The Mets have minor league deals in place with left-hander Anthony Gose and right-hander Luis Ortiz, reports Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. Both pitchers also receive invites to major league spring training.
Gose, 34, spent many years as a position player in the majors but didn’t find much success and converted to the mound. In that role, he has intrigued with some high velocity and strikeout potential but has also shown control issues.
He tossed 27 2/3 innings for the Guardians over 2021 and 2022, allowing 3.90 earned runs per nine. He averaged 97.6 miles per hour on his fastball and struck out 31.9% of batters faced but also gave out free passes at a 13.8% clip. Tommy John surgery wiped out his entire 2023 season. He returned to the mound in 2024 but only got into three big league games. He tossed 44 2/3 innings at the Triple-A level with a 3.22 ERA, 30.7% strikeout rate and 14.1% walk rate.
Gose is clearly a bit of a project, despite his age. He’s only really been pitching for a few years and the big surgery layoff put things on pause for a while. A 34-year-old with ongoing control problems might be considered a lost cause but Gose is perhaps a special case due to his unusual trajectory. If he can harness his stuff a bit better, there’s intriguing potential there. He has less than four years of service time and can be retained beyond 2025 if he has a roster spot at season’s end, though he is out of options.
Ortiz, 29, is not to be confused with the Luis Ortiz who was recently traded from the Pirates to the Guardians. This Ortiz has pitched for the Orioles and Giants before spending the past two years with the Phillies. He has tossed 34 innings over five different MLB seasons with a 4.76 ERA, 16.3% strikeout rate, 10.5% walk rate and 48.6% ground ball rate.
He only made one big league appearance in 2024 and only five in the minors. He missed time due to ankle and shoulder injuries before undergoing Tommy John surgery in July. He will therefore miss most or perhaps all of the 2025 campaign. From 2021 to 2023, he tossed 155 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 4.58 ERA, 24.4% strikeout rate and 6.5% walk rate. If he eventually gets a roster spot, he still has one option season and less than two years of service time.
