to do when all the deferred money is due? May be they have their own printing press….
Dude is consistently very good. Very nice pickup.
Note: I believe consistency carries significant value. It allows a manager to install a game plan.
Has been very good last few years, especially in the postseason
@halosheaven. Wouldn’t have mind if the angels picked him up. Now with kahnle signing. Chafin is the only other one that’s had a decent track record. Estevez is probably to steep on his price.
I would’ve been happy with Stanek or Kahlne. I was hoping Perry was friends with Minter and might bring him in.
NICE
Golden Kenny Powers
One might say he’s got that..
KENNY STARE
(anagram)
Wtf
Over 6era
Mets decide THIS is the RP to sign?
So many arms avlb
What in the actual f
Probably used more than ERA to make a decision
They looked at his whole career and not 16 innings. As the article notes, he finished on a high note and was one of the few relievers Mendoza could turn to. He’s not going to be pitching in high leverage situations and he’s cheap. This is a solid move and how you construct a bullpen.
Career 2.89 playoff ERA in 30 games, career K rate of nearly 28%, but yeah get riled up over 16 innings in the second half of last season.
4.88 era , 55 innings 2024
4.09 era 51 inning 2023
Tons of great arms out there
TONS
Makes zero sense
Why have you assumed that this is the last reliever they will sign? Plus, using ERA as a primary metric for relievers is about as myopic as you can get. And as middle relievers go, those are not bad ERAs these days anyway.
Its the cost that helps here… only $5m. Looks like they’re trying their best to stay under that max penalty threshold.
Overall i think a Kahnle or Jansen would have been better, but would have cost more than twice as much.
What “great arms” are out there that are signing for ~5M and taking a 6th inning role? Guess you can be the Dodgers and drastically overpay guys like Yates and Trienen 11-13 mil a year (doubled because max CBT threshold) for those roles if you want but that’s unrealistic for every other team even the Mets don’t want to burn cash like that.
Robertson and Estevez are still out there but they obviously want closer jobs.
@johncoltrane: You really need to look at more than ERA. Fastball velocity, whiff rate, chase rate, xBA are all elite. Struggles with control and allowing hard contact. You take the good with the bad with cheap middle relief.
Also please name some better options who would take 1/$4 million. There aren’t any.
I’m very happy David Stearns runs the Met’s and not @johncoltrane.
You’re a deep thinker. Think more. Talk less. Post less. Try reading.
Nice! He’s fun to watch
Good move. Came up big when it counted. The anti – Maton
Based on nothing rational, and simply good memories of him being on the mound at the end of games in the post-season, I fully expect this to work out.
Ryne Stanek, 10 letters arranged 4 first name 6 last name. Same as Pete Alonso, but different.
That would be Peter Alonso but you’d have to pay another $70-80+M over three years to get that extra letter. I’d love to see the polar bear come back but I don’t know if he’s willing to take a deal they’d be willing to give now.
Loading up on relievers is a good thing. Best case scenario a team builds a top bullpen that shuts down the opposition 6th inning an beyond. Worst case scenario the team deals the relievers to anyone of the numerous teams still in contention at the trade deadline. If you can afford it, then loading up on decent relievers is a good strategy that can pay dividends.
The Mets bullpen is looking decent. The Minter addition changes their entire outlook.
I don’t love their starting pitching, but their lineup is great as well. I’m under the assumption they’ll get Alonso back.
NLE is a 3-headed dragon.
Should be fun to watch.
Yes. And very stressful as well. Haha.
Stressful baseball for fans is the best kind.
Who knows how things will shake out but the bullpen might even end up including Clay Holmes as well.
I’m wondering if the pivot to a trade for Mountcastle is more realistic than alonso at this point.
They just reengaged with Alonso. I’m fairly confident he goes back to New York on a short term deal.
Yup. Cohen is playing a game because he knows there’s no significant market for Alonso. So, he doesn’t want to outbid himself. He’ll get Alonso for cheaper than what Alonso wanted.
My biggest regret from the pre-Cohen era was the Mets not being able to afford to pay and keep Wheeler. You guys really got one of the best pitchers of the current era in him.
I like this signing. Gives them a reliable 6th inning guy. I would really prefer one more reliever who is a lights out type of guy like Helsly or to a lesser extent someone like Camilo Doval. The bullpen is starting to look above average as long as Diaz can keep up his second half success and Nunez can atleast by 75% as good as he was last year
You like names. Doval sucks.
