Ottavino, 39, made his MLB debut as a starter for the Cardinals in 2010. However, the Rockies converted him to a relief role after claiming him on waivers in 2012, and the right-hander has been one of the most prolific relievers in the game ever since. Over the past 13 seasons with the Rockies (2012-18), Yankees (2019-20), Red Sox (2021), and Mets (2022-24), Ottavino has pitched 720 2/3 innings with a 3.33 ERA. In that time, he ranks fifth among all relievers in appearances and third in innings pitched. He has remained durable into his late thirties, making at least 60 appearances in each of the past four years. Even more impressive, he has not been on the injured list since 2018.

With all that in mind, it’s easy to see why an MLB team would still be interested in Ottavino, despite his advanced age. His 4.34 ERA this past season wasn’t particularly impressive, but he is only one year removed from a 3.21 ERA season in 2023 and only two years removed from producing an incredible 2.06 ERA in 2022. Moreover, his underlying numbers in 2024 suggest he can still be a back-end bullpen weapon. He pitched to a 3.19 xERA and 3.27 SIERA thanks to a deep arsenal of pitches that helped him thrive as both a strikeout arm and a weak contact artist; his strikeout rate and hard-hit rate both ranked above the 80th percentile, according to Baseball Savant.

On the flip side, it’s worth pointing out that Ottavino struggled with his control down the stretch last season. While his 3.86 ERA in August and September was actually lower than his 4.54 ERA over the first four months of the season, his walk rate shot up from 7.6% to 13.5% over the final two months of the year. Even worse, his strikeout rate dropped from 29.8% from April to July to 25.7% in August and September. That could explain why the Mets did not use him at all in the NL Wild Card Series or the NLDS, and why they left him off of their NLCS roster entirely. It might also explain why the veteran was forced to sign a non-guaranteed contract this winter.

Still, with a strong spring, Ottavino has a good chance to earn a job in Boston’s bullpen. Aside from free agent signing Aroldis Chapman and 2024 breakout arm Justin Slaten, the Red Sox have plenty of uncertainty in their arm barn. Liam Hendriks and Garrett Whitlock are coming off of major injuries, while buy-low free agent signing Justin Wilson has not been an effective bullpen arm for several years (5.34 ERA from 2021-24). Meanwhile, names like Greg Weissert, Josh Winckowski, Brennan Bernardino, and Luis Guerrero are hardly locks to make the Opening Day roster. After signing Wilson and Chapman, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow told reporters that upgrading the bullpen remained a priority. If Ottavino continues to pitch the way he has for most of his career, he should certainly qualify as an upgrade for Boston’s ’pen.

Rojas departs the club’s postseason roster after suffering a partially torn adductor muscle late in the regular season. The 35-year-old veteran was able to rest up during the Wild Card Series, which the Dodgers did not participate in after capturing a bye through the first round, and participate in the NLDS against the Padres. He re-aggravated the injury while playing in the series, however, and appeared in just three of the five games while going 2-for-8 at the plate. While Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times notes that Rojas believes that he’s currently healthy enough to play, the Dodgers were evidently concerned that if Rojas aggravated the injury further he would be unavailable for the World Series in the event that the club advances. By leaving him off the NLCS roster entirely, the Dodgers hope to give Rojas the opportunity to rest up for the World Series.

With the Dodgers’ primary shortstop no longer available, Tommy Edman now figures to slide from center field to shortstop on a regular basis. That opens up center field for utility bat Enrique Hernandez, who impressed during the NLDS with a three-for-nine performance that included a home run. The strong showing added to Hernandez’s lengthy postseason resume, as he’s a career .277/.351/.548 hitter in 211 trips to the plate across 75 playoff games, 64 of which have come in a Dodgers uniform. Kevin Kiermaier and Andy Pages are both on the roster as potential backup options in center field should an injury occur, while Mookie Betts, Chris Taylor, and Hernandez himself all have experience at shortstop should a replacement for Edman be necessary at any point during the series.

While the Dodgers are losing a key member of their middle infield ahead of the series, the Mets are returning one of their own from the injured list in McNeil. The 32-year-old struggled through a second consecutive down season at the plate this year, posting just a .238/.308/.384 slash line (97 wRC+) in 128 games before going on the shelf due to a fractured wrist in early September. Five weeks after hitting the injured list, McNeil now returns to the roster to provide the Mets with a versatile lefty bat capable of slotting into second base, third base, and the outfield corners as needed. Journeyman Jose Iglesias has handled the keystone in McNeil’s absence but could take a seat on the bench for the NLCS after hitting just .207/.233/.207 in 30 trips to the plate across seven games this postseason. Rookie Luisangel Acuna is also on the postseason roster as a middle infield option but has primarily found usage as a defensive replacement to this point in the club’s playoff run.

The addition of McNeil’s lefty bat to the lineup could be particularly valuable for the Mets given the Dodgers’ loss of Vesia. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters yesterday that Vesia was unlikely to make the NLCS roster due to an intercostal injury, and that eventuality has now come to pass. While Roberts floated the possibility of right-hander Tony Gonsolin (who missed the entire 2024 regular season while rehabbing Tommy John surgery) replacing Vesia on the club’s NLCS roster, it seems that L.A. ultimately decided to turn to Honeywell rather than lean on Gonsolin to get postseason outs in his first big league appearance in over a year. The 29-year-old Honeywell has posted a solid 2.63 ERA in 37 2/3 innings of work for the Pirates and Dodgers this year despite a lackluster 4.28 FIP and figures to provide L.A. with a much-needed multi-inning option as the club weighs the possibility of multiple bullpen games during the course of the seven-game series.

