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Mets and Manaea reached a two-year agreement
The New York Mets are addressing their rotation needs by reaching an agreement with veteran left-hander Sean Manaea on a two-year contract worth $28 million, which includes an opt-out option after the 2024 season, according to a source reported by MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand on Monday. Although the move has not been officially confirmed by the club, it aligns with the ongoing efforts to reshape the Mets’ rotation under the leadership of the new president of baseball operations David Stearns.
Sean Manaea, set to turn 32 on February 1, brings eight years of experience to the Mets. In the 2023 season, he posted a 7-6 record with a 4.44 ERA over 117 2/3 innings for the San Francisco Giants. Throughout the season, Manaea transitioned between the rotation and bullpen but finished strong with a notable 2.25 ERA in four September starts.
In his late-season appearances for the San Francisco Giants, Sean Manaea demonstrated the potential that had made him a reliable mid-rotation starter as recently as 2021. During that season with the Oakland Athletics, he tied for the American League lead with 32 starts and posted a 3.91 ERA. However, he experienced a career-worst year with the San Diego Padres in the following season. After initially struggling with the Giants, Manaea made adjustments by adding a sweeper to his pitch mix midseason, leading to success in both middle relief and a return to the rotation. He concluded the 2023 season with the best strikeout-per-nine rate of his career at 9.8.
Over his eight-season career with the A’s, Padres, and Giants, Manaea holds a career record of 65-56 and a 4.10 ERA in 1,002 2/3 innings. His career ERA+ is exactly league average (100) over 196 career appearances, including 166 starts.
In joining the New York Mets, Manaea is expected to fill a spot in the back end of a rotation that has undergone significant changes in recent months, first under Billy Eppler and now under David Stearns. With the departure of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander at last year’s Trade Deadline, Kodai Senga and José Quintana remain as the group’s only full-time holdovers from 2023. Depth is provided by Tylor Megill, José Butto, and Joey Lucchesi. The reported addition of Manaea follows Stearns’ signing of bounceback candidate Luis Severino to a one-year contract and the acquisition of right-hander Adrian Houser in a trade with Milwaukee in December.
