5 free agents the Mets should sign after giving Juan Soto $765 million

5) Tommy Kahnle

Milner adds a decent left-handed arm to the Mets’ bullpen, but they could still benefit from another right-handed reliever. One of the better veterans left who won’t break the bank is Tommy Kahnle. The veteran has spent most of his career with the crosstown rival New York Yankees. While Kahnle has missed parts of the last two seasons because of injury, he has remained effective nonetheless.

Kahnle has pitched 83.1 innings since the start of the 2023 campaign, working to a 2.38 ERA, 3.99 FIP, and 1.13 WHIP. Kahnle’s 11% walk rate isn’t great, but his 27.3% strikeout rate is. He has also not allowed many home runs, with a HR/9 rate of 1.08. Kahnle is great at limiting hard contact as well. He has held opponents to just an 86.5 MPH exit velo and 5.3% barrel rate.

Kahnle would also likely benefit from a move out of Yankee Stadium. He is much more home run prone, with a 1.58 HR/9 when playing at Yankee Stadium the last two years. But when he is on the road, that drops to just 0.48-per-9 innings. That’s not entirely surprising, given that the Yaankees’ home park is the 3rd most home run-friendly park, according to Baseball Savant’s park factors. Meanwhile, Citi Field is only the 15th most homer-friendly park.

Kahnle is 35 but would nicely complement Edwin Diaz in the back-end of the bullpen. He’d immediately become the Mets’ go-to right-handed set-up man, as he has recorded over a dozen holds during each of the last two years. Kahnle should be one of the Mets’ top right-handed relief options to pursue.