The arrangement will see Ottavino return to Queens for a third consecutive season just months after the right-hander declined a $6.75MM player option with the club. Earlier this week, Ottavino discussed his decision to decline that option during an appearance on the Foul Territory podcast. The 38-year-old veteran made clear that while he loved being part of the Mets organization, he had concerns at the time about the club’s future given their at-the-time uncertain managerial situation and rumors the club planned to take a step back during the 2024 campaign. That sort of situation wasn’t appealing to Ottavino, as he noted that he hopes to win a World Series before his career comes to a close.

Since Ottavino’s decision to test the open market, the club has stayed active at the lower levels of free agency and on the trade market. The club shored up its hitting corps by bringing in outfielders Harrison Bader and Tyrone Taylor alongside infielder Joey Wendle, while the bullpen was bolstered by the addition of Jorge Lopez. The most impactful changes can be found in the starting staff, where the Mets have acquired Sean Manaea, Adrian Houser, and Luis Severino to join incumbent arms Kodai Senga and Jose Quintana as members of the rotation mix.

Those additions, along with the hiring of former Yankees bench coach Carlos Mendoza as manager, seem to have given Ottavino the confidence in New York’s chances in 2024 necessary for him to re-sign with the club. While the player option declined by the right-hander back in November came with a nominally larger guarantee, it’s important to note that Ottavino previously told the New York Post’s Joel Sherman that $4MM of his $6.75MM salary would have been deferred. This deal includes no such deferred money, meaning that today’s deal actually improves upon the previously-declined option in terms of present value.

The veteran figures to provide a stabilizing force in the Mets’ bullpen for the 2024 campaign behind star closer Edwin Diaz, where he’ll likely share set-up duties with the likes of Brooks Raley and Drew Smith. It’s a role Ottavino is familiar with, as the righty has notched 179 holds throughout his 13-year tenure in the majors on top of his 45 career saves. Since establishing himself as a fixture of the Rockies’ bullpen back in 2012, Ottavino has compiled a strong 3.25 ERA and 3.52 FIP across 659 appearances with Colorado, Boston, and both New York clubs. By measure of ERA+, the veteran has never posted a campaign below league average during a 162-game season, with the lone blemish on that resume being 18 1/3 innings of 5.89 ERA ball during the shortened 2020 campaign.

That kind of stable production figures to be a major boost for the Mets’ relief corps, which struggled badly down the stretch after parting ways with closer David Robertson at the trade deadline last summer. Following the deadline, Mets relievers struggled to a 5.19 ERA that was bottom-six in the majors during that timeframe. Ottavino, by contrast, was a bright spot in the club’s bullpen down the stretch with a 2.55 ERA and a 28.9% strikeout rate in 19 appearances during which he picked up six saves. Given that strong performance, it’s hardly a surprise that the club landed upon a reunion with the veteran as a resolution to their search for additional bullpen help. Going forward, it’s possible the club could look to make an addition at third base or DH, though president of baseball operations David Stearns has made clear that the club doesn’t want to take opportunities away from young players like Brett Baty and Mark Vientos with external additions.

The deal makes Ottavino the latest bullpen arm to come off the market in recent weeks. The right-hander joins the likes of David Robertson, Robert Stephenson, Aroldis Chapman, Hector Neris, and Matt Moore in signing a new deal shortly relief ace Josh Hader recently agreed to a five-year pact with the Astros earlier this month. Phil Maton, Ryne Stanek, and Ryan Brasier are among the best options remaining for clubs looking to strengthen their relief corps.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported the Mets and Ottavino were in agreement on a one-year, $4.5MM contract. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

“To be clear, I wanted to stick with the Mets,” Ottavino explained to host Scott Braun (video link). “It’s the best situation for me, being a New York guy. I loved my time with the Mets. It’s just more of a function of, at the moment I had to make the decision, there was just so much uncertainty with the team. They hadn’t hired a manager yet. There was no coaching staff. They hadn’t gotten any free agents yet. We’d kind of scuffled down the stretch. There was this narrative that the team wasn’t going to try to compete this year. Obviously, I’m not getting any younger. I tried to talk to [president of baseball operations] David Stearns and get a little certainty on my end. Obviously, he’s going to play things close to the vest. That’s the way front offices operate, and I totally understand that. But from my perspective, I just didn’t feel 100% certain of what direction the team was going to look like, come spring training. I also had a lot of deferred money in my contract for this year. In that moment, it made sense for me to test the waters. I’d still like to be back there, but my mind is open to lots of different outcomes this time around. I feel like I’m on a year-to-year basis at this point with my age. I just don’t want to sell myself short; I’ve still never won, and I would like the opportunity to do that.”

