The Cardinals and Mets both have some interest in free agent righty Griffin Canning, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Canning spent the 2025 season with the Mets after signing a one-year, make-good deal in free agency last year. He started the season well before running into a brief rough patch and then suffering a torn Achilles tendon before he really had a chance to bounce back. The White Sox are also known to have interest.
A former second-round pick and highly regarded prospect with the Angels, Canning has shown glimpses of the upside he had during his minor league days but hasn’t found much consistency in the majors. Part of that is due to persistent injuries, as he’s missed time in his career due to not just last year’s Achilles tear but also elbow, groin and calf injuries over the years. The Angels traded him to the Braves for Jorge Soler just hours into the 2024-25 offseason in what amounted to a salary dump for Atlanta; Canning was non-tendered just a couple weeks later.
After signing a one-year deal with the Mets, Canning looked like a quality bargain to begin the season. Spring injuries to Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas opened a rotation spot, and Canning ran with that opportunity. Through his first nine starts, he posted a terrific 2.47 ERA with slightly better-than-average strikeout and walk rates (23.2% and 8.6%, respectively) and an excellent 55.2% ground-ball rate. He had some good fortune in terms of balls in play, home runs and strand rate, but even more bearish metrics like SIERA (3.84) and FIP (3.92) still graded him as a solid mid-rotation arm.
Canning hit some trouble in mid-May, walking 18 hitters over his next 26 1/3 innings. He didn’t get a real chance to bounce back from that rough patch. During the third inning of a road start against the Braves, he suffered a torn Achilles tendon during his follow-through on what otherwise looked like a perfectly innocuous pitch. Canning had to be helped off the field and underwent season-ending surgery. His 2025 campaign ended with a 3.77 ERA, 21.3% strikeout rate, 10.7% walk rate and 50.9% ground-ball rate. The bump in grounders was particularly notable, given that he’d been a fly-ball pitcher with the Halos. The Mets made some changes to his pitch selection and also altered the shape/release points of his slider and changeup.
Another one-year deal for Canning seems likely after the way his 2025 season ended. He ought to command more than the $4.25MM guarantee he received last winter — at least as long as he’s healthy. Heyman writes that Canning is expected to be ready “around” Opening Day, so it’s not yet clear whether he’ll need an IL stint to begin the season (and may not become fully clear until afer he’s signed and spring training is underway).
The Mets and Cardinals both make varying levels of sense. New York obviously liked Canning last winter and had to be encouraged by how he performed with input from their staff. They’re looking for depth and have been open to trade offers on both Kodai Senga and David Peterson.
The Cardinals are an even more sensible fit. They’re in the early stages of a rebuild over in St. Louis, and Canning could provide a veteran arm and some upside who could play his way into trade chip status this summer. After trading Sonny Gray and seeing Miles Mikolas become a free agent, the Cardinals’ rotation currently mix includes Matthew Liberatore, Michael McGreevy, Andre Pallante, Kyle Leahy, free agent pickup Dustin May and trade acquisitions Richard Fitts and Hunter Dobbins. Prospects Quinn Mathews, Tink Hence and Brycen Mautz could debut at some point in 2026 as well. That’s a lot of arms but far less certainty, making the addition of Canning or another veteran a sensible pursuit.
I canned a Griffen once, turned out sour.
Is Canning a backup plan so if they don’t sign Valdez/Gallen, or another top starter? Or is he their main plan?
Backup for Mets, main plan STL is my guess.
This sounds like one of those deals the Red Sox would have made a few years ago.
Trade Peterson? Is Stearns wiping out anyone who was there prior to him?
That became pretty clear this off season
Peterson is coming of two of his best years, he tired down the stretch and there is a bunch of underlying metrics that say he should not have been as good as he was. This is a clear sell high guy who doesn’t have that much control left anyway. Add in if the Mets move no one from there rotation they have
1) McLean
2) Senga
3) Manaea
4) Peterson
5) Holmes
6) Tong
7) Sproat
8) Scott
That a full rotation with a lot of potential but not a lot of certainty. They need to make room somehow and Peterson might be the most easy to move based on money. Each of Senga, Manaea, and Holmes are attached to decent money contracts, that might be hard to move. McLean looked absolutely dominant when he came up, so where are you fitting your big pitching addition unless you move someone like Peterson.
