Mets announce a flurry of minor league signings

The Mets announced six minor league signings this afternoon: LHP Jerry Blevins, RHP Jerad Eichoff, LHP Tom Windle, INF Wilfredo Tovar, LHP Camrin Opp, and C Jose Colina. The first four of those players received invitations to spring training.

Jerry Blevins is arguably the highest profile signing of the sextet, as the 37 year-old veteran has spent 13 solid years in the majors, split between the Athletics, Nationals, Mets, and most recently the Braves in 2019—he spent the entirety of 2020 as a free agent after being cut by the Giants in March. Blevins spent four years in Queens, though he spent most of 2015 on the shelf after fracturing his arm on a comebacker, and re-fracturing his arm after slipping and falling on a curb. Blevins will bring a career 3.54 ERA to the table.

Jared Eickoff has perhaps the most upside of the group, as he has a year of being a solid major league starter under his belt—though that was in 2016. Since that season, which he posted a 3.65 ERA, a 20.6% strikeout rate, a 5.2% walk rate, and a 3.0 fWAR, he has battled countless injuries, including numbness in his fingers and nerve damage. He spent his 2020 split between the Padres and Rangers alternate sites.

Windle is a 28 year old career minor leaguer, who has spent seven seasons bouncing around the Dodgers, Phillies, and Red Sox organizations. The lefty has compiled a 41-24 record, with a 4.13 ERA over that span, though has never reached the majors.

Tovar will be a familar name to many—he spent 2008 through 2015 in the Mets organization after they signed him as an IFA out of Venezuela. He played nine major league games with the Mets in 2013 and 2014 combined before leaving the organization. His biggest major league impact was with the Angels in 2019, where he hit a .193/.239/.253 in 31 games. He spent 2020 with Minnesota but did not appear in the majors.

The final two signings the Mets announced were not invited to spring training. Camrin Opp has an interesting story, being born in London and pitching for four years for Army, before throwing 26.2 solid innings (2.70 ERA, 21 games) for the Evansville Otters in the Frontier league. Jose Colina, a switch-hitting catcher out of Venezuela, has played five years in the lower minors, four with the White Sox and his last one in Cleveland. He has a career .243/.314/.365 line, but he had a strong 2019, slashing .372/.433/.744 in Rookie Ball at 21 years old.