3 NY Mets players stolen off waivers doing their part this season

Free agent signings are the splashy moves for a team to make, but what about those lesser moves? David Stearns has been active on the waiver wire throughout his tenure, often adding players to the New York Mets roster only to send them back into the DFA pile before too long. 

This year’s roster may be led by familiar longtime Mets players as well as a few savvy free agents. However, there are a couple of waiver wire pickups doing their part to help make them an even more complete team than the rest of the NL East would like to see.

1) Reed Garrett

It’s easy to forget how Reed Garrett came to the Mets because of how long he has been here. He predates the hire of Stearns. Taken on June 25, 2023, from the Baltimore Orioles on the waiver wire, Garrett was a 30-year-old journeyman who’d barely pitched in the majors with a few years in Japan on his resume. His 10.13 ERA in 2.2 innings didn’t scare off the Mets from giving him a chance. The 5.82 ERA in 17 frames for the 2023 team failed to send shivers down Stearns’ spine when it came to deciding who’d remain from the previous regime. An available minor league option and some veteran experience helped him stay around.

We couldn’t have been much more pleased/surprised with what Garrett did in 2024 for the Mets. Although the ERA inflated up to 3.77 thanks to a couple of poor outings, he was excellent for long periods of time. His 13 strikeouts per 9 to finish the year brilliantly showed how well he can punch out batters.

Best of all, he has been more elite in 2025. Just 2 earned runs through his first 17 innings gives him a 1.06 ERA to begin the year. He isn’t striking out batters with as much authority. Hard hit balls are up. Groundballs are down. The results have still been better thanks in part to limiting himself to one home run allowed through the first month and a half.

A waiver claim we didn’t think much of at the time has continued to be one of the most important bullpen arms the Mets have.