LA Dodgers just gifted the NY Mets with possible A.J. Minter injury insurance

A.J. Minter should be ready to go for the New York Mets this year with an, at-worst, ETA of arriving after a minimal stint on the IL. This will have the Mets weighing other options for the Opening Day roster. They’ve added multiple lefties this offseason by several different means. Two from last year who came back, Richard Lovelady and Jose Castillo, have already departed.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have been actively shipping players in and out from their 40-man roster. One of their latest decisions was to DFA once upon a time Mets pitcher Anthony Banda in favor of equally as forgettable New York Yankees catcher Ben Rortvedt.

On a salary under $2 million for the coming year via arbitration, Banda isn’t any sort of payroll burden. He’s someone several teams should think about taking a risk on on the waiver wire, including the Mets who’d have incentive to add some left-handed experience to their roster for the spring. Consider him a “just in case” option if Minter is indeed not ready to begin the year.

The Mets could do a lot worse than having Anthony Banda as their GEICO this spring

You can’t just look at Banda’s ERA and become bewildered why he lost his Dodgers roster spot. A 3.08 ERA in 2024 and 3.18 in 2025, some other details provide insight into why the Dodgers were ready to move on.

His 4.7 BB/9 rate last year was surely a frustration. The 4.52 FIP puts him in a much more average if not below level in comparison to what the actual ERA ended up at.

Nevertheless, Banda is more proven and probably better than many of the other lefties the Mets have lurking on the depth chart off of the 40-man roster. Nate Lavender is intriguing but a complete wild card coming off of injury. Anderson Severino’s biggest success came in the Winter League this past offseason. Joe Jacques? Not even close to satisfying enough.

Any team looking for cheap bullpen help should have Banda in mind. Falling far enough to the Mets will be a challenge. The Athletics were the ones to take a chance on Andy Ibanez on waivers, a player the Dodgers signed as a free agent for $1.2 million and DFA’d with the hope he’d pass through.

There’s always a chance the Dodgers actually find a trade partner for him, a price coming in as low as cash considerations and as high as a player whose own family doesn’t know about him. I’d doubt the Mets have interest in giving Los Angeles anything. Banda is a curbside pickup, not one you meet in a public parking lot to exchange goods.

Banda finished the season strong with a 1.52 ERA in the second half. He didn’t have an excellent World Series, allowing 6 runs in 3 innings. Until that point, the only earned run he did give up in his postseason career came against the Mets in 2024. Lefties hit .153/.241/.255 against him all year. Other than too many walks and home runs allowed (and yes, they're a big deal) he seems to be a good reliever to have around.

Banda is no permanent solution for the Mets and would be unlikely to stick around for the full season because of the team’s need for optional players. The Mets have a clear opening in their bullpen for at least one more notable pitcher. Banda fits the criteria in a couple of ways, with or without Minter. He’d have incentive to accept a minor league assignment to keep his salary as electing free agency rather than a minor league assignment would have him forfeiting his contract of $1,625,000.

Banda’s short stint with the Mets back in 2021 was well before anyone figured he’d win a pair of World Series rings as a vital member of the Dodgers bullpen. If he manages to slip down far enough on waivers to the Mets, there’s little to lose. He’s the exact kind of player we should expect the Mets to regularly add mid-year due to injury anyway.