The Mets and right-hander Chris Devenski are in agreement on a minor league deal, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com on X. The righty also receives a camp invite and will be competing for a job in next year’s spring training.
Devenski, 34 in November, has had an up-and-down career but is coming off a rough campaign. The Rays signed him to a one-year deal with a $1.1MM guarantee after getting a good look at him late in 2023. After being cut loose by the Angels, the Rays signed Devenski at the end of August last year. He posted a 2.08 earned run average over his nine appearances in Tampa so they decided to bring him back.
While the Rays are known for their savvy under-the-radar pickups, this one didn’t work out. Devenski tossed 26 2/3 innings for the Rays in 2024 but with a 6.75 ERA. His 19.7% strikeout rate, 11.5% walk rate and 25% ground ball rate were all below league averages. He missed about a month from late April to late May, going on the injured list due to right knee tendinitis. He was designated for assignment and released at the end of June.
He was then signed by the Mariners and spent the final months of 2024 with Triple-A Tacoma. He was able to finish his 2024 with a strong showing there in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, throwing 23 innings with a 2.35 ERA, 33.3% strikeout rate, 10.8% walk rate and 43.1% ground ball rate.
The Mets are presumably intrigued by that performance with Tacoma, though the veteran’s longer track record may play a role as well. He had a dominant showing with the Astros to start his career, tossing 189 innings over 2016 and 2017 with a 2.38 ERA, 28.2% strikeout rate and 6.4% walk rate.
But as mentioned, his career has been up-and-down, and those highs were followed with some serious lows. Over 2018 and 2019, he tossed another 116 1/3 innings for Houston but with an ERA of 4.56 in that time. His 6.9% walk rate was still good but his strikeout rate dipped to 24.9%. Elbow soreness limited him to just four appearances in 2020 and he eventually required Tommy John surgery in 2021. His attempts to get back on the mound in 2022 and 2023 were largely unsuccessful before his aforementioned stint with the Rays late last year.
Devenski has a 6.46 ERA since the start of 2020 but was injured for a lot of that. He showed some promise with the Rays late last year and with the Rainiers more recently. There’s no real risk for the Mets on a minor league deal, so they’ll take a look at what Devenski has come spring.
President of baseball operations David Stearns did plenty of tinkering with the bullpen this year. He gave one-year deals to Adam Ottavino, Jake Diekman, Shintaro Fujinami, Jorge López, Michael Tonkin and Austin Adams last winter as well as several minor league deals. As the season progressed, many of those guys ended up losing their roster spots while guys like Phil Maton, Huascar Brazobán, Ryne Stanek and others were acquired from other clubs. Ottavino and Stanek are now about to hit free agency with Maton likely joining them if the Mets turn down his club option. The 2024 Mets were only eliminated about a week ago and the World Series is still ongoing, but the club has already made one move to provide some bullpen depth for next year.
cold stove…
Stearns gets it. A generational mind that other POBOs lack. Great move.
This dude stinks
Stearns already making his patented kind of moves
Def not a HOFer
Dollar Tree David strikes again. When will he learn that in order to build a good bullpen you have to spend money. Him not prioritzing the bullpen last offseason was the key reason as to why the Mets lost to the Dodgers. His bullpen additions last year consisted of Andre Scrubb, Cole Sulser, Tyler Jay, Michael Tonkin, Austin Adames (who he released and actually did well for Oakland), Yoan Lopez, Jake, etc. All these guys were awful. They need to sign Tanner Scott and AJ Minter or else they are going nowhere next year
What did he do wrong with the bullpens in Milwaukee?
What is with you Mets trolls? You think MLB is rotisserie league. Just look at a list of players and draft one. Every FA pickup and trade has to be a winner.
Teams that win do it by making the players they have under contract better. The Mets appear to have done that this year with every component of their ML team except for the bullpen. OK. Why? You don’t have a clue because you don’t understand professional baseball and how the employees in Baseball Ops other then the everchanging 26 man roster operate. There are 2-3 times more of those employees than ML players depending on the organization.
You kids come on here to post and it comes off like irate customers. Like watching TV. Entitlement. It’s a disease in America for the majority of the population. Everyone is here to serve you. If you understood how hard some things are to accomplish and that they take time, then you wouldn’t be a troll (And if you’d accomplished anything in your life you’d respect how hard it is to do….and learn to read those that are doing the process right.) I go after people that fail. But the thing is – they have a track record of more failure than success. Who knows: Perhaps you’d like Billy Eppler back.
@LFGM I really hope your not being serious
Mets bullpen had a 4 ERA AND 1.28 WHIP. Can’t say that’s bad. Especially with the pitching staff they had in front of them. They simply got tired from use as the year wore on them.
Zero risk with a potential reward that will be evident during Spring Training…it’s either nothing or something. There is no negative here.
No downside to this He goes to pitching lab and they help him get better else he’s AAA depth.
btw: I just blocked my first idiot of the off season
….. And I think we all know who you’re talking about
Chris is a good guy and has always been very polite to my wife and daughter and is always fun to talk baseball with and I hope that the injuries are behind him and if they are then the Mets will have a solid piece for the bullpen…when he is healthy he is a big plus
I never want to see maton pitch again! I would t even wish him on my most hated teams!
I didn’t think teams signed players during the World Series.
Minor league players are eligible to sign.
Gotta fill up those minor league bullpens too. Depth is important. And you never know who this guys agent also represents….
This is so Stearns. See even a glimmer of hope in the Tacoma stats and just hope it works out.