On Monday afternoon, the New York Mets announced that they have officially signed Justin Wilson to a two-year $10 million deal after the 31-year old lefty passed his physical.
According to Anthony Dicomo of MLB.com, during a conference call with reporters Wilson said he is “just really happy to be a Met.” He mentioned that there were a few other teams involved in discussions, but according to Matt Ehalt of NorthJersey.com, Wilson said a couple of times that he wanted to play for a contender.
The former fifth round pick, spent the 2018 season with the Chicago Cubs. He recorded a 3.46 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, and 3.64 FIP over 54 innings pitched.
Wilson also had 69 strikeouts, but due to command issues he walked 33 batters. Despite having reverse splits at times throughout his career, he held lefties to a slash line of .190/.301/.342 over 79 at-bats last season.
Ehalt says the hard throwing lefty told reporters he expects to be used in high-leverage situations. Wilson joins Edwin Diaz and Jeurys Familia in a much improved backend of the Mets bullpen that he feels is “now in great shape.”