Ottavino is an accomplished reliever with more than $50MM in career earnings to date, which also surely factored into his comfort level with turning down that guaranteed sum. It’s understandable, given his age and career earnings, that maxing out his salary in 2024 perhaps isn’t the right-hander’s top priority. Ottavino has pitched in five different postseasons for four different teams (Rockies, Yankees, Red Sox, Mets) but never advanced beyond the League Championship Series.

Given his track record and his 2023 platform year, it’s certainly possible that Ottavino can come close to or even exceed the money he declined from the Mets, particularly when factoring for the deferrals. At the time he declined his option, Ottavino told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that $4MM of that $6.75MM sum was deferred. The right-hander said he approached the Mets about a two-year deal (that would extend into a 2025 season where the club ostensibly will be taking larger strides to be competitive), but the team did not reciprocate that interest.

The 2023 season was yet another solid one for Ottavino. The former No. 30 overall pick (2006, Cardinals) pitched 61 2/3 innings of 3.21 ERA ball for the Mets and picked up a dozen saves and holds apiece along the way. Ottavino’s average sinker dipped for a second straight season (94.2 mph in ’22, 92.8 mph in ’23), and he saw both his strikeout and walk rates take a turn for the worse (30.6% and 6.2%, respectively, in 2022; 23.8% and 11.1% in 2023). This year’s 56.3% ground-ball rate was his highest mark since an injury-shortened 2016 season with the Rockies, however, and was the largest single-season mark he’s posted in his lengthy career.

Only once in the past six years has Ottavino had a sub-par season — that being the shortened 2020 campaign, when he had a 5.89 ERA in a tiny sample of just 18 1/3 innings. Collectively, he touts a 2.89 ERA, 29.7% strikeout rate, 11.2% walk rate and 46.4% ground-ball rate in 351 2/3 innings since Opening Day 2018. There ought to be at least a one-year deal out there in free agency, and it sounds as though Ottavino will prioritize signing with a team that has a rather clear chance at a postseason berth.

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.

A new wrinkle has emerged regarding Alonso’s future plans, as Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported this morning that Alonso has changed representation ahead of his final offseason under club control, moving from Apex Baseball to Boras Corporation, the agency run by high-profile agent Scott Boras.

The change in representation seems to lessen the odds of the Mets and Alonso coming to an agreement on a contract extension before he hits free agency next offseason, as it’s been relatively rare for high-profile Boras clients to sign extensions the offseason before hitting free agency. The deal between right-hander Lance McCullers Jr. and the Astros prior to the 2021 season and the pact between the Red Sox and shortstop Xander Bogaerts back in 2019 show that proclivity is hardly universal.

What’s more, Heyman notes the recent success the Mets have had in working with Boras, as the sides agreed to $100MM+ deals for veteran ace Max Scherzer and center fielder Brandon Nimmo in free agency the past two offseasons. Nimmo’s case is worth particular consideration, as the former 13th-overall pick made it to free agency last offseason after spending his whole career with the Mets, much as Alonso has, before ultimately re-signing with the club.

More from Queens…

• On the heels of manager Buck Showalter’s recent departure, Mike Puma of the New York Post discusses a major point of contention between Showalter and the front office over the summer: playing time for slugger Daniel Vogelbach. Showalter reportedly wanted to explore other options at DH against right-handed pitching early in the season, including cycling regulars through the position to get them a partial day off, thanks to Vogelbach’s lack of power production: he slashed just .219/.364/.314 over his first 43 games. Showalter met resistance from GM Billy Eppler regarding that desire, however, with Eppler insisting on Vogelbach remaining in the lineup. Vogelbach, 30, is headed into his final season of arbitration eligibility in 2024.
• Though right-hander Adam Ottavino recently indicated that he intends to return to the Mets next year by exercising his $6.75MM player option for the 2024 campaign, the 37-year-old veteran recently spoke with less certainty regarding his impending option decision, telling reporters (including Puma) that while he likes the Mets, he wants to see “how things shake out” in the early offseason before coming to a decision. Ottavino posted a solid season for the club, with a 3.21 ERA and 4.52 FIP in 66 appearances, though that performance was a considerable step back from the 2.06 ERA and 2.85 FIp he posted in 2022.

Ottavino is one of a trio of players still on the Mets’ roster who’d have the choice to become a free agent at year’s end. Carlos Carrasco is headed to the open market; Ottavino and Omar Narváez have player options for next season. (The club holds an option on Raley.) Narváez seems a lock to return on a $7MM salary after slumping to a .200/.295/.260 line and missing a good chunk of the season with a strained calf. Ottavino’s option seemed a closer call, but the veteran reliever indicated this afternoon he’s leaning towards exercising it.

The Brooklyn native tells Anthony DiComo of MLB.com he intends to return for a third season with the Mets. Ottavino suggested he was likely to trigger the $6.75MM option on his existing contract. He left open the possibility of trying to renegotiate the deal if he pitches well enough over the next two months, though he indicated he’d do so as a means of tacking on more years rather than prioritizing the average annual value. The Mets don’t have to consider a renegotiation, of course. There’s ostensibly still a chance that Ottavino looks to extend the contract, the Mets decline, and he’s left to reconsider the possibility of opting out.

That said, the hurler seemed quite committed to returning to Queens for his age-38 campaign. “I want to be here no matter what,” Ottavino told DiComo. “This is a good place for me. I love the organization. I love being able to play where I’m from.”

