Mets bring back Adam Ottavino on a one-year deal

The deal for Ottavino is for one year, $4.5 million

Adam Ottavino decided to come back after all.

On Saturday, the Mets and the veteran right-hander agreed to a one-year, $4.5 million contract, according to the New York Post.

This deal came together after Ottavino declined his $6.75 million player option for 2024 earlier in the off-season, originally citing concerns over the direction of the franchise and their ability to contend in 2024.

In the end, the native New Yorker took less to return to the Mets and bolster their bullpen in the process.

Ottavino had a good first half for the Mets but an even better second half in 2024, posting a 3.72 ERA before the All-Star Game and a 2.49 ERA afterwards. He held opponents to a .208 average against him and he was typically stingy against right-handed hitters, holding them down to a .582 OPS against.

The Mets have long been in need of restructuring a bullpen that is absent of any credible presence outside of Edwin Díaz, who hasn’t thrown a big league pitch in over a year due to his season-ending knee injury sustained in the World Baseball Classic in March, 2023.

Ottavino goes a long way towards upgrading the bullpen, although there’s more work for David Stearns to do to make it a more competitive area of the roster.

Ottavino will join Díaz and Brooks Raley as the club’s primary late-inning presence in 2024. The Mets will also have Austin Adams, Phil Bickford, Reed Garrett, Grant Hartwig, Max Kranick, Jorge López, Yohan Ramirez, Sean Reid-Foley, Drew Smith, Michael Tonkin, and Josh Walker who are on the 40-man roster and vying for spots in the bullpen.