Mets and veteran reliever Dylan Covey agree to a 1-year contract

NEW YORK – The Mets made their first move of the offseason, agreeing to a one-year contract with 33-year-old right-hander Dylan Covey on Thursday.

Covey went 0-2 with a 2.66 ERA, 19 strikeouts and nine walks over 20⅓ innings in 18 games with Philadelphia's farm teams Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Double-A Reading and Class A Clearwater this year.

His sinker averaged 93.8 mph in Triple-A, throwing a 45% sinker, 24% cutter, 18% splitter and 13% slider.

Covey last played in the Major Leagues with Philadelphia in 2023, going 1-3 with a 3.69 ERA in one start and 27 relief appearances.

He was placed on the injured list on March 25 with a right shoulder strain and then began a minor league rehab assignment with Clearwater on July 28. Covey was activated from the IL on August 27 and transferred straight to the Lehigh Valley the same day.

He elected free agency on October 10, his right as a player who was not re-signed to the 40-man roster and would have been entitled to a salary hearing in salary arbitration had he been on the roster.

Covey is 7-32 with a 6.18 ERA in 46 starts and 54 relief appearances in five major league seasons with the Chicago White Sox (2017-19), Boston (2020), Los Angeles Dodgers (2023) and Phillies (2023). , struck out 214 and walked 133 in 307⅓ innings.

Covey has 60 strikeouts and 33 walks over 89⅓ innings as a reliever and goes 2-5 with a 4.33 ERA.

He was a pitcher for Rakuten in Taiwan from 2021-22.