Mets five best free agent starting pitcher signings of all-time

1) R.A. Dickey

Similar to Reed, our top entry is a guy nobody really knew much about when he joined the Mets. Already in his mid-30s when signed, R.A. Dickey was a knuckleballer about to embark on the best years of his major league career when many are planning retirement.

Dickey signed with the Mets before the 2010 season after spending a professional career spanning more than a decade. All Dickey did in his first year with the team was go 11-9 with a 2.84 ERA. This was just a preview of what would come soon after.

Dickey continued to pitch well for the Mets. He went 8-13 with a 3.28 ERA in 2011. In 2012, he did the unthinkable and won a Cy Young at 37-years-old.

Scripts like this only come out of Hollywood. An unconventional pitcher, with an even more unusual path to the league’s best pitcher, Dickey was on top of the world in 2012. He went 20-6 with a 2.73 ERA all while pitching for a team that wasn’t all too great. It didn’t matter for Dickey. He was dominating the league. His 233.2 innings, five complete games, three shutouts, and 230 strikeouts all led the league.

Dickey was famously traded the very next winter in a blockbuster deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. The trade brought them Noah Syndergaard, one of their best pitchers acquired via trade. Although controversial, it helped the Mets transition their rotation quickly and reload as Dickey gave the Blue Jays a few productive years.

Want your voice heard? Join the Rising Apple team!

Write for us!

Free agency in MLB dates back to the late 1970s. In that time, the Mets’ best free agent pickups for starting pitchers were a fine mix of former stars and guys about to have career years.