Reports: Mets Reach Agreement On 2-Year Deal With Lefty Vargas
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The Mets may still have one of the best young pitching staffs in baseball, but that doesn't man they can't use some help.
According to WFAN baseball insider and FanRag Sports' Jon Heyman, they got some on Friday when they agreed to a two-year, $16 million contract with veteran left-hander Jason Vargas.
Sources: Mets and Jason Vargas have a deal pending physical
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) February 16, 2018
The deal has a third-year club option and with incentives could be worth as much as $27 million, MLB.com's Anthony DiComo reported.
Vargas, who turned 35 on Feb. 2, will likely compete with Matt Harvey, Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler for the three spots alongside aces Noah Syndergaard and Jacob deGrom in the rotation.
MORE: Coleman: Mets Spice Up Rotation Competition By Adding Vargas
Harvey, Matz and Wheeler are coming off injury-plagued campaigns in 2017, while Vargas enjoyed the best season of his 12-year career, going 18-11 with a 4.16 ERA in 32 starts for the Kansas City Royals.
Vargas, who made two appearances for the Mets back in 2007, is 85-81 with a 4.17 ERA in 248 career appearances, including 228 starts, and has averaged just 2.7 walks per nine innings.
After a slow start to an offseason that had fans restless over the team's lack of spending, the Mets have added approximately $90 million in payroll with the signings of reliever Anthony Swarzak, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, outfielder Jay Bruce, infielder Jose Reyes and infielder Todd Frazier, plus the expected signing of Vargas.