Ottavino agrees to 1-year deal with Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- The Mets¡¯ march toward pitching depth continues. After acquiring starter Chris Bassitt in a deal with the A¡¯s, they agreed to terms on a one-year deal with reliever Adam Ottavino, the club announced Monday. The deal, per sources, is a $4 million contract.

Ottavino will join Edwin D¨ªaz, Seth Lugo and Trevor May at the back of New York¡¯s bullpen. He posted a 4.21 ERA in 69 appearances last year for the Red Sox, striking out 71 batters in 62 innings. Since 2018, Ottavino has averaged 11.9 strikeouts per nine innings while producing a 3.05 ERA for the Rockies, Yankees and Red Sox.

Swing-and-miss stuff has long been Ottavino¡¯s forte; since 2018, he ranks sixth in the Majors in strikeouts by a reliever, trailing (among others) Josh Hader and D¨ªaz. A technologically savvy pitcher who reinvented himself in the last decade in large part through the use of data, Ottavino is joining a team full of likeminded individuals, including pitching coach Jeremy Hefner and a rapidly expanding analytics team.

With D¨ªaz in-house, the Mets don¡¯t need Ottavino to close games as he¡¯s done on occasion earlier in his career. They simply need him to slot into a middle- to late-innings role, sharing those responsibilities with Lugo, May, and perhaps another pending addition. The Mets¡¯ top remaining roster need is lefty relief help, with Andrew Chafin a prominent free agent still available. Hader is also a long-shot trade option, while in-house possibilities include David Peterson and Thomas Szapucki, as well as non-roster invitee Alex Claudio.

¡°We have some lefties that are going to be in camp here,¡± general manager Billy Eppler said. ¡°We remain open-minded to look at that group, too. We signed Alex Claudio, who has been extremely tough on left-handed hitters, so he¡¯ll get a long look in camp. I¡¯ll just always remain open-minded to adding where we can, but I don¡¯t want to force the shot, either.¡±

No matter which direction the Mets go, it¡¯s clear that they are not yet done shopping. Earlier Sunday, owner Steve Cohen said that he expected the Mets to exceed Major League Baseball¡¯s new fourth Competitive Balance Tax threshold. That would require a payroll of more than $290 million, or roughly $10 million more than where they currently sit.

Any remaining expenditures are likely to come on the pitching side, as Eppler said he feels ¡°fairly good about our position player group right now.¡±

¡°I¡¯ll never rule anything out, but I¡¯d be fairly surprised if we went after another bat or anything like that at this juncture,¡± the GM said. ¡°I feel pretty good about where that sits right now, but I can¡¯t say no to opportunity, I guess.¡±