Mets reportedly reunite with Sean Manaea on 3-year, $75 million deal following career year

The New York Mets have made a move to solidify their starting rotation. In the wee hours of Monday morning, they reportedly agreed to reunite with left-hander Sean Manaea on a three-year, $75 million deal, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

Manaea, who will be 33 in February, had a career year with the Mets in 2024. He recorded a 3.47 ERA and 184 strikeouts over 32 starts and 181 2/3 innings. That’s the lowest ERA of his career, maintained over the most innings he has ever pitched and anchored by the second-most strikeouts he has ever thrown. Before the 2024 season, his best numbers had come with the Athletics in 2018, when he had a 3.59 ERA over 160 1/3 innings.

Coming into 2024, Manaea signed a two-year, $28 million deal with the Mets that included an opt-out after the first year. He exercised his opt-out following the season and became a free agent. It’s a move that worked out very well for him. His old contract with the Mets paid him $14 million per year, and his new contract will pay him $25 million per year.

Manaea joins a Mets rotation that will feature a hopefully healthy Kodai Senga as the No. 1, as well as right-hander Frankie Montas, who agreed to a two-year, $34 million deal with New York in early December. David Peterson and Tylor Megill, who were part of the 2024 starting rotation, are also returning.

The starting pitching market heated up significantly at the winter meetings in December. But as a tidal wave of big contracts and blockbuster trades involving front-end arms came and went, Manaea remained unsigned. Meanwhile, having added Montas, Holmes and another depth piece in Griffin Canning, the new Mets rotation had started to take shape. Add an effective holdover in lefty David Peterson and, perhaps most importantly, a hopefully healthy Kodai Senga, and the Mets appeared to have the foundation for a solid starting staff. But for a club with World Series aspirations — and one that just gave $765 million to Soto — it felt a bit light.

Manaea changes that. The true upside for this staff still hinges largely on Senga’s durability, as he offers the most impactful potential. But Manaea solidifies the middle of New York’s rotation and helps balance out the questions present in Montas’ and Holmes’ profiles. And with top pitching prospect Brandon Sproat potentially knocking on the door in 2025, the Mets also have a healthy amount of depth in case of injury or underperformance. Read more. — Shusterman