Inside The Mets

Mets Free Agent Reliever Phil Maton Drawing Interest From AL East Team

Mets midseason trade acquisition Phil Maton is reportedly on the radar of an AL East squad who is looking to add to their bullpen.

Logan VanDine

Oct 17, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets pitcher Phil Maton (88) throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the sixth inning during game four of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images
Oct 17, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets pitcher Phil Maton (88) throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the sixth inning during game four of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images / John Jones-Imagn Images
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After proving to be a reliable midseason trade acquisition last season, this New York Mets free agent relief pitcher is drawing interest from a team in the AL East.

Chris Cotillo of Masslive.com reported on Wednesday that the Boston Red Sox are interested in reliever Phil Maton who was sharp for the Mets upon being acquired ahead of the trade deadline last summer.

Maton, 31, has previous ties to the AL East as he began the 2024 season with the Tampa Bay Rays before New York landed him on July 9, 2024. This proved to be the first of several solid deadline moves made by president of baseball operations David Stearns and the rest of the Mets' front office.

In the regular season for the Mets, the righty went 2-1 in 31 appearances and pitched to a 2.51 ERA with 30 strikeouts and a WHIP of 0.84 across 28.2 innings.

Despite his impressive regular season stats, Maton struggled in the postseason mightily. In six postseason games for New York, he went 0-1 with a woeful 8.53 ERA and allowed 11 hits in just 6.1 innings while striking out only six batters and giving up an alarming six home runs.

Perhaps Maton's most concerning outing during the postseason came in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Maton entered the game in the bottom of the eighth inning with the Mets leading 3-2 and promptly gave up a leadoff home run to star outfielder Jackson Chourio. Four batters later, he surrendered the eventual game-winning home run to Garrett Mitchell which gave the Brewers a 5-3 win.

Maton's postseason troubles this past season could be a factor in why the Mets haven't reportedly shown any interest in bringing him back for the 2025 season. His solid regular season success, however, has him drawing interest from a Red Sox team that had a 4.39 bullpen ERA last year which ranked 24th in all of baseball.

The Mets declined Maton's $7.75 million club option following the season, making the veteran righty a free agent.

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Logan VanDine
LOGAN VANDINE

Logan is a graduate of Rider University where he majored in Sports Media and minored in Sports Studies. During his time at Rider, Logan worked for Rider's radio station, 107.7 The Bronc as a sports host, producer and broadcaster, and for the school's paper: The Rider News. He began his time with The Rider News as a section writer for sports and was a copy editor for two years followed by being one of the sports editors during his senior year. Logan also placed third in the New Jersey Press Foundation Awards for sports feature writing. Aside from his work on Yankees and Mets On SI, he is also a writer for FanSided covering the New York Giants and Mets and also covers the Giants for Total Apex Sports.

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