The Mets signed the right-handed free agent Frankie Montas to a two-year, $34MM deal that contains an exit clause for Montas after the 2025 season. Montas will earn $17MM for both the 2025 and 2026 seasons. The contract will be valid if the client of Boras Corporation passes physical money.
Montas returns to the Big Apple after an injury layoff with the Yankees for the 2022-23 season. The Yankees acquired Montas from the A’s at the 2022 trade deadline while Montas was still dealing with shoulder discomfort, and his poor effort through the pain led to a 6.35 ERA over 39 2/3 innings over the remainder of the 2022 campaign. Montas then required labrum surgery the following February that cost him nearly the entire 2023 season, as he returned to 1 1/3 innings in one game in late September.
The Reds were betting that Montas would be able to return if healthy, and last January he signed the rights to a one-year deal that ended up worth $16MM – $14MM in guaranteed salary, then a $2MM buyout if Montas declined the same option that expires in the 2025 season. Perhaps reflecting the effects of his long layoff, Montas had a 4.84 ERA over 150 2/3 innings combined with Cincinnati and Milwaukee last season, as the Reds sent Montas to the Brewers last July in another deadline trade. .
Despite a 15-day IL layoff due to an arm contusion, Montas was healthy in his comeback year, and his 150 2/3 innings represented the second-highest career total in his nine Major League seasons. As a 4.84 ERA might indicate, however, Montas (who turns 32 in March) has had some struggles. His 22.6% strikeout rate was slightly below the league average, and he gave up too many walks and too much hard contact.
Montas’ 14.8% home run rate was the highest of his career, and he actually allowed more homers after leaving Great American Ballpark ready to hit American Family Field. His fastball velocity dropped from 96.1mph to 95.6mph, which isn’t bad for a pitcher coming back from a year-long layoff, but the biggest problem was Montas’ only effective pitch in his arsenal. It’s worth noting that Montas’ velocity and strikeout rate increased after the Brewers trade, so another positional change now could return him fully to his pre-surgery form.
MLBTR ranked Montas 27th on our list of the top 50 free agents of the season, and his $34MM guarantee is well above our forecast for a two-year, $22MM contract. The higher price may reflect the ever-increasing price of pitching, and the Mets and other teams are likely to place a greater premium on Montas’ ability to eat innings.
The Mets in particular were in dire need of rotation help, as Luis Severino, Sean Manaeaagain Jose Quintana they are all free workers. Montas now fills one of those holes on the pitching staff, and he will join Kodai Senga, David Peterson, Taylor Megilland (if you are healthy) Paul Blackburn as the current starting five, though more additions are still to come this winter.
Most of the news surrounding the Mets this offseason has focused on their pitching Juan Sotobut New York has also been linked to pitchers like this Roki Sasaki and commercial candidate Garrett Crochet. There has been speculation that Amazin may also pursue other top names in the market, although there has been no public word on that so far.
The Mets are likely to hold off on big-ticket pursuits until Soto’s situation is resolved, and Montas’ contract represents an inexpensive acquisition on the free agent market that helps address the club’s high pitching need. For now, Montas’ contract is similar to the two-year, $28MM deal (also with an opt-out) that Manaea signed last winter, as president of baseball David Stearns has so far stuck to his strategy of inking the short-term. contracts. Montas hopes he can follow Manaea’s path of delivering a solid full season, then return to free agency next year for a longer and more expensive contract.
The estimated $17MM annual value of Montas’ contract still leaves New York with significant cap space before reaching the $241MM tax cap, as RosterResource projects the club’s tax figure to be around $189.7MM. Tax avoidance has clearly not been a priority in the Steve Cohen era and signing Soto to a record deal alone would put the Mets at or near the brink before any other moves are made. However, if Soto were to sign elsewhere, there is room for the Mets to be aggressive this winter and completely reset their tax situation, which would allow the Mets to enjoy more financial flexibility (and a smaller overall tax bill) going forward.
It’s worth noting that Boras represents both Soto and Montas, and it appears that Boras and Stearns discussed multiple agent clients during their negotiations this offseason. Montas is already the third striker represented by Boras to sign a new contract this winter, after that Blake SnellA five-year, $182MM deal with the Dodgers and Yusei KikuchiThree-year, $63MM deal with the Angels.
ESPN’s Jeff Passan (X link) was the first to report the signing and contract terms. Jon Heyman of the New York Post (via X) added details about the opt-out clause, as well as the exact breakdown of Montas’ salary between the two seasons.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
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