The Mets have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent RHP Rick Porcello, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The deal is pending a physical, according to Rosenthal.
According to Jon Heyman of the MLB Network, the deal will be worth $10 million.
When the Mets signed Michael Wacha on Wednesday, the thought was that it would end their pursuit of Porcello. Clearly, that thought was wrong.
MetsBlog's Matthew Cerrone reported on Dec. 4 that there was mutual interest between the Mets and Porcello, who reportedly had at least one offer of three years but preferred to attempt to rebuild his value with a one-year deal.
Porcello, who turns 31 years old on Dec. 27, had a down year for the Red Sox in 2019, with a 5.52 ERA (4.76 FIP) and 1.39 WHIP in 174.1 IP. That came on the heels of a much stronger 2018 season, where Porcello had a 4.28 ERA (4.01 FIP, 3.87 xFIP) and 1.18 WHIP in 191.1 IP.
During his 11-year career, Porcello has never pitched fewer than 162.2 innings, which includes eclipsing 200 innings three times in the last six seasons.
With the addition of Porcello, the Mets now seemingly have six starting pitchers for five spots with Porcello and Wacha joining Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, and Steven Matz.
The Mets are also now brushing right up against the $208 million luxury tax threshold and have a full 40-man roster before the official additions of Porcellio and Wacha.
Because of the above, there is almost certainly at least one trade or other roster move in the works.