Frankie Montas’ brief Mets career was coming to an end one way or another, but Tuesday confirmed that earlier than expected.
The team announced that they have designated the right-handed starter for assignment, which clears a 40-man roster spot ahead of Major League Baseball’s Rule 5 Draft. That spot has gone to outfielder prospect Nick Morabito.
Waivers have been requested to grant Montas his unconditional release.
Montas was going to miss the entire 2026 season — which was supposed to be the final campaign of his two-year, $34 million deal signed with the Mets last winter — after undergoing season-ending elbow surgery back in August. It ended a nightmare debut showing for him in Queens, posting a 6.28 ERA while getting demoted from the starting rotation to the bullpen.
The 32-year-old exercised the $17 million player option in his contract in hopes of sticking with the Mets while he rehabbed his elbow, but president of baseball operations David Stearns is looking to move on from him as quickly as possible.
After successfully turning around the careers of Luis Severino and Sean Manaea in 2024, Stearns brought in Montas, along with Griffin Canning and former Yankees closer Clay Holmes, to bolster the rotation this past season. But an injury sustained early in spring training kept him out until late June.
Montas’ struggles were one of many within a rotation that was ineffective for the majority of the final four months of the season, which fueled the Mets’ surprising postseason miss. David Peterson was the only starter for roughly three months to go more than five innings in a start, and even he fizzled out down the stretch, forcing Stearns to lean on top prospects Nolan McLean, Jonah Tong, and Brandon Sproat to try and save the season.
It did not work, and it leaves the Mets as major players on the starting-pitching market this winter.
