Minor league NY Mets free agent signing is coming out of retirement for a 2-year deal

This is a fascinating free agent find for the Mets.
Chicago White Sox Photo Day
Chicago White Sox Photo Day | Caitlin O'Hara/GettyImages

Things didn’t go well for Trey McGough to begin the 2025 campaign. After 15 innings and 15 earned runs, he retired. He was pitching for the Chicago White Sox in Triple-A at the time, his third team at that level. Despite hanging up his cleats early in 2025, he has decided to accept a 2-year minor league contract from the New York Mets.

Don’t let the bad sample from last year fool you. McGough actually has a strong minor league career, posting a 3.21 ERA on top of a 3.33 ERA overall in Triple-A. Call it the White Sox curse if you need to. McGough, a lefty who’ll pitch at 28 this season, might actually be a sneaky-good depth option for the Mets.

Trey McGough is a fascinating free agent find for the Mets

Ignoring the 2025 obliteration, McGough has had recent success. His 2024 campaign included a 1.98 ERA overall in some Double-A and Triple-A action. He held righties and lefties to batting averages under .200. This isn’t a LOOGY although we’d have to figure he’d profile best as one at the major league level.

Stockpiling southpaws for bullpen depth has been a theme of the Mets offseason. Richard Lovelady received a split contract for this purpose. The Mets even briefly reunited with Jose Castillo, but he left to pursue an opportunity overseas.

Uncertainty with the health of A.J. Minter being paramount to the need for additional lefty relief help, McGough is probably far down the list of options for the Mets. Anderson Severino and Joe Jacques are two others brought in this offseason. Nate Lavender was returned by the Tampa Bay Rays almost a year after they took him in the Rule 5 Draft.

In a different role, we should see Brandon Waddell yet again in relief. Felipe De La Cruz is a minor league/starter reliever the Mets could always turn to in their time of need.

Eight different lefty relievers threw at least one inning for the Mets last year (not including Sean Manaea). They’re bound to at least come close to matching that number again. It takes one series against a left-handed heavy lineup to even consider a player like McGough. The Mets bullpen management will undoubtedly include a lot of back and forth between Syracuse. McGough has some rebuilding of his reputation to do. Four of his seven outings were scoreless with the other three resulting in the poor season.

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