NY Mets free agent retrospective: Stealing of a 0.1 career WAR 31-year-old gem

The New York Mets don’t have an extensive history of finding gems in free agency. Many of their best known commodities. November 7 is a strange day in Mets transaction history. It’s the day the Mets released Jason Bay from his contract. Years earlier, in 1995, they had a complete reversal when they signed a journeyman pitcher with a career 0.1 WAR who had already celebrated his 31st birthday.

Rick Reed spent parts of 8 seasons with four different teams, most recently with the Cincinnati Reds for 17 innings in 1995. It wasn’t great. He had a 5.82 ERA and was worth -0.2 WAR, pushing him closer to being as replacement as possible. Only his 1992 campaign with the Kansas City Royals, where he logged 100.1 innings, was he able to put together a noteworthy campaign. The rest was inconsequential and led to a minor league contract with the Mets going into the 1996 season.

Reed spent all of 1996 in the minors, pitching to a 3.16 ERA. The veteran’s success caught some eyeballs. The Mets were quickly rewarded by giving him a spot in the rotation with Reed tossing 7 shutout innings in his 1997 debut.

Rick Reed remains one of the rarest Mets free agent signings in club history

Other than R.A. Dickey, there isn’t a pitcher in Mets history who seemed to come from out of nowhere and achieve as much as Reed did. He followed up his season debut with 5 shutout innings in relief against the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowing just 1 hit and striking out 7. It was an introduction pessimistics would be quick to dismiss as anything more than beginner’s luck. After all, it was 1997. The Mets hadn’t been to the playoffs since 1988 at this point.

Reed defied our natural instinct to expect the worst. He finished year one with a 13-9 record and 2.89 ERA. The following season, he earned his first of two All-Star selections with the team.

In four and a half seasons with the Mets, Reed was 59-36 with a 3.66 ERA. He accumulated a 16.4 WAR, crushing the barely above water number he had upon the team signing him after the 1995 season. His 117 ERA+ ranks 10th all-time in franchise history among qualified pitchers.

Reed isn’t just one of the finest free agent additions in Mets history off a pile of scrap. He should be held in regard as one of the best pitchers to represent the team regardless of how they got here.