Mets add starter Griffin Canning on one-year deal, source says
Griffin Canning pitches in the first inning of a game between the Los Angeles Angels the Minnesota Twins at Target Field on Sept. 10, 2024 in Minneapolis. Credit: Getty Images
The Mets reached agreement on Wednesday night on a one-year, $4.25 million contract with righthander Griffin Canning, a source confirmed to Newsday.
The contract, which includes a reported $1 million in incentives, is pending a physical and has not been announced by the Mets.
Canning, 28, is coming off a poor season with the Angels (6-13, 5.19 ERA). He was recently non-tendered by Atlanta, which acquired him from Los Angeles in an Oct. 31 trade for outfielder Jorge Soler.
In five seasons, all with the Angels, Canning is 25-34 with a 4.78 ERA. He debuted in 2019 and missed the 2022 season because of a lower-back fracture he suffered in August of 2021.
Canning will join pitchers such as Tylor Megill, Paul Blackburn and Jose Butto as rotation insurance for the Mets, who at this point have an opening four of Kodai Senga, David Peterson, free-agent signee Frankie Montas and converted reliever Clay Holmes.
Former Mets lefthander Sean Manaea is still a free agent, as is ace Corbin Burnes, the best starting pitcher left on the market. The Mets are likely interested in free agent Japanese star Roki Sasaki, who has to pick a U.S. team by Jan. 23 if he is going to play in the majors in 2025. Dodgers World Series hero Walker Buehler is among the other starters still on the free agent market.
“In David Stearns we trust” is becoming an offseason motto for Mets fans after the team’s president of baseball operations built a formidable rotation in 2024 with signings such as Manaea and Luis Severino. But the Mets do seem to be a little short in the starting pitching department at this point in the offseason, especially with Senga’s uncertain status after an injury-filled 2024.
At the Winter Meetings on Dec. 11, Stearns said adding another starter was “not a necessity.”
But the Mets will probably add another starter either via free agency or in a trade before the offseason dust settles.
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
