Mets Reportedly Sign Rick Porcello to One-Year Deal

Less than 24 hours after inking bounce-back candidate Michael Wacha to a one-year deal, the Mets have struck again, using their apparently-limited budget in the same venue.

New York agreed to an early morning deal with Rick Porcello on Thursday, and if the righty's career holds true to form, he'll be performing spectacularly this season (before plummeting again in 2021, possibly for another franchise). He'll be in Queens on a one-year, $10 million contract.

For such a bulldog competitor with very little variance in stuff, it's surprising how much Porcello's performance fluctuates from year to year. For the '18 Red Sox, he posted a 17-7 season with a 4.28 ERA before becoming a valuable swingman en route to a World Series title. But in '19, he backslid tremendously, his suddenly-flat splitter surrendering 1.6 dingers per nine innings to the tune of a 5.52 ERA.

Porcello, of course, spun a surprise Cy Young season in 2016 (22-4, 3.15), and is still only 30 years old.

For a Mets team that operates under self-imposed financial restrictions, we wonder if this second one-year pitching deal will cool their jets on Dellin Betances, or simply spring them into action on clearing Jed Lowrie so they may operate further.

It's clear now New York plans to approximate Zack Wheeler's performance with Porcello, often healthy, and Wacha, who remains a wild card. There are certainly worse bets.