The Mets and C Bruce Maxwell have agreed to a minor-league contract, per Newsday’s Tim Healey. The deal is pending a physical and coronavirus testing.

This is a significant addition despite it only being a minor-league pact. Maxwell was the first MLB player to kneel during the national anthem, and it’s the first time since 2018 that he is back playing the game anywhere.

Maxwell’s last team was the Oakland Athletics, who cut him at the end of the 2018 season. However, he was seen kneeling during the national anthem in 2017 with Oakland, following the lead of other athletes like Colin Kaepernick protesting racial injustice. A second-round pick by the A’s in 2012, Maxwell was just a rookie at the time.

“The point of my kneeling is not to disrespect our military,” Maxwell said in 2017. “It’s not to disrespect our Constitution. It’s not to disrespect our country. My hand was over my heart because I love this country. I’ve had plenty of family members, including my father, that have bled for this country, that continue to serve for this country.”

After getting cut, Maxwell didn’t get any offers to join another club, and he suspected his kneeling was a big reason why.

But things have drastically changed since 2018, with MLB having Opening Day Black Lives Matter tributes before the playing of the national anthem. And multiple players kneeled during the anthem, though no one on the Mets did. The team has said, though, that it would respect a player if they decided to so.

In his last season with the A’s, Maxwell hit just .182 over 18 games with four doubles, one homer and six RBI. He played a career-high 76 games in 2017, where he slashed .237/.329/.333 with three homers and 22 RBI.

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