The Mets and right-hander Chris Devenski are in settlement on a minor league deal, in accordance with Anthony DiComo of MLB.com on X. The righty additionally receives a camp invite and will probably be competing for a job in subsequent yr’s spring coaching.
Devenski, 34 in November, has had an up-and-down profession however is coming off a tough marketing campaign. The Rays signed him to a one-year take care of a $1.1MM assure after getting an excellent have a look at him late in 2023. After being reduce unfastened by the Angels, the Rays signed Devenski on the finish of August final yr. He posted a 2.08 earned run common over his 9 appearances in Tampa in order that they determined to carry him again.
Whereas the Rays are identified for his or her savvy under-the-radar pickups, this one didn’t work out. Devenski tossed 26 2/3 innings for the Rays in 2024 however with a 6.75 ERA. His 19.7% strikeout charge, 11.5% stroll charge and 25% floor ball charge had been all beneath league averages. He missed a couple of month from late April to late Might, occurring the injured listing because of proper knee tendinitis. He was designated for project and launched on the finish of June.
He was then signed by the Mariners and spent the ultimate months of 2024 with Triple-A Tacoma. He was in a position to end his 2024 with a robust displaying there within the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, throwing 23 innings with a 2.35 ERA, 33.3% strikeout charge, 10.8% stroll charge and 43.1% floor ball charge.
The Mets are presumably intrigued by that efficiency with Tacoma, although the veteran’s longer observe document could play a task as effectively. He had a dominant displaying with the Astros to begin his profession, tossing 189 innings over 2016 and 2017 with a 2.38 ERA, 28.2% strikeout charge and 6.4% stroll charge.
However as talked about, his profession has been up-and-down, and people highs had been adopted with some critical lows. Over 2018 and 2019, he tossed one other 116 1/3 innings for Houston however with an ERA of 4.56 in that point. His 6.9% stroll charge was nonetheless good however his strikeout charge dipped to 24.9%. Elbow soreness restricted him to simply 4 appearances in 2020 and he finally required Tommy John surgical procedure in 2021. His makes an attempt to get again on the mound in 2022 and 2023 had been largely unsuccessful earlier than his aforementioned stint with the Rays late final yr.
Devenski has a 6.46 ERA because the begin of 2020 however was injured for lots of that. He confirmed some promise with the Rays late final yr and with the Rainiers extra just lately. There’s no actual threat for the Mets on a minor league deal, in order that they’ll check out what Devenski has come spring.
President of baseball operations David Stearns did loads of tinkering with the bullpen this yr. He gave one-year offers to Adam Ottavino, Jake Diekman, Shintaro Fujinami, Jorge López, Michael Tonkin and Austin Adams final winter in addition to a number of minor league offers. Because the season progressed, a lot of these guys ended up shedding their roster spots whereas guys like Phil Maton, Huascar Brazobán, Ryne Stanek and others had been acquired from different golf equipment. Ottavino and Stanek are actually about to hit free company with Maton possible becoming a member of them if the Mets flip down his membership possibility. The 2024 Mets had been solely eradicated a couple of week in the past and the World Collection remains to be ongoing, however the membership has already made one transfer to supply some bullpen depth for subsequent yr.
