“The New York Mets have signed former A’s left-hander…
Jason Burke Read more New York Mets sign former A’s left-hander New York Mets make another interesting deal Jason Burke 5 hours ago New York Mets sign former Oakland A’s left-hander Sean New York Post Mr
.
Heyman and Mr.
Manaea will sign a two-year contract worth $28 million.
The agreement also provides for withdrawal options after 2024.
Manaea was originally drafted in the first round (34th overall) of the 2013 draft by the Kansas City Royals and sent to Oakland for Ben Zobrist in 2015.
He made his Athletics debut in 2016, pitching 727 innings with the club and posting a 3.
The Athletics traded him to San Diego before the final year of his contract in 2022, but he had his worst season with a 4.
96 ERA.
The following offseason, he signed with the San Francisco Giants and was used as the Orange and Black’s starter/opener/long man, posting a 4.
44 ERA that season.
New York Mets fans are intrigued by this deal because he maintained a 5.
49 ERA through the first half of 2023, then lowered it to 3.
43 in a few innings.
His WHIP also increased from 1.
34 to 1.
14.
Part of that is because Manaea, who worked at Driveline last winter, increased the four-seater’s speed from 91.
3 mph (in 2022) to a career-high 93.
6 mph last season.
Another reason is that the left-handed pitcher has added a sweeper to his pitching lineup since late May.
This year, the whiff rate of this pitch was 35.
1%, the highest of any of his pitches, and he had a batting average of .
140, expected batting average of .
161, and exit velocity of 82.
8.
In other words, the batsmen struggled against Manaea’s sweeper.
But his success isn’t just about his new pitch.
In September, he only threw two long-distance pitches, but still pitched 27 innings and posted a 2.
67 ERA.
This is a pretty solid addition for the Mets as they look to rebuild.
Manaea also has a great sense of humor, so New York will like him.
In 2020, when the Athletics had no fans in the stands, players sat in the stands and watched the game.
At one game in particular, Manaea made his own cheering signs.
One called third baseman Matt Chapman “Chap,” and the other answered “Man.
” These were written on plain white paper and were nothing special.
At one point he confuses the two of his (probably intentionally) and chooses “ManChap,” which is really great.
He’s also one of the nicest guys in the game.
I hope Mets fans value him.