The Mets have agreed to a deal with free-agent righty Julio Teheran, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The Mato Sports Management client opted out of a minor league deal with the Orioles late in camp and has been exploring the market for new opportunities. It’s a big league deal for Teheran, per SNY’s Andy Martino, who reported earlier in the week that the Mets were in talks with the veteran right-hander.
After barely seeing the big leagues in 2021-22, the 33-year-old had a somewhat resurgent year with the 2023 Brewers – where current Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns previously ran baseball operations (and served in an advisory capacity last year). The former Braves top prospect tossed 71 2/3 innings with a 4.40 ERA in Milwaukee, striking out just 17.4% of his opponents but offsetting that lackluster mark with a sterling 4.5% walk rate.
Formerly one of the game’s top-ranked prospects, Teheran broke into the majors and hit the ground running in Atlanta. From 2013-14, he posted a 3.03 ERA in 63 starts. Over a seven-year period in Atlanta, spanning 2013-19, Teheran worked to an overall 3.64 ERA in 1334 innings. He’s never missed bats at an especially premium level, but Teheran has long had strong command and at least earlier in his career, excelled at avoiding hard contact.
That said, last year’s showing in Milwaukee was the first time Teheran has had any consistent success since making 33 starts with a 3.81 ERA for the 2019 Braves. He signed a one-year deal in Anaheim prior to the 2020 season but was shelled for an ERA north of 10.00 in his 31 1/3 frames.
The Mets’ rotation has been hit hard by injuries early on. Kodai Senga suffered a shoulder strain early in spring training, leading to a nearly month-long shutdown. (He’s since resumed throwing.) That injury pushed Tylor Megill into the starting rotation, but he suffered a shoulder strain on his own in his first start of the season and is now on the injured list and in the midst of a week-long shutdown period himself.
Presumably, given that this is a big league deal and that Teheran got some work in with Baltimore during spring training, he will be an option to step into the fifth rotation spot in Queens. Teheran pitched 13 1/3 official innings with the Orioles in camp, holding opponents to five runs (3.38 ERA) on nine hits – albeit with a lackluster 10-to-7 K/BB ratio in that time (17.5% strikeout rate, 12.3% walk rate). If he indeed steps onto the starting staff, Teheran will be joined by Jose Quintana, Adrian Houser, Sean Manaea and Luis Severino.
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