NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Mets won’t leave the winter meetings empty-handed in their search for arms.
Late Tuesday the club reached agreement with right-handed reliever Michael Tonkin on a split contract worth $1 million for next season on the major league side.
Tonkin, 34, appeared in 45 games for the Braves last season and pitched to a 4.28 ERA.
He joins a bullpen mix that has several vacancies behind Edwin Diaz, Brooks Raley and Drew Smith.
Tonkin returned to the major leagues last season after a stint pitching in Mexico.
He pitched for the Twins in parts of five seasons through 2017.
The Mets’ penalty for exceeding MLB’s top-tier luxury-tax threshold last season was to fall 10 spots in next year’s draft.
An available lifeline was the draft lottery. If the Mets were selected in the top six of the lottery, which was conducted Tuesday at the winter meetings, they would get to keep that pick.
No dice.
The Mets will select at No. 19 in next year’s draft, after the Guardians, Reds, Rockies, A’s, White Sox and Royals secured the top six spots. The Mets had a 4.3 percent chance to land the No. 1 overall pick. Their chances of landing in the top six were 43.2 percent.
“There was a lot of optimism earlier in the night,” said vice president of amateur scouting Kris Gross, who recently arrived from the Astros. “With Houston we picked anywhere from one to 28 to 80, so I’ve seen it all and been through it all, and 19 is a pretty enticing spot.”
The Mets lost 10 spots in the draft this year, moving from No. 22 to 32 as a penalty for exceeding the top luxury tax threshold in 2022. With that 32nd overall pick the Mets selected high school shortstop Colin Houck.
DJ Stewart is among the internal options the Mets have for the DH spot. Last season Stewart blasted 11 homers in only 160 at-bats and helped carry the lineup over the final two months.
Stewart received a one-year contract worth $1.38 million from the Mets last month.
“I think DJ demonstrated over the last couple of months last year that he can hit,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said. “That is something important to us and the lefty bat is important to us. He’s a bat-first player and how he fits is dependent on how the rest of the offseason shakes out and how the roster shakes out. But I think it was very encouraging what we saw over the last two months of the season.”
The Mets signed veteran infielder Jose Iglesias to a minor league contract and invited him to major league spring training.
Iglesias spent last season at Triple-A with the Padres. His major league résumé includes stops with the Red Sox, Tigers, Reds, Orioles, Angels and Rockies.
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