Another ill-fated New York tenure is over for Frankie Montas.
The Mets designated Montas for assignment on Tuesday, requesting waivers for his unconditional release.
Montas underwent Tommy John surgery in September, knocking him out for all of 2026, so the Mets freed up his spot on the 40-man roster while being on the hook for the $17 million left on his contract.
The 32-year-old Montas, who signed a two-year, $34 million contract last offseason, ended up pitching in nine games (seven starts) for the Mets and posting a 6.28 ERA across 38 ⅔ innings. It proved to be the same amount of games Montas appeared in for the Yankees from 2022-2023, with injuries sabotaging his time in The Bronx as well.
After suffering a lat strain during spring training, Montas didn’t make his Mets debut until June 24 and he proceeded to record a 6.68 ERA in seven starts, a performance that got him demoted to the bullpen; touted prospect Nolan McLean took Montas’ rotation spot.
Montas, who told noti.group’s Zach Braziller at the time that he was “not happy” about the demotion, made two relief appearances before it was determined he needed elbow surgery.
The move clears a 40-man roster spot for outfield prospect Nick Morabito, a speedy 22-year-old who hit .273 with six homers, 59 RBIs and 49 steals in 118 games for Double-A Binghamton this year, thereby shielding him from the Rule 5 Draft.
Morabito also impressed in the Arizona Fall League, hitting .362 with one homer, eight RBIs and 16 steals in 17 games.
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
