New York Mets Sign Former A's Left-Hander

The New York Mets have come to terms with former Oakland A's left-hander Sean Manaea on a two-year deal worth $28 million, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. The deal also comes with an opt-out after 2024.  

The southpaw will be entering his age 32 season and holds career 4.10 ERA across eight seasons. Manaea was originally selected by the Kansas City Royals in the first round (34th overall) of the 2013 Draft, and was sent to Oakland in 2015 for Ben Zobrist. He made his A's debut in 2016 and put up a 3.86 ERA with the club in 727 innings.

The A's traded him to San Diego before the final year of his contract in 2022, and he has his worst season to date with a 4.96 ERA. He signed with the San Francisco Giants the following off-season and was used as a starter/opener/long-man for the orange and black, putting up a 4.44 ERA on the season. 

The reason that New York Mets fans should be intrigued by this signing is that he held a 5.49 ERA in the first half of 2023, then dropped that all the way down to 3.43 in slightly more innings. His WHIP also went from 1.34 to 1.14. 

Part of the reason for this is because Manaea added velocity to his four-seamer last season, going from 91.3 miles per hour in '22 to a career-high 93.6 after putting in work at Driveline last winter. The other reason is that the lefty added a sweeper to his pitch mix starting at the very end of May. On the year that pitch had a 35.1% whiff rate, highest of all of his pitches, and also came with a .140 batting average against, a .161 expected batting average, and an 82.8 exit velocity. In short, hitters struggled with Manaea's sweeper. 

His success won't solely rely on his new pitch, though. In September he threw just two sweeping pitches and still recorded a 2.67 ERA in 27 innings. This is a pretty solid signing by the Mets as they attempt to rebuild. 

Manaea also has a pretty good sense of humor, which should play well in New York. Back in 2020 with the A's when there were no fans in the stands, the players would sit in the stands to watch the games. One game in particular, Manaea made his own cheer signs. One read "Chap" and the other read "Man" for third baseman Matt Chapman. These were written on plain white paper, nothing fancy. At some point, he mixed the two up (presumably on purpose) and was rooting for "ManChap" which is just wonderful. 

He's also one of the nicest guys in the game. Hopefully Mets fans treat him well.