Mets' A.J. Minter Gets Honest Amid Trade Rumors

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Mets' A.J. Minter Gets Honest Amid Trade Rumors

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Logan VanDine | Last updated Jul 20, 2026 5:42 PM ET

A.J. Minter's transition to New York has not panned out the way he or the New York Mets anticipated.

Minter signed a two-year, $22 million deal with the Mets in January 2025 after spending the first eight seasons of his career with the Atlanta Braves. Minter, however, has not been able to stay healthy over the last couple of seasons.

The left-hander's first season with the Mets in 2025 came to a screeching halt when he suffered a torn left lat on April 26, which required season-ending surgery. Minter made just 13 appearances last year, posting a 1.64 ERA with 14 strikeouts in 11 innings.

Minter wound up starting this season on the injured list, and it wasn't until late May that he finally made his way back to the bullpen. The 32-year-old's return to the Mets' bullpen may have been too little too late, as the Amazin's have spent much of this season in last place in the NL East with the expectation that they will sell off their rental pieces ahead of the August 3 deadline.

One of those rentals is Minter, who the Mets have no reason to retain past the deadline. With that looming, Minter looked back on what has been a disappointing tenure in Flushing, Queens.

“The sad part is it feels like I didn’t do my job,” Minter said during an exclusive interview with Max Goodman of NJ.com. “My job was to come here, be healthy and help this team win. I didn’t do both. It’s a sense of wishing it could be different.”

A.J. Minter wishes that his Mets tenure went differently. He feels like he failed to do his job.

Now, with the trade deadline on deck, he has a new goal:

“I want to go out there, keep shoving and hopefully I can give them a nice little prospect back.”https://t.co/2asWgfyTGB
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) July 20, 2026

When Minter was activated off the IL on May 26, the Mets were already 11 games under .500 and far out from the final Wild Card spot in the National League.

While having a healthy Minter may not have changed the way New York has performed this season, he is certainly disappointed that injuries have derailed him over these last couple of years.

“I fully expected when I signed here to compete and to go to the postseason every year,” Minter said. “Me being injured, I was part of the reason for it, so it’s definitely tough.”

Minter isn't the only Mets reliever that could be dealt at the deadline. Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley and Huascar Brazobán are all expected to draw trade interest from contending teams.

“If I do get traded, my job is to help bring back as much talent as I can back here,” Minter said. “That’s the least I can do. I want to go out there, keep shoving and hopefully I can give them a nice little prospect back.”

For now, Minter will keep doing his job out of the bullpen, despite the anticipation that he'll get moved to a new team in the coming weeks.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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