The Mets made their one-year deal with Michael Wacha official on Friday, designating Chris Mazza for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
"With the addition of Michael to our staff, our rotation will continue to be an area of strength in 2020," Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen said in a press release. "Adding a fourth All-Star starter with proven success in the postseason gives us a group of starting pitchers with the potential to be among the best in the game."
Wacha -- who got a $3 million base salary and can make an additional $7 million in incentives -- signed the day before Rick Porcello, which means the Mets have six starting pitchers for five spots. And Wacha was told he would be used in the rotation.
"They said they had a spot to start," Wacha said Friday during a conference call when asked what the Mets' pitch to him was. "I'm here to be in that rotation and be out there every fifth day. That's my plan, that's my mindset going into this offseason is preparing for that role. I think it's a great fit."
Asked what his reaction was after the Mets signed Porcello, Wacha said that he tries to just worry about himself. And when asked whether he was open to going to the bullpen, he said his "mindset" is on starting.
Brodie Van Wagenen said Thursday that the Mets have the deepest rotation in baseball and would not say who the odd man out would be if everyone was healthy.
"If all are healthy then we have more decisions to make that hopefully will be a high class problem," Van Wagenen explained. "But at this point we're going in with six bonafide starters -- the ability to have seventh and eighth starters with Lugo and Gsellman. ... We're walking in with depth and upside and we can't speculate in terms of what the mix of who the give are if all are healthy until we get there and assess what the characteristics are."
The Mets won't be using a six-man rotation, though. So it seems likely that they will either be trading a member of the starting rotation or moving someone to the bullpen.