@Lindor’s Bodyguard you don’t have a clue. Doval’s stuff is elite
BASEBALL HUMOR (no malice intended)
A guy visits the doctor and says, “Doc, ya gotta help me. I’m in love with a girl and want to marry her. But she won’t marry me because she’s a Phillies fan and I hate the Phillies. Is there a surgery you can perform to make me a Phillies fan?”
The doctor says, “Yes, there is, but it would mean removing half of your brain.”
The guy says, “Let’s go for it. I really love this girl and would give anything to be a Phillies fan.”
After the surgery, the doctor visits the guy in recovery and says, “A terrible mistake was made during surgery. We removed 3/4 of your brain instead of half. I am really sorry. I don’t know how this mistake could have happened.”
The guy looks at the doctor, slaps his hand against his forehead and says, “Let’s go Mets!”
I like Stanek. Glad we signed him. He pounds the strike zone and has good out pitch too.
Does the deal include trips to the barber shop?
Even as a silly joke that doesn’t make sense. Wouldn’t the short hair guys ask for free haircuts? Please elaborate ASAP
You need help.
You have a cancelled 90s sitcom energy
Good
YOURE F***ING OUT!!!!!!! Let’s gooooo!!!! Now time to bring Alonso and Iglesias back home!
Wow 110%. Meaning he cost the Mets about $10M.
That’s not how it works if you think about the entire team. Spread it out among all of the players when you’re thinking about it.
Looks like the reliever market is heating back up again. Teams with BP needs better jump to it before they are all gone.
Fair $. If they can cut down his walks a bit it will be a absolute steal. Fine contract as is.
Another excellent move by Stearns
Thoroughly misleading writeup.
Stearns is back to shopping in the $4m reliever aisle, the same aisle where he added Diekman, Fujinami, and Ottavino in the 2023-2024 offseason, none of whom were better than replacement level, and all of whom combined for a negative 0.8 bWAR in 2024.
Stanek’s had one FIP better than 4.00 since 2108. Since 2021 his FIP is 3.96 and was 4.60 and 4.14 in 2023 and 2024.
This makes the Mets bullpen very, very slightly better, but no more than that. They must have decided a while back that they were going to avoid the hit that comes with exceeding the 4th LT threshold, where a pick gets moved back 10 slots—otherwise this doesn’t make a lot of sense given the pen is still ordinary for a contender, and that guys like Yates and presumably David Robertson are available on one-year deals, and there’s no way the Mets would have let Yates get away at 1/13m if their budget wasn’t strictly limited by the last threshold.
I’m not jazzed about it but come playoff time this could be a very impactful signing. Can’t ignore that some guys like that pressure IMHO.
Ignore JackStrawb. He’s a Mets doomer who constantly rips every move they make. Just watch his explosion when the Mets re-sign Alonso. He’s talking about a “strictly limited” Mets budget instead of Stearns making smart, low-cost moves that will give them flexibility next year.
We’ve discussed this before: Its not just (or always) about raising the talent ceiling. Sometimes it is about raising the floor. How many well-below replacement level arms did the Mets cycled through last year? At the least, this addition adds a touch more stability to that situation.
This contract will put them right at that threshold anyway, and they may not be done adding. Plus any additions they might make at the deadline. But maybe thats the calculus: willing to go over the threshold for a winning effort. But stay close enough to it for now that a sell-off has a chance of getting them back under.
Ryne? Millenial parents much?
Ever heard of Ryne Sandberg, you nitwit?
Valid point.
Mets sign Mariners Legend Ryan Stanek
Stanek outside of 2 games did pretty well with the mets. The 2 games in question was his first one after the trade which it looks like he may have came from LA to NY looking at his games played and the other was 2 weeks later against the team he was traded from in the Mariners. I mean who would know him better than the team he was just on and a long travel to a new team definitely takes a toll. For the 4 mil, i would say he is worth the risk. Its definitely better than the 4Mil the mets paid to the guy that didnt even get out the minors last season.
This a good signing, will help us like last year.
SHOULD HAVE TAKEN LESS TO JOIN THE GIANTS
THIS SYSTEM IS SO BROKEN WHEN THE METS CAN SIGN SOMEONE WHO ACTUALLY WANTS TO BE THERE