Mets reach two-year deal with righty Montas (source)

The Mets agreed to a two-year, $34 million deal with free-agent right-hander Frankie Montas on Sunday, a source told MLB.com's Mark Feinsand. The deal is pending a physical and includes an opt-out after 2025. The club has not confirmed the agreement.

This is New York’s first offseason addition to a rotation that has plenty of holes to fill. Montas joins Kodai Senga and David Peterson as the only surefire members of the Mets’ 2025 starting staff.

The club's top three starters from last season -- Luis Severino (182 innings), Sean Manaea (181 2/3 innings) and Jose Quintana (170 1/3 innings) -- are all free agents. The Mets could still look to bring back any combination of those three, while also checking in on other free agents, including Corbin Burnes and Max Fried.

But, for now, the newest rotation member is Montas.

The past three seasons have been a wild, up-and-down ride for the 31-year-old Montas, who pitched for four teams over that span and was traded at the Deadline twice.

In 2022, the A’s sent him to the Yankees after a terrific start in Oakland (3.18 ERA in 19 starts), but Montas’ tenure in the Bronx did not go as planned. He posted a 6.35 ERA over eight starts down the stretch while battling a right shoulder injury that would require surgery and keep him out for virtually the entire 2023 season.

Last offseason, Montas signed a one-year, $16 million contract with the Reds. That included a 2025 mutual option, which was declined by Montas, who was acquired by the Brewers at the Deadline. It was not quite the rebound season Montas might have wanted, though he did stay healthy outside of a short stint on the injured list for a right forearm contusion. Montas’ 30 starts and 150 2/3 innings both were the second-highest total of his career, behind only 2021 with the A’s (32 starts, 187 innings).

Montas finished 2024 with a 4.84 ERA, and there wasn’t much of a difference between his results with the Reds (5.01 ERA, 88 ERA+) and Brewers (4.55 ERA, 92 ERA+). It is worth noting, however, that his strikeout rate jumped from 19% to 28.7% after joining Milwaukee, with the latter figure ranking Montas 10th among qualified Major League pitchers after the Trade Deadline.

Montas worked with a five-pitch mix in 2024, throwing his four-seamer, sinker, cutter, splitter and slider each at least 10% of the time. He still showed above-average fastball velocity (70th percentile), though down a bit from before his lost 2023 season. Montas’ most dangerous pitch is his splitter, which induced a whiff on 42.6% of opponents’ swings.