Next year’s Mets will be a quite different team from the one that entered this season. Owner Steve Cohen and GM Billy Eppler have each made clear the club doesn’t anticipate being as active at the top of the free agent market as they had been. Cohen frankly stated yesterday that the ’24 roster won’t carry the same expectations as this year’s group.

Ottavino doesn’t seem deterred by the organizational messaging. The right-hander opined he “(knows) that we’re not going to stink next year.” More broadly, he said he’d value team success more when it’s built on continuity. “I really want to win, but I’ve come to realize it means more to me when I feel invested with the team, when I’ve been with the team for a while,” he told DiComo. “I don’t like feeling like a hired gun. … When I came here, I really wanted to prove myself again and stay. Once I was able to do that, now I feel like I’m bought into everything we’re doing around here.”

While Ottavino has sole discretion on whether to play out his contract, his deal does not contain a no-trade clause. If he exercises the option, there’d be nothing prohibiting the Mets from exploring trade possibilities during the winter. Barring an excellent final couple months, however, New York likely wouldn’t find a huge prospect return if they put Ottavino on the trade market.

While the 13-year MLB veteran is having a solid season, his production has taken a step back from his first year in Queens. Ottavino owns a 3.48 ERA across 44 innings. He’s racking up ground-balls at a massive 58.1% clip but has slightly worse than average strikeout (21.6%) and walk (10.3%) tallies. Ottavino fanned over 30% of opponents against a meager 6.2% walk percentage en route to a sterling 2.06 ERA through 65 2/3 frames a season ago.

The average velocity on Ottavino’s sinker and sweeping slider are each down a tick relative to last season. That has contributed to a drop in whiffs, though his lower arm angle has remained a very challenging look for same-handed hitters. Righties have only four extra-base hits and a .273 slugging mark in 118 plate appearances against him.

Raley entered today’s action tied for the league lead in appearances (14) and holds (eight), and for the most part, the lefty has been quite sharp despite a somewhat misleading 4.76 ERA.  Twelve of Raley’s 14 outings have been scoreless, except he was tagged for four runs in an inning of work against the Brewers on April, and for two runs in his most recent appearance on Thursday against the Nationals.  His 22.4% strikeout rate is also below average, but Raley’s 2.0% walk rate is among the league’s best, and he is doing a good job of limiting hard contact.

Ottavino has pitched well this season and will likely slide back into his set-up/part-time closer role, with David Robertson still getting the overall bulk of save opportunities.  But, losing Raley is certainly a blow to the Mets bullpen, in part because he was also the team’s only left-handed reliever.  The Mets haven’t been particularly concerned with bullpen balance in recent times (given that Joely Rodriguez was occasionally the only southpaw in the 2022 relief corps), and chose to just recall Curtiss rather than select a left-hander like T.J. McFarland onto the 40-man roster.

Since the Mets optioned Peterson to Triple-A multiple times in 2022, it isn’t necessarily a shock that the left-hander is again headed to Syracuse.  With Justin Verlander set to be activated from the injured list next week and Max Scherzer returning from suspension, Peterson is the odd man out of the rotation mix after making six starts thus far in the 2023 season.

It has been a hard-luck year for Peterson, whose 3.59 ERA is well below his 7.34 ERA.  Peterson has above-average strikeout and walk rates, but he has also allowed eight home runs in only 30 2/3 innings of work.  (For comparison’s sake, Peterson surrendered 11 homers over 105 2/3 frames in 2022.)  The southpaw has allowed a lot of hard contact, but even the softer contact has been finding holes, as per his inflated .357 BABIP.  Peterson will get a chance to get himself on track at Triple-A, while remaining on tap as the Mets’ top depth starter.

Without further ado…

Angels

• Glenn Albanese Jr.
• Jaime Barria
• Gustavo Campero
• Alan Carter
• Jhonathan Diaz
• Carlos Estevez
• David Fletcher
• Jake Kalish
• D’Shawn Knowles
• Shohei Ohtani
• Jose Quijada
• Luis Rengifo
• Gerardo Reyes
• Patrick Sandoval
• Mike Trout
• Gio Urshela
• Cesar Valdez
• Zack Weiss
• Aaron Whitefield

Astros

• Bryan Abreu
• Jose Altuve
• Ronel Blanco
• Luis Garcia
• Colton Gordon
• Cristian Javier
• Martin Maldonado
• Rafael Montero
• Hector Neris
• Jeremy Pena
• Ryan Pressly
• Andre Scrubb
• Kyle Tucker
• Jose Urquidy
• Derek West

Athletics

• Denzel Clarke
• Jordan Diaz
• Jake Fishman
• Zack Gelof
• James Gonzalez
• Adrian Martinez
• Joshwan Wright

Blue Jays

• Jose Berrios
• Jiorgeny Casimiri
• Yimi Garcia
• Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
• Spencer Horwitz
• Alejandro Kirk
• Otto Lopez
• Damiano Palmegiani

Braves

• Ronald Acuna Jr.
• Luis De Avila
• Roel Ramirez
• Alan Rangel
• Eddie Rosario
• Chadwick Tromp

Brewers

• Willy Adames
• Sal Frelick
• Alex Hall
• Matt Hardy
• Joel Payamps
• Rowdy Tellez
• Abraham Toro
• Luis Urias
• Michele Vassalotti
• Devin Williams

