Luis Garcia is bound to force the NY Mets into making an awkward admission by June

Luis Garcia did not headline the New York Mets winter. He was a late-offseason addition who fit the budget, filled a bullpen spot, and checked the veteran box. The Mets have convinced themselves before that this kind of arm is enough, that you do not have to pay premium prices for middle relief if you pick the right name at the right number.

That thinking sounds smart until the games expose it. Garcia is not trending in the right direction, and that matters a lot more than his cost. If the recent version shows up in April and May, it will not read like random bad luck. It will look like the Mets tried to get cute with the bullpen and hoped nobody would notice.

By June, the Mets may finally admit that cheap relievers like Luis Garcia rarely pay off

Garcia cost the Mets $1.75 million on a one-year deal in late January, and before he threw a pitch in spring training games, Carlos Mendoza said he expected him to play a meaningful role. This was not a last-minute depth add. The Mets identified this as a bullpen spot worth filling on the cheaper end and made it clear they were comfortable handing him real innings.

If you glance at the 2025 stat line, you can see how the sell works. A 3.42 ERA over 55.1 innings with a 3.28 FIP and only two home runs allowed, even while pitching for three different teams. That plays. Teams will always take a reliever with a mid-3s ERA and who limits home runs. But the traffic was constant. 55 hits. 26 walks. More than a baserunner per inning. The ERA stayed tidy, but the outings were not always clean.

The deeper numbers make it harder to wave away. His walk rate climbed to 11.2%. His hard-hit percentage and average exit velocity both ranked in the bottom 10% of the league. The expected metrics push back harder. A 4.42 xERA. A .262 xBA. In any leverage situation, low, medium, or high, hitters posted an OPS north of .740. It’s hard to build trust in a reliever when there are always runners on base.

That version of Garcia is not new either. In 2024, he posted a 4.88 ERA over 59 innings, allowing 61 hits and 15 walks. The walk rate sat at 5.9%, but the hits kept coming. Over the last four seasons, he has averaged 58.2 innings and 58 hits per year. At 39, that is the track record you are buying. Betting on a late-career rebound is usually wishful thinking, not roster construction.

This was never just about one arm. It was about deciding this level of investment was enough. If June brings the version the numbers warn about, the Mets may have to admit they went cheap where they should have paid up.