BREAKING: Mets sign LHP A.J. Minter to two-year, $22M contract

The Mets have made a major addition to their bullpen with the reported signing.

The Mets have continued to be active in the free agent market, making their second notable acquisition in as many days.

New York has reportedly signed left-handed reliever A.J. Minter to a two-year, $22 million contract. The signing was first reported by SNY’s Andy Martino, with the terms of the deal first reported by the New York Post’s Jon Heyman. Minter reportedly has a player opt-out after the first year of the contract.

This move comes as the first major addition to the Mets bullpen this offseason, as the lefty Minter has been consistently productive for the Braves over the course of his eight-year major league career.

We identified Minter as a potential under-the-radar signing for the Mets earlier this week, coming off of a bit of an up-and-down year with Atlanta that ended in a season-ending injury.

Minter, 30, had a 2.62 ERA, 4.45 FIP and -0.1 fWAR for the Braves last season, holding opposing hitters to a .198/.271/.364 slash line over 39 appearances. Minter was equally effective vs. both righties and lefties, holding each of them to OPS’ below .680 in limited outings. With the loss of Brooks Raley, New York once again finds themselves looking for an answer when it comes to finding an effective left-handed reliever.

Two areas to be on the lookout for with Minter are how he bounces back from a pair of abnormal trends in his performance. From 2023-24, Minter went from allowing 0.84 home runs per nine innings to 1.57 home runs per nine, and saw his strikeout percentage dip from 11.41 percent to 9.17 percent. If Minter can show that those uncharacteristic trends were more of an outlier, he could prove to be a reliable and effective weapon for a Mets bullpen that will now pair him alongside José Buttó, Dedniel Núñez and Edwin Díaz.

It’s also worth noting that since it has been reported by several outlets that the club is pivoting to their Plan B that would not include Pete Alonso, they have made two significant signings in just over 24 hours.