NY Mets follow-up Brandon Nimmo trade by signing frequently injured pitcher

Less than 48 after trading Brandon Nimmo, the next move the New York Mets made was very David Stearns-like. That’s not to put it in a negative or positive light. Adding anyone to a minor league deal is usually worth a trial period. This one has all of the makings of becoming quickly forgotten.

Nick Burdi, a name you probably know from your baseball card collection you donated to Goodwill, has agreed to a minor league deal with the Mets.

Coming off of 5.1 scoreless innings with the Boston Red Sox, the back of those baseball cards now in the spokes of bicycles have a lot of missing innings. The 35 he logged last year in Triple-A for the Red Sox is the most in any season for him since 2015.

The Mets will be lucky if Nick Burdi can even make it through the season

26.2 innings in 2024, 24 in 2023, and none in 2022 or 2021 show how much time Burdi has spent on the sidelines. It has been his biggest issue. A second round pick of the Minnesota Twins from way back in 2014, Burdi has spent a full decade barely playing baseball.

This is the kind of gamble Stearns has shown he is willing to make. Coming off what was his healthiest season in a long time, it’s one of those deals you can forget about until he actually starts to put up good numbers in Syracuse.

By design, the Mets are going to count on a lot more than the relievers they break camp with. After setting a record for the most pitchers used in a season last year, we should expect as many of these finds as Stearns can reel in.

Burdi did show some signs of wearing down late last season. He allowed a single earned run through May. He allowed 10 in the final three months. A foot contusion landed him on the IL while rehabbing. A hip injury, while on his rehab assignment, put him on the 60-day IL.

The Mets didn’t make this signing for Burdi to throw the final pitch of a World Series victory. For a week in May, they’re going to ask him to get a couple of outs.