Cardinals

• Nolan Arenado
• Genesis Cabrera
• Tommy Edman
• Giovanny Gallegos
• Paul Goldschmidt
• Ivan Herrera
• Matt Koperniak
• Noah Mendlinger
• Oscar Mercado
• Miles Mikolas
• Lars Nootbaar
• Tyler O’Neill
• JoJo Romero
• Adam Wainwright
• Guillermo Zuniga

Cubs

• Javier Assad
• Owen Caissie
• Danis Correa
• Ben DeLuzio
• Roenis Elias
• Miles Mastrobuoni
• Matt Mervis
• B.J. Murray Jr.
• Vinny Nittoli
• Fabian Pertuz
• Liam Spence
• Seiya Suzuki
• Marcus Stroman
• Pedro Strop
• Nelson Velazquez
• Jared Young

Diamondbacks

• Dominic Fletcher
• Jakob Goldfarb
• Gunnar Groen
• Merrill Kelly
• Ketel Marte
• Eric Mendez
• Dominic Miroglio
• Emmanuel Rivera
• Jacob Steinmetz
• Mitchell Stumpo
• Alek Thomas

Dodgers

• Austin Barnes
• Mookie Betts
• Freddie Freeman
• Clayton Kershaw
• Adam Kolarek
• Miguel Rojas
• Will Smith
• Trayce Thompson
• Julio Urias

Giants

• Jonathan Bermudez
• Camilo Doval
• Joey Marciano
• Joc Pederson

Guardians

• Enyel De Los Santos
• Dayan Frias
• Andres Gimenez
• Bo Naylor
• Richie Palacios
• Cal Quantrill
• Cade Smith
• Meibrys Viloria
• Josh Wolf

Marlins

• Sandy Alcantara
• Luis Arraez
• Johnny Cueto
• Jesus Luzardo
• Anthony Maldonado
• Jean Segura

Mariners

• Matt Brash
• Diego Castillo
• Matt Festa
• Harry Ford
• Teoscar Hernandez
• Milkar Perez
• Julio Rodriguez
• Eugenio Suarez
• Blake Townsend

Mets

• Pete Alonso
• Jonathan Arauz
• Edwin Diaz
• Eduardo Escobar
• Dominic Hamel
• Elieser Hernandez
• Francisco Lindor
• Jeff McNeil
• Omar Narvaez
• Cam Opp
• Adam Ottavino
• Jose Quintana
• Brooks Raley
• Claudio Scotti

Nationals

• Alberto Baldonado
• Paolo Espino
• Lucius Fox
• Alberto Guerrero
• Joey Meneses
• Erasmo Ramirez

Orioles

• Daniel Federman
• Darwinzon Hernandez
• Dean Kremer
• Cedric Mullins
• Anthony Santander
• Rodney Theophile

Padres

• Xander Bogaerts
• Nabil Crismatt
• Nelson Cruz
• Jarryd Dale
• Yu Darvish
• Jose Espada
• Ruben Galindo
• Luis Garcia
• Ha-Seong Kim
• Manny Machado
• Nick Martinez
• Evan Mendoza
• Juan Soto
• Brett Sullivan
• Julio Teheran

Phillies

• Jose Alvarado
• Erubiel Armenta
• Malik Binns
• Jaydenn Estanista
• Vito Friscia
• Brian Marconi
• J.T. Realmuto
• Kyle Schwarber
• Noah Skirrow
• Gregory Soto
• Garrett Stubbs
• Ranger Suarez
• Trea Turner
• Taijuan Walker
• Rixon Wingrove

Pirates

• David Bednar
• Tsung-Che Cheng
• Roansy Contreras
• Alessandro Ercolani
• Santiago Florez
• Jarlin Garcia
• Antwone Kelly
• Josh Palacios
• Jeffrey Passantino
• Tahnaj Thomas
• Duane Underwood Jr.
• Chavez Young
• Rob Zastryzny

Rangers

• Mitch Bratt
• Jose Leclerc
• Martin Perez

Rays

• Jason Adam
• Jonathan Aranda
• Randy Arozarena
• Christian Bethancourt
• Trevor Brigden
• Wander Franco
• Andrew Gross
• Joe LaSorsa
• Francisco Mejia
• Isaac Paredes
• Harold Ramirez
• Graham Spraker

Red Sox

• Jorge Alfaro
• Richard Bleier
• Rafael Devers
• Jarren Duran
• Ian Gibaut
• Rio Gomez
• Norwith Gudino
• Enrique Hernandez
• Nick Pivetta
• Henry Ramos
• Alex Verdugo
• Masataka Yoshida

Reds

• Donovan Benoit
• Silvino Bracho
• Luis Cessa
• Fernando Cruz
• Alexis Diaz
• Arij Fransen
• Kyle Glogoski
• Tayron Guerrero
• Evan Kravetz
• Nicolo Pinazzi
• Reiver Sanmartin
• Vin Timpanelli

Rockies

• Daniel Bard
• Jake Bird
• Yonathan Daza
• Elias Diaz
• Kyle Freeland
• Justin Lawrence
• German Marquez
• Michael Petersen
• Alan Trejo