I’ve been wrong before but I don’t see it happening. I agree on the roster crunch but those last three can provide depth in AAA. I also don’t see Stearns signing one of these starting pitchers so I’d rather bet on Peterson than Canning.
Peterson looked to finally be putting it all together and provided the Mets with the most consistent innings until he ran out of gas. Aside from the favorable contract it’s only one year of control so for the receiving team a potential deadline trade chip.
He’s a really good fit in St Louis. Like May, plan to get 4 good months out of him then cash in at the Deadline.
SP stable of May/Canning/Liberatore/McGreevy/Pallante /Leahy/Fitts/Dobbins lacks stars but plenty deep for a year when contending would be a happy surprise.
Mathews/Mautz/Hence/Doyle maybe get a look after the ASB. And most are multiyear controllable.
Good transition job, Bloom. a nice change from old vets on 1 year deals for 10-15m. a piece
the Achilles tear was not during a road start, it was at Citi Field. regrettably I can vividly remember seeing it with my own eyes
Griffin Canning should sign a 2 year 25 million deal with White Sox. Show he’s ready to be fully capable of being a starter. And wait for trade offers later.
Ain’t no team giving him that deal. He’s better off taking a one-year with incentives and hitting free agency again at 30.
As a Cardinals fan I would love this signing, high upside like the Dustin May signing
Sure, but who gives them innings?
I wouldn’t call May’s upside high…
If you saw who the Cardinals are trotting out to the mound in 2026 you would. 😉
That’s a good point!
I like it, seemed like the Mets unlocked something before he got hurt. Pitched like a No.2 type starter.
I’m not sure about being a number 2 starter, but the Mets did unlock the potential he had been tagged with but never fully produced.
Both he and Chris Bassett are good #4 starter additions to any staff, and an achilles injury is much much less risky a gamble than a shoulder/elbow/forearm strain.
I do think if he is healthy he should bet on himself and take a one year “ prove it”contract and then cash in next year if he’s really figured it out.
Not sure why the Mets would be interested unless they’re trading someone. They already have nine starting pitchers on the 40 man roster (Senga, Manaea, Peterson, Holmes, McLean, Sproat, Tong, Christian Scott, Cooper Criswell). I don’t see the need for another back end starter, even though Canning did pretty decent last year.
“They’re looking for depth and have been open to trade offers on both Kodai Senga and David Peterson.”
Sure, that totally makes sense.
If he’s cheap, Cardinals owner, Billionaire Bill DeWallet, is interested.
In 2024, the Cardinal payroll was higher than 5 playoff teams $179MM
They have averaged being in the top 10-12 as far as payroll until they began readying the roster for this rebuild.
I suspect he signs with St. Louis. Perfect fit for what Bloom and the Cardinals are doing – bring in fringe vets with upside on 1-year deals and, should they have solid seasons, trade them at the deadline for more prospects.
Canning would join a Cardinals 2026 rotation of Liberatore, May, McGreevy, Leahy and Dobbins/Fitts/Pallante.
Upside doesn’t matter for a rebuilding team compared to eating enough innings to avoid overworking the rest of the young pitching staff, which this guy also doesn’t seem to be able to do.
He’d help, but not as much as signing an actual veteran innings-eater would.
Good points.
Could be a stealth Braves signing, since Hafner is now the pitching coach.
So are the Cardinals hoping to get 180 IP combined from May and Canning, so together they function as a single veteran innings-eater that they actually need?
For Stl this makes so much sense. IF healthy and SOLID early in the season and one of the other middling type contender teams with less rotation depth deal with an injury to one of their top options the Cards could ship him or May out way before the stove or the weather even gets hot. They wouldn’t be bothered if they get a call in late May or June and if a club is desperate the return could be pretty decent.