Five Relievers The Mets Could Still Sign

The Mets enter spring training with five relievers locked in for opening day: Devin Williams, Luke Weaver, Brooks Raley, Tobias Myers, and Luis García. A.J. Minter may begin the season on the injured list but shouldn’t miss significant time.

Competing for spots from the 40-man roster are Huascar Brazobán, Dylan Ross, Austin Warren, Justin Hagenman, Jonathan Pintaro, Joey Gerber, and Alex Carrillo, while non-roster invitees could include Craig Kimbrel, Adbert Alzolay, Ryan Lambert, Robert Stock, Joander Suarez, and Felipe De La Cruz. Former Mets Drew Smith and Max Kranick may start the season on the 60-day IL depending on their recovery timelines.

With six starters—Freddy Peralta, Nolan McLean, Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga, and David Peterson—at least two bullpen spots remain open, though injuries, other roster moves, and the decision to go with the standard five starter could create even more opportunities for competition.

If the Mets choose to add another reliever to the bullpen, here are the top options. (David Robertson and Evan Phillips are not included as they may not sign until July.)

Michael Kopech

Michael Kopech is arguably the best reliever left. If it weren’t for injuries, he would likely receive a contract similar to the two-year $20 million contract Seranthony Dominguez recently signed. It is possible be still receives a multi-year deal, and the Mets likely would not look to lock down another reliever past 2026. But on a one-year deal, Kopech could be exactly what this team needs. Kopech nearly doubled his cutter usage to 16.5% in 2025 while shelving his slider and reintroducing a modified changeup that now sits at 91.2 mph with more in-zone usage. His high-spin cutter (2,589 RPM) remained his primary strikeout pitch with a 29.4% putaway rate, holding batters to a .174 average while tunneling effectively with his slider due to similar horizontal movement.

You can read MMO’s profile on Kopech here.

Danny Coulombe

Danny Coulombe is a crafty left hander who has pitched to a 2.38 ERA and 1.05 WHIP across 136.1 innings since the start of 2022. Entering his age 36 season, he is not a young pitcher, but as a reliever who relies more on deception and chase over velocity, his skill set likely should not drop off significantly in 2026. As a left handed pitcher, he could benefit the team in Minter’s absence, and he has performed well against right-handed hitters across the last four seasons with a 3.22 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. Last year he generated a 36.2% chase rate led by his 85.2 MPH cutter at 47.2%. His only real knock is that he has struggled with injuries in recent years.

You can read MMO’s profile on Coulombe here.

Rafael Montero

It may seem odd listing a reliever with a 4.77 ERA across the last three seasons on a list of the best remaining relievers, but former Met Rafael Montero still has elite stuff. His 4.79 FIP doesn’t scream that he is unlucky and 1.42 WHIP is well above where you want it to be. But he is 81st percentile in chase rate (31.1%), 78th percentile in whiff rate (29.3%), 72nd percentile in barrel rate (7.0%), and 79th percentile in ground ball rate (48.7%). He mostly throws a plus splitter with 12.1 inches of horizontal break alongside a 95.1 MPH fastball. So why has he struggled so much? He walks almost 12% of batters and ran a 1.30 HR/9 rate. Citi Field should help the home run issue he faced in Houston and Atlanta, and Mets pitching coach Justin Willard may be able to help with the walk rate.

It should also be noted that in his last 22 innings of the 2025 season while in Detroit, Montero threw to a 2.86 ERA and 1.18 WHIP.

Jalen Beeks

Jalen Beeks has had a mixed career but has pitched to a 3.99 FIP with a 21.4% strikeout rate and a 9.0% walk rate. His last three seasons he has pitched to a 4.61 ERA, but his 3.96 FIP could argue he has had some bad luck in recent years. In 2025 though, he pitched to a 3.77 ERA and 1.08 WHIP across 57.1 innings. He has shown the ability to be a work horse throwing 70 innings in 2024 and in 2025 he was in the 70th percentile in whiff rate (27.7%) and 72nd percentile in ground ball rate (46.9%). He primarily throws a four-seam fastball and a changeup. his change up is his best pitch. Batters hit .067 against it in 2025 and it generated 34.5% whiff and 32.3% chase. As another left handed option Beeks could be worth a flyer.

You can read MMO’s profile on Beeks here.

Tommy Kahnle

What happens when you throw changeups more than 70% of the time? Apparently pitch to a 3.23 ERA and 1.16 WHIP across 159 innings pitched, because that is what Tommy Kahnle did from 2022-2025. He may have gone too far in 2025 raising his changeup usage from 73% in 2024 to 86% in 2025, jumping from a 2.11 ERA to a 4.43 ERA, but he did still run a ground ball rate in the 75th percentile (47.6%) and a hard hit rate in the 75th percentile (37.3%). 2025 was also his largest workload since his rookie season in 2014, and he may have been overworked.

By the end of June, his 38 innings was almost as much as his season totals from 2023 and 2024. At that point he was pitching to a 1.77 ERA and 0.79 WHIP. The remainder of the season he pitched to a 7.90 ERA and 1.98 WHIP. Fatigue could have been an issue, though his pitch data does not look significantly different pre and post July 1. Kahnle could be an interesting bounce back candidate, but entering his age 36 season his workload may need to be managed.

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