3 best free agent relievers the NY Mets should sign ranked

The New York Mets' bullpen needs some arms. Last season, they were about middle-of-the-road in terms of ERA (4.03, 17th), FIP (3.86, 12th), WHIP (1.28, 17th), and overall fWAR (+3.8, 13th). Most of their arms from last year are returning; Edwin Diaz looks to be a lockdown closer once again, along with support from Danny Young and Reed Garrett. Hopefully, Sean Reid-Foley and Dedniel Nunez can continue their strong second-half performance throughout a larger sample size in 2025.

Adding bullpen help should be one of the Mets' top priorities. There are still plenty of decent free-agent relievers left on the board as well. The Mets (obviously) are likely willing to shell out whatever it takes to improve the bullpen, so who are the top three relievers they should be going after right now?

3) A.J. Minter

The Mets currently have just one lefty reliever on their depth chart, Danny Young. So if the Mets add more relievers, a lefty should be the first one they add. Plus, what better way than to steal a division rival's free agent? A.J. Minter has been a stalwart in the Atlanta Braves' bullpen since 2017 and is coming off a solid season, albeit one that was cut short due to injury.

Minter pitched 34.1 innings, working to a 2.62 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, but a 4.45 FIP. Minter had a respectable 8.2% walk rate and struck out 26.1% of the batters he faced. But he uncharacteristically struggled with allowing home runs. His 1.57 HR/9 rate is the highest of his career, but there's a lot of evidence to support that this isn't sustainable and that 2024 was an outlier in terms of home runs for Minter.

Minter had a 16.7% HR:FB ratio. It's the first time he's ever had an HR:FB ratio over 10%. His career average is 8%. Minter did not give up a ton of hard contact either. His 87.3 MPH exit velo was right around his career average of 87.5 MPH. His 6.9% barrel rate was also above average, although it was worse than his career average of 5.5%. Minter induced ground balls 45.9% of the time, which is the best of his career, not including the 2020 season. Despite his flyball rate of 42.4%, only being 3.6% higher than his career norm of 38.8%, 2024 was the first time Minter had an HR/9 over 1.00.

Minter's season was cut short due to left hip surgery. But he should be good to go by Spring Training. 2024 also marked just the second time in his career since his 2018 rookie campaign, where he appeared in fewer than 60 games (again, not including 2020). With the Mets needing some lefty bullpen depth, Minter is one of the better options out there for them to go after.