New York Mets DVOA, Stats, & MLB Rankings

The Houston Astros designated left-hander Matt Gage for assignment on Monday to make room on the 40-man roster for recently signed left-handed reliever Josh Hader, according to a source. Gage made his big-league debut in 2022 with the Toronto Blue Jays and made five relief appearances for the Astros in 2023, allowing two earned runs on six hits (one homer) while walking three and striking out eight over 6 2/3 innings. The 30-year-old southpaw reliever has been pretty good in his small sample size at the major-league level with a 1.83 ERA (3.97 FIP) and 1.07 WHIP with nine walks and 20 strikeouts in 19 2/3 innings. Gage had a 4.58 ERA and 1.63 WHIP with 20 walks and 39 strikeouts in 37 1/3 relief innings last year at Triple-A Sugar Land.

New York Mets left-handed pitcher Sean Manaea has officially signed a two-year, $28 million contract with the team. This deal was announced last week but now the team has made it official. Manaea was a free agent this offseason and coming off a 4.44 ERA (3.90 FIP), 1.241 WHIP, and 128:42 K/BB over 117 2/3 innings (37 appearances, 10 starts) with the San Francisco Giants. The deal also includes an opt-out after the 2024 season. This has been viewed as a solid move by the Mets as the veteran left-hander can work out of the bullpen and be used as a spot starter as well.

Free-agent left-hander Danny Young signed a minor-league deal with the New York Mets on Friday, according to a source. Young will be invited to big-league spring training and would earn $825,000 if he's in the majors in 2024. The 29-year-old southpaw gave up one run in 11 innings pitched with two walks and 12 strikeouts with the Atlanta Braves over the last two seasons but missed most of 2023 due to hip surgery. Overall in his time in the majors, Young has a 2.45 ERA (four earned runs allowed in 14 2/3 innings) and 1.50 WHIP with four walks and 17 strikeouts in 14 2/3 innings for the Braves and Seattle Mariners over two seasons. Young will provide minor-league left-handed relief depth for the Mets to open the 2024 campaign.

First baseman Pete Alonso and the New York Mets avoided salary arbitration on Thursday by agreeing to a one-year, $20.5 million deal for the 2024 season, according to a source familiar with the deal. Alonso is fully expected to hit free agency following the conclusion of the 2024 campaign, especially after he hired agent Scott Boras this offseason. The 29-year-old right-handed slugger is an elite power target for fantasy managers, having reached the 40-homer mark in the last two seasons. He's also been pretty durable and should rebound in the batting-average department this year after hitting a career-low .217 this past season. In addition to his 46 home runs in 2023, Alonso delivered great counting stats for his fantasy managers with 118 RBI and 92 runs scored.

The New York Mets' new front office has indicated a desire for first baseman Pete Alonso to finish out his career with the team, and Alonso has told teammates that his preference is to spend the rest of his career with the Mets. However, his agent, Scott Boras, has a long history of taking his clients to free agency when they get this close (next winter for Alonso) because that's usually where they'll land the best deal. The Mets have listened when teams have called about him, but they've never seriously considered trading him -- at least not yet. New York could re-evaluate the situation with Alonso at the trade deadline this summer, but the most likely outcome is they'll keep him through the 2024 season and then be willing to match the best offer he gets on the open market. The 29-year-old slugger had a career-low .217 batting average in 2023, but he also ranked third in home runs with 46 and second in RBI (118) in all of baseball.