The New York Mets have agreed to a one-year deal with former Oakland A's right-hander Shintaro Fujinami. He's reportedly set to make $3.35 million, and his contract also includes $850,000 in incentives. The Mets also signed a former A's lefty in Jake Diekman yesterday at around $4 million per Anthony DiComo and includes a vesting option for the 2025 season. The Mets roster now consists of five former A's players with Starling Marte, Joey Wendle, and Sean Manaea also part of the 26-man roster mix.
The A's signed Fuji out of Japan around this time last year, and he came with a high octane arsenal with a number of questions about whether or not he could fully harness his pitch mix. In 2023, the A's got to see plenty of the good and the bad that he had to offer.
There were a number of outings both in spring training and during the regular season where Fujinami would be rolling along, racking up numerous strikeouts and looking utterly un-hittable. Then, suddenly, his command would just disappear and he would walk the bases loaded.
Fuji chose the A's last off-season because they were willing to give him a chance to start. He took four turns in the rotation and held a 14.40 ERA before being moved to the bullpen. He'd serve as the team's opener another three times, giving him a total of seven "starts" on the year.
Out of the bullpen Fuji was a much better option, and if he didn't get the job done, then it didn't hurt the entire pitching staff for days. When he would go just a couple of innings, then the bullpen would have to pick up the slack to finish out the game, and it would also put pressure on the rest of the starters to pick up the slack.
As a reliever, Fuji held a 5.14 ERA across 61 1/3 innings, which was good enough for the Baltimore Orioles to take a chance on him at the trade deadline. He held a 4.85 ERA with the O's serving solely out of the 'pen.
In total, Fujiami racked up 79 innings, walked 45, struck out 83 and held a 7.18 ERA. With the Mets not expected to contend in 2024, the righty is a tantalizing potential trade option for the team come July if he can put together his electric stuff with some better control over his offerings.
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