Sean

Manaea

Manaea is returning to the Big Apple following the strongest season of his career last year when he finished with a sparkling 3.47 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 184/63 K/BB ratio across 181 2/3 innings (32 starts). The 32-year-old southpaw, who rejected a $21.05 million qualifying offer last month from the Mets, ends up securing the multi-year commitment he was seeking on the open market. He benefitted greatly from New York’s pitching development engine last year as they got him to lean heavily on his sinker, which led to his strongest results from a run-prevention standpoint, and a top 30 finish for fantasy purposes at starting pitcher. He won’t go that high in drafts next spring, but he’s a surefire top 50 range starting pitcher (SP4 territory) now that he’s back with the Mets.

According to Passan, “Baltimore does not want to forfeit a draft pick by signing a starter saddled with a qualifying offer,” which rules out Manaea and Pivetta. The Orioles are still linked to top starter Corbin Burnes but have been silent when it comes to other starting pitchers and might be waiting for the prices to come down or the market to soften before they see who’s remaining.

It’s now official. Nick Martinez was the lone recipient to accept a qualifying offer this offseason cycle, becoming just the 14th to do so since the system was implemented back in 2012. That leaves Juan Soto, Willy Adames, Pete Alonso, Alex Bregman, Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Teoscar Hernández, Christian Walker, Sean Manaea, Anthony Santander, Luis Severino and Pivetta officially heading to free agency. Their respective teams will receive draft pick compensation if they wind up signing elsewhere. No real surprises here besides Pivetta, who ESPN’s Jeff Passan indicated last week has at least a “three-year deal” waiting for him on the open market.

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise and certainly doesn’t close the door on Manaea returning to the Mets. However, coming off a strong year where he posted a 3.47 ERA, 1.08 WHIP, and 184 strikeouts in 181 2/3 innings, Manaea was always likely to try and get a multi-year contract since he will head into next season at 33 years old. The Mets will need to outbid others for his services but they are more than capable of doing so.

Manaea was an unexpected revelation for New York last season, turning in his best campaign in nearly a half-decade, finishing with a strong 3.47 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 184/63 K/BB ratio across 181 2/3 innings (32 starts). The 32-year-old southpaw figures to have plenty of suitors on the open market, but it wouldn’t be a complete stunner if he decided to return for at least one additional year with the Mets.

The only way this wasn’t happening if is Manaea and the Mets came to terms on a multiyear deal in the next couple of days. Manaea would have earned $13.5 million next season under the terms of his contract.

Manaea’s final start was a disappointment, and he has Tommy Edman to “thank” for most of the trouble. He gave up a two-run double to Edman in the first, and a two-run shot to him two innings later. The southpaw still had a fantastic season with a 3.47 ERA and 184/63 K/BB over 32 starts, and he pitched excellent in the postseason prior to Sunday’s struggles. Manaea will be back with the Mets next year — barring something unforeseen — and likely will pitch near the top of their rotation to begin 2025.

Manaea pitched four scoreless innings before giving up a Max Muncy solo homer in the fifth. Things went south in the sixth. Manaea walked Mookie Betts and Teoscar Hernández to start the inning and then got a potential double-play grounder, only for Jose Iglesias to turn it into no outs. Manaea was replaced by Phil Maton at that point. Maton gave up a two-run single with one out, but he preserved most of the Mets’ lead by getting Enrique Hernández to ground into a double play. Manaea moved to 2-0 with a 2.65 ERA in three postseason starts.

Senga will get the ball for the opener in Los Angeles, and Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters he expects the right-hander to be able to work three innings or so. Mendoza wouldn’t announce a bulk pitcher to pair with him at this point, but David Peterson would make sense as the next arm up. Sean Manaea will get the start in Game 2 for the Mets on Monday.

Manaea gave up three hits, walked two and struck out six. It’s safe to say Manaea made himself some money this offseason with the dominant effort. The 32-year-old entered Tuesday night’s start with a 10.66 ERA in three career playoff starts. Pitching for his fourth team in the last four years and in the biggest game of his career to this point, Manaea turned in an excellent performance. He could be in line for Game 1 of the NLCS should the Mets close out the series.