The Mets have brought back several players from the 2024 roster, with another one agreeing to a one-year contract Wednesday. Right-handed reliever Drew Smith will return on a one-year deal for $1 million with a club option for $2 million in 2026, a source confirmed to the Daily News. It could be a second-half boost for the bullpen, as Smith continues to rehab from July ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction surgery.
The surgery was Smith’s second on his right UCL. The 31-year-old previously underwent Tommy John surgery in 2019, missing the entire season. His July surgery, which was performed in his native Texas by Dr. Keith Meister, was an internal brace procedure. The procedure doesn’t require as lengthy of a rehab period, but considering Smith only recently started throwing again, a summer return is a fair target.
Acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays as a minor leaguer in 2017 in exchange for Lucas Duda, Smith posted a 3.48 ERA and a 115 ERA+ over six seasons with the Mets. Smith mostly worked in the later innings relying on a slider and a high fastball to get outs, but in 2022 and 2023 the Mets slowly began to give him opportunities in high-leverage situations.
After recording three saves during an up-and-down 2023 season, Smith was hoping for more of those opportunities last season and initially, they came. He went 2-for-2 in save situations with six holds in 2024 before being shut down in July. He finished the season, his final one under team control, 1-1 with a 3.06 ERA and a 3.56 FIP.
Smith was devastated to find out he needed another elbow surgery, especially right before he hit free agency for the first time. He opted to remain with the team in New York while rehabbing instead of going home to Dallas. The club understood that being around the team was best for his mental health and was accommodating, bringing him on several road trips throughout the regular season and postseason.
The two parties talked about a return as early as last summer when Smith told the Mets he would like to re-sign as a free agent.
“He was sad that he went down the way he went down, but he means a lot to the guys in the locker room,” manager Carlos Mendoza said Wednesday. “This is a guy that takes the baseball, gives you multiple innings, gives you high leverage innings — it doesn’t matter. He’s a gamer.”
BLONDES DON’T HAVE MORE FUN
Mark Vientos ditched his blonde hair because of the upkeep. The third baseman debuted a new ‘do over the winter, first during a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden and later at the Mets’ Amazin Day fan fest.
“Now I understand how women have to take care of themselves,” Vientos said. “It’s tough. I couldn’t deal with it anymore. I was like, ‘I’m going to shave it. I like waking up and doing nothing with my head.’”
Vientos arrived in Port St. Lucie well ahead of his report date, eager and ready to go after a breakout year. Despite starting the season in the minor leagues last year, he still managed to hit 27 home runs in 111 big league games, the most of his career. In his age-24 season, the homegrown corner infielder posted a 135 OPS and posted an .837 OPS.
Vientos didn’t disappoint in the postseason, hitting .327 with a .998 OPS, which is why the Mets are confident that his 2024 season wasn’t an aberration.
“It’s a small sample size, but you’re facing a huge pitching on the biggest stage there is in the game,” Mendoza said. “For me, it was just how he handled adversity, and his ability to make adjustments. Pitchers are going to make adjustments when the league adjusts to him, he’s going to have to make some adjustments. And I think he’s more than capable of making those.”
QUICK HITTERS
– Kodai Senga threw his first bullpen of spring training Wednesday, using all of his pitches but taking his foot off the gas with the velocity. Mendoza said all reports were positive.
– Right-handed starter Clay Holmes threw live batting practice, drawing high praise from the coaches for his conditioning. Holmes got up and down three times with relative ease. Jesse Winker nearly took him deep, but barely missed, and Brett Baty had a hard hit against him as well, but Holmes mostly minimized any hard contact. Holmes is working on adding pitches, currently playing around with a changeup, a four-seam fastball and a cutter that Mendoza said plays like a shorter slider.
– Left-hander A.J. Minter threw off the mound for the first time since August hip surgery Wednesday. The new reliever won’t be throwing live batting practice until late in the month as he progresses slowly into competitive action again.
– Former Mets DH Daniel Vogelbach was hired by the Pittsburgh Pirates as an assistant to the hitting department. The 31-year-old slugger spent half of the 2022 season with the Pirates before being traded to the Mets.