Smith is Back in the Burgh…Er, Queens! Mets Re-sign Reliever Drew Smith in Stunning Move

Despite having elbow surgery last year, Drew Smith will reportedly return to an already impressive New York Mets team. First reported by Mark Feinsand of MLB.com, Smith gets a one-year deal worth $1 million. The Mets then have a club option of $2 million for 2026 if they would like. Jon Heyman also reported there are incentives involved in the contract.

This deal is a win for both sides. Smith, after having Tommy John surgery, can continue his recovery in the same location. Plus, the Mets have an effective, low-cost reliever for potentially the next two years. The 31-year-old aims to pitch toward the end of this year and could play a key role in the highly competitive National League East race. However, he likely won’t reach full strength until 2026, prompting the inclusion of a club option in the deal.

Report: Drew Smith Returns to Mets on One-Year Deal

What does Smith Bring to the Mets?

Despite only pitching 17 2/3 innings in 2024, Smith showcased a six-pitch mix. The headline pitch, though, is an impressive fastball. While his velocity dropped to 94.7 mph, his spin-generated allows him to miss bats. He had a 29.1% strikeout rate in 2024 along with a 31.0% whiff rate before his injury, and he consistently ranks in the 97th percentile for fastball spin generated.

He has seen some regression over the last two years though, particularly in his control. His walk rate was eight percent in 2022 but has been over 11 for the past two years. There’s no doubt this would raise concerns within the Mets camp, particularly as control is notoriously difficult for those recovering from Tommy John.

Mets Bullpen Outlook for 2025

Smith joins a strong Mets bullpen headlined by Edwin Díaz and new signing A.J. Minter. The latter, however, is unfortunately unlikely to be ready for Opening Day.

Díaz certainly had his issues last year, but despite not closing for a while, the Mets continued to show faith in him, and for good reason too. He pitched better than his 3.52 ERA states. His xERA was just 2.49 and his xFIP 2.59, both numbers more correlated with an elite reliever. For context, he ranked 8th in the MLB for xERA.

José Buttó is also expected to play an important part in 2025. He pitched an impressive 74 innings at a 2.55 ERA in 2024. As reported by Newsday’s Tim Healey, the Mets are going to continue to use him from the bullpen instead of stretching him out like many feel he is capable of doing.

Smith will likely pitch some of those middle innings at the end of the year, where the hole appears to be in this group. Despite their immense talent, the Mets still ranked 14th in MLB in bullpen ERA and had the third-worst bullpen in the postseason. This is a disappointing result, considering they have one of the better defenses in the league. The Mets will hope Smith can produce results when the expected battle for postseason baseball heats up.