Royals

• Max Castillo
• Robbie Glendinning
• Carlos Hernandez
• Nicky Lopez
• MJ Melendez
• Vinnie Pasquantino
• Salvador Perez
• Brady Singer
• Bobby Witt Jr.
• Angel Zerpa

Tigers

• Javier Baez
• Miguel Cabrera
• Chavez Fernander
• Andy Ibanez
• Jack O’Loughlin
• Jacob Robson
• Eduardo Rodriguez
• Jonathan Schoop
• John Valente

Twins

• Jose De Leon
• Edouard Julien
• Jorge Lopez
• Pablo Lopez
• Carlos Luna
• Jose Miranda
• Jovani Moran
• Emilio Pagan
• Christian Vazquez

White Sox

• Tim Anderson
• Kendall Graveman
• Eloy Jimenez
• Lance Lynn
• Yoan Moncada
• Nicholas Padilla
• Luis Robert
• Jose Ruiz

Yankees

• Indigo Diaz
• Kyle Higashioka
• Jonathan Loaisiga
• Gleyber Torres

December 20: The Mets and right-hander Adam Ottavino are in agreement on a contract to bring him back to Queens. It will be a two-year, $14.5MM deal with Ottavino having the ability to opt-out after the first year. The deal is pending a physical. Ottavino is represented by WME Baseball.

Ottavino, 37, has had some ups and downs in his career but has an overall track record of effective relief pitching going back a decade now. He debuted with the Cardinals back in 2010 but came to prominence with the Rockies over a seven-year stretch from 2012 to 2018. In that timeframe, he pitched in 361 games and logged 390 2/3 innings, posting a 3.41 ERA with a 27.6% strikeout rate, 10.1% walk rate and 46.1% ground ball rate. His strikeout rate ticked upward over his time in Colorado, getting as high as 36.2% in 2018, though there were some control issues, as he walked 16% of batters faced in 2017 and 11.7% in 2018.

He reached free agency and signed with the Yankees going into 2019, signing a three-year deal worth $27MM. The first year of that deal went very well as he posted a 1.90 ERA in the Bronx, though that ballooned 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, flipping him to the Red Sox in a salary dump trade. Ottavino then posted a 4.21 ERA for Boston in 2021, with his strikeout rate dipping to 25.7% and his walk rate coming in at 12.7%.

The Mets signed Ottavino to a modest one-year deal for 2022 worth $4MM plus incentives and were rewarded with an excellent bounceback campaign. The righty made 66 appearances out of the Mets’ bullpen in 2022, finishing the year with a 2.06 ERA, striking out 30.6% of batters faced while walking just 6.2% of them. He also got ground balls on 51.9% of balls in play while racking up three saves and 18 holds for the year. Based on that strong comeback campaign, MLBTR predicted Ottavino could secure himself a two-year, $14MM contract, which he has narrowly exceeded here.

The Mets were facing a huge bullpen exodus this offseason, with Ottavino, Edwin Díaz, Seth Lugo, Trevor Williams, Joely Rodríguez and Trevor May all reaching free agency a few weeks ago. They have since addressed that situation by re-signing Díaz, signing David Robertson, trading for Brooks Raley and now bringing Ottavino back into the fray as well.

In addition to those moves, the club has been extremely active in free agency to address other parts of the roster. The rotation also had a number of holes appear, with Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker all becoming free agents. Those three were replaced by signing Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga and José Quintana. The club also bolstered its position player mix by re-signing Brandon Nimmo and signing Omar Narváez.

The Mets already had one of the highest payrolls in the league in 2022 and those moves have shot them up to incredible new heights. Roster Resource has them at $344MM before even factoring in the Ottavino deal, with a competitive balance tax figure of $356MM. Since the Mets are second-time payors and are well beyond the fourth CBT threshold of $293MM, they are now paying a 90% tax on any further spending. Ottavino will add $7.25MM to that CBT figure, leading to an extra $6.525MM in taxes, meaning the club is effectively paying $13.775MM for Ottavino’s services in 2022.

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the Mets signing Ottavino and the two-year with opt-out structure (Twitter links). Jeff Passan of ESPN first had the dollar figures.

Ottavino, 37, was a terrific setup man in Queens last year, tossing 65 2/3 innings of 2.06 ERA relief work. He halved his walk rate from a year earlier in Boston, dropping from 12.7% to post a 6.2% rate in 2023 while still maintaining a strong 30.6% strikeout rate. He also posted a 51.9% ground-ball rate, his best figure since 2016.

It was a bounce back year for the Brooklyn-native, who’d struggled in his previous two campaigns. Signed to a three-year, $27MM deal by the Yankees in 2019 after a number years of quality relief work in Colorado, Ottavino was dominant in his first season in the Bronx, pitching to a 1.90 ERA in 66 1/3 innings. He took a major step back a year later, winding up with a 5.89 ERA in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. That prompted the Yankees to flip him to the rival Red Sox, and while there was some improvement, his 4.21 ERA in 62 innings was still well short of his best.

That allowed the Mets to sign him to a modest $4MM guarantee for 2022, and he’ll surely be seeking a significant raise on that figure this winter. As Puma notes, the Mets believe Ottavino enjoys pitching in his hometown, but it’s unclear if that’d be enough for him to forgo a possible multi-year deal elsewhere if the Mets are only willing to offer him a one-year deal.

