Mets sign free-agent reliever Dylan Covey to one-year deal
Phillies pitcher Dylan Covey throws during a baseball spring training workout, Feb. 14 in Clearwater, Fla. Credit: AP/Charlie Neibergall
Mere hours after the World Series ended, the Mets kick-started their offseason by handing out their first major-league contract, inking righthander Dylan Covey to a one-year deal announced Thursday.
Covey, 33, has a track record of minimal success, but while in the minors with the Phillies over the summer, he showed new signs of promise, according to people familiar with the Mets’ thinking. He is the first of what likely will be a bunch of low-risk, medium-to-high reward relievers brought in by president of baseball operations David Stearns as they try to bolster their bullpen before spring training.
After missing the first four months because of a shoulder injury, Covey pitched to a 1.20 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 15 appearances with the Phillies’ Triple-A club down the stretch in 2024. In that small sample, he had an extremely high 71% ground-ball rate, which in the majors would be elite even with some regression.
With those results plus Covey’s sinker — long his go-to pitch — looking particularly sharp, and with his ability to get both righthanded and lefthanded hitters out, the Mets deemed him worth taking a chance on. If his tweaks and performance post-injury are real, they may have a real contributor. If not, that’s OK; they don’t have a lot invested in him.
The Mets beat out several other teams interested in signing Covey, a source said. His contract is a split major-league deal. That means he is on the 40-man roster and will make $850,000 if he is on the active roster during the season. If he is removed from the 40-man and pitches in the minors, he will be due $350,000.
Covey is a veteran of parts of five major-league seasons, including as a starter early in his career. He has a lifetime 6.18 ERA and 1.58 WHIP. He pitched in Taiwan in 2021-22.
Among the Mets’ large group of players heading to free agency is a cadre of relievers: Ryne Stanek, Adam Ottavino, Drew Smith, Brooks Raley and perhaps Phil Maton (who has a $7.75 million team option for 2025).
Adding players such as Covey is in line with the strategy deployed by Stearns during his Brewers years: building top-notch bullpens annually by turning projects into pieces. Last season, for example, the Mets wound up leaning on the previously unheralded Reed Garrett, Dedniel Nunez and Danny Young, among others, at crucial points. They intend to find more hidden gems, but at this point it’s impossible to tell who they will be.
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
