Pitchers Dream Reborn: Recently Traded Angels Pitcher Signs $4 Million Contract with Mets
It hasn’t been too long since the New York Mets signed Juan Soto to his historic contract, but they needed some starting pitching and turned to former Los Angeles Angels right-hander Griffin Canning.
Canning and the Mets agreed to a one-year contract. The deal reportedly guarantees Canning $4.25 million, with the potential for an additional $1 million in performance bonuses, according to MLB.com.
Canning is coming off a challenging season, posting a 5.19 ERA over a career-high 171.2 innings across 32 appearances and 31 starts for the Angels. His strikeout rate dropped to a career-low 6.8 per nine innings, accompanied by a below-average walk rate. He also experienced a noticeable dip in velocity and surrendered an American League-leading 99 earned runs.
Safe to say, his season wasn’t exactly a success.
Canning’s offseason has also been interesting. The Angels dealt him to the Braves in exchange for outfielder Jorge Soler. The move primarily served as a salary dump for Atlanta, allowing them to offload Soler’s contract. However, just weeks later, the Braves chose to non-tender Canning, officially making him a free agent.
Last season might just be a fluke, which is what the Mets are hoping for. Before 2024, Canning held a career 99 ERA+, indicating performance nearly identical to the league average. Over 99 Major League appearances, including 94 starts, he had posted a 4.78 ERA.
The Mets are willing to take the gamble on Canning because they are looking to have eight to 10 reliable starters available in the organization throughout the season.
“That’s something that we talk about a lot – the desire to ensure that we have eight to 10 starting pitchers somewhere in our organization that we feel really confident about that can contribute over the course of the season,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said last week at the Winter Meetings.
Since overcoming a lower-back stress fracture that sidelined him for the entire 2022 season, Canning has demonstrated durability, logging 298.2 innings over the past two years. Originally selected by the Angels in the second round of the 2017 MLB Draft, he has shown flashes of promise throughout his career.
