Right-handed reliever Jorge López and the Mets are in agreement on a one-year, $2 million deal, a source told MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo. The club has not confirmed the move.
A veteran with eight big league seasons under his belt, López spent the 2023 season with three teams, posting a 5.95 ERA with 49 strikeouts in 61 games between the Twins, Marlins and Orioles.
After struggling as both a starter and reliever for his first six seasons, López immediately blossomed when he transitioned into a full-time reliever with the Orioles in 2022. López was selected to his first All-Star team and later traded at the Deadline in a deal that brought Yennier Cano — and three other pitchers — to the Orioles. All told, López had a 2.54 ERA and 72 strikeouts in 71 innings in ‘22.
López struggled to build on his stellar season in 2023. After running a 5.09 ERA and 5.92 FIP with the Twins in 37 games, Minnesota traded him to the Marlins in exchange for veteran reliever Dylan Floro. López subsequently struggled with the Marlins by posting a 9.26 ERA in a dozen outings. After Miami put López on waivers in September, the Orioles brought him back to Baltimore, where the righty posted a 5.25 ERA in 12 outings.
With a guaranteed MLB contract, the 30-year-old López figures to have a fairly big role in the Mets bullpen behind electric closer Edwin Díaz — who missed all of 2023 with a torn patellar tendon in his right knee — as well as Brooks Raley and Drew Smith.
The Mets have already added two pitchers on Minor League deals, Kyle Crick and Andre Scrubb, and signed Michael Tonkin to a one-year deal earlier this week as they try to reinforce the depth of their bullpen, which recorded a 4.45 ERA last season.