The Mets are rebuilding their bullpen after the departures of Ottavino, Seth Lugo, Trevor Williams, Mychal Givens, Trevor May and Joely Rodriguez to free agency. They’ve already re-signed Edwin Diaz to record-breaking contract, while they’ve claimed Stephen Ridings from the Yankees and acquired Jeff Brigham and Elieser Hernandez from the Marlins. There’s still work to do though, particularly in the high-leverage spots so the Mets have plenty of motivation to try and bring back Ottavino.

Just about any contending club could do with a bullpen arm like Ottavino, so the veteran should have plenty of interest. MLBTR predicted a two-year, $14MM guarantee, and the likes of the Brewers, Yankees, Phillies, Braves, Giants and Blue Jays could have interest among many others.

Ottavino broke into the big leagues as a Cardinal but was claimed on waivers by the Rockies and ended up staying for seven seasons from 2012 to 2018. In that time, the righty got into 361 games, throwing 390 2/3 innings with an ERA of 3.41, strikeout rate of 27.6% and walk rate of 10.1%. His last season with the Rockies was especially noteworthy, as he had the best year of his career at the age of 32. In that campaign, he threw 77 2/3 innings with a 2.43 ERA. His 11.7% walk rate was a few ticks above league average, but he offset that with an incredible 36.2% strikeout rate.

Based on that tremendous late-career breakout, the Yankees signed Ottavino to a three-year, $27MM contract. In 2019, Ottavino largely made good on the faith the Yankees showed in him. In 66 1/3 innings, he lowered his ERA to 1.90, despite his strikeout rate falling to 31.1% and his walk rate jumping to 14.1%. In the shortened 2020 season, however, things took an ugly turn, as he put up an ERA of 5.89 over 18 1/3 innings, with his strikeout rate falling to 29.4%.

Prior to the 2021 campaign, the Yankees sent Ottavino to the Red Sox, mostly because they were nearing the luxury tax and wanted his salary off the books. In 62 innings for Boston last year, his ERA was 4.21, not as bad as the small sample from 2020, but definitely a notch below his 2018-19 stretch. His strikeout rate also dipped for a third straight season, coming in at 25.7%.

For the Mets, this is yet another move in what has been an extremely busy offseason for them. They upgraded their lineup by signing Starling Marte, Mark Canha and Eduardo Escobar. They also improved their rotation by signing Max Scherzer before the lockout and trading for Chris Bassitt yesterday. Now they’ve added Ottavino to a bullpen that already features Edwin Diaz, Trevor May, Miguel Castro and Seth Lugo. Those are all right-handed options, meaning that the club could look to supplement that group with a lefty, if their wild roster revamp isn’t yet complete.

To create space on the 40-man roster, New York outrighted right-hander Antonio Santos, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. The Mets had claimed the 25-year-old off waivers from the Rockies in November, but he didn’t stick on the New York 40-man all winter. He doesn’t have the requisite service time to refuse an outright assignment, so he’ll remain in the organization as non-roster depth.

Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported the agreement and its terms.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

• The Fenway Sports Group is reviewing the details of a private investment offer by RedBird Capital that would raise their valuation to roughly $7.35 billion, writes Michael Silverman of the Boston Globe. FSG would remain a private company led by the current leadership group of John Henry, Tom Werner, and Michael Gordon. Managing Partner and CEO of RedBird Capital Gerry Cardinale – along with Billy Beane of the A’s – was a primary driver behind the recent RedBall SPAC (special interest acquisition group), which would have taken the company public. In this case, the roughly $750MM investment certainly helps in the big picture sense, but the Red Sox themselves aren’t likely to see much of an impact. The Fenway Sports Group has a number of properties, and this opportunity has further-reaching implications beyond, say, the Red Sox payroll. By taking the private investment route, Cardinale and RedBird would become a significant stakeholder, while FSG would get a cash influx to further their broader growth plans. Both FSG and RedBird have noted interest in expanding their holdings within the sports entertainment sector.
• Expect Rule 5 pick Garrett Whitlock to open the season in the bullpen. The Red Sox like what they’ve seen so far, and if he doesn’t make the team, they’ll have to return him to the Yankees. The additions of versatile bench options on the offensive end should allow the Red Sox to carry an extra pitcher for much of this season, helping Whitlock’s chances of staying in Boston. In other bullpen news, Matt Barnes and Adam Ottavino are competing for the closer role, though Ryan Brasier could have a hand in closing games as well, writes the Athletic’s Chad Jennings. Hirokazu Sawamura will not pitch in that spot, despite having some experience in the role.

• The Yankees moved Ottavino to trim enough salary to duck the $210MM luxury tax line, but according to Bloom, it’s not a foregone conclusion that the Red Sox will do the same. With Ottavino in the fold, the Red Sox luxury tax payroll appears to be around $206MM, which certainly doesn’t leave very much room to spare. While the plan is to avoid the tax, that’s not a firm mandate, Bloom notes.
• Even taking Bloom at his word, it’s hard to imagine the Red Sox going over the luxury tax when so many teams these days work so diligently to avoid it – especially in a season where the Red Sox are largely projected to be an afterthought to the Rays, Yankees, and Blue Jays in the AL East. The Red Sox aren’t probably quite as quick to write off their 2021 season, of course. Still, it’s fair to wonder if they have the funds remaining to bring back Jackie Bradley Jr. The team remains in contact with Bradley, however, and plans to do so “until his free agency resolves.” Though your read may differ, Bloom’s passive word choice doesn’t project the picture of an aggressive forthcoming attempt to woo Bradley back to Fenway, despite his point here being that a reunion remains possible.
  

11:45am: In an ultra-rare swap between AL East rivals, the Yankees have reportedly traded right-hander Adam Ottavino to the Red Sox in exchange for cash or a player to be named later. Boston will receive Ottavino and minor league right-hander Frank German from the Yankees in a move that amounts to a salary dump for the Yanks and the purchase of pitching prospect and a bullpen rebound candidate for the Red Sox.

After acquiring Jameson Taillon from the Pirates and agreeing to terms with DJ LeMahieu and Corey Kluber, the Yankees found themselves with roughly one million dollars separating them from the tax threshold, per Roster Resource’s Jason Martinez. Ottavino came with a $9MM luxury hit by virtue of the three-year, $27MM free-agent deal he signed two years ago, and the Yankees will now shave the bulk of that sum from their luxury obligations. ESPN’s Buster Olney reports that they’re sending $850K to the Red Sox as part of the deal, so the Yankees are freeing up $8.15MM of luxury breathing room.

That space will prove vital, given ownership’s apparent mandate that the front office stay under the tax threshold. The Yankees have recently spoken to Brett Gardner’s camp about a reunion, and the club could yet be in the hunt for affordable rotation depth even after adding Kluber and Taillon. Both are coming off injury-ruined 2020 seasons, after all, and the rest of the team’s rotation comes with similar workload concerns.

The trade between the two teams is the first in six and a half years, when they swapped Stephen Drew and Kelly Johnson in 2014. MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand points out that this is only the second trade that Yankees GM Brian Cashman has ever made with his organization’s top rival.

While finances are the clear driving factor in this trade, it’s unlikely the Yankees would’ve made the move had Ottavino not struggled through a dismal showing in last year’s shortened season. The 35-year-old appeared in 24 games but totaled just 18 1/3 innings of work, yielding a dozen runs on 20 hits and nine walks with 25 punchouts in that time. Ottavino’s 5.89 ERA was his highest since debuting as a rookie with the Cardinals back in 2010, although fielding-independent metrics were more bullish on his work (3.52 FIP, 3.62 SIERA).

Control has never been a strong point for Ottavino, but he dropped his walk rate from 13.8 percent in 2017-19 to 10.6 percent last year. It’s easy to call his ERA a result of a sky-high .375 average on ball in play, but Ottavino’s struggles appeared to be more than a function of simple bad luck. In spite of his improved control, the right-hander’s strikeout rate dipped a bit (31.5 percent to 29.4 percent), and Ottavino yielded hard contact at a career-high rate (90.6 mph average exit velocity; 50 percent hard-hit rate). Ottavino was a high-quality reliever as recently as 2018-19 between the Rockies and Yankees, however, when he logged a combined 2.19 ERA and 33.8 percent strikeout rate through 144 innings of work.

Boston surely hopes that Ottavino will return to form, but the Sox are also using available payroll flexibility to add a pitcher who isn’t viewed as being too far from MLB-ready. The 23-year-old German was a fourth-round pick out of college and a late riser on draft boards in 2018, as Eric Longenhagen wrote last year at FanGraphs. German added muscle to a projectable frame between his junior and senior years of college and saw his velocity spike late in the 2018 NCAA season. He’s continued to add velocity in pro ball, per Longenhagen, though there are concerns about his secondary offerings. MLB.com previously ranked German 24th among Yankees prospects, so he’ll settle somewhere into the middle tiers of the Red Sox’ rankings now.

In many ways underscores, this unexpected trade speaks to how both clubs view Boston’s chances of competing in 2021. If the Red Sox genuinely expected to compete for a division title, would they help the Yankees by giving them further payroll space to operate underneath the tax threshold? And if the Yankees viewed the Red Sox as a threat, would they risk sending a talented reliever — albeit one in need of a rebound — to their nemesis? The optics of a revitalized Ottavino playing a key role in a Red Sox bullpen that marches to the postseason would be brutal for the Yankees.

That’s not to write off the Red Sox entirely, of course. There’s still a very talented core group of players in Boston, but the team’s chances of contending in 2021 are largely dependent on a number of unknown elements breaking their way. The Sox don’t yet know how Chris Sale will look in his return from Tommy John surgery, for instance, nor are they certain what they can expect from Eduardo Rodriguez after he missed the 2020 season due to Covid-19 and a subsequent myocarditis diagnosis. Key lineup pieces like J.D. Martinez and Andrew Benintendi are in search of their own rebounds after downturns in 2020, and the Sox lack proven options at first base, in the back of the rotation and the back of the bullpen. Ottavino merely adds another question mark to that lengthy list.

Lindsey Adler of The Athletic first reported (via Twitter) that Ottavino had been traded to Boston. The New York Post’s Joel Sherman added details on the other elements of the swap.