Left-hander Sean Manaea and the New York Mets are in agreement on a three-year, $75 million contract, reports ESPN. The team has not confirmed the deal.

Few players improved their overall profile and value in 2024 more than Manaea, who signed a two-year, $28 million deal with the Mets last offseason with an opt-out after the first season.

Manaea set career highs in innings (181 2/3) and ERA (3.47) and was downright spectacular from July through the end of the postseason. In 21 starts from July 1 until his final postseason start, Manaea had a 3.40 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 127 strikeouts in 124 1/3 innings. Playing an integral role in the Mets’ magical postseason run, Manaea had a 2.65 ERA in his first three postseason starts (17 innings) before a clunker in his Game 6 start in the NLCS vs. the Dodgers (five runs in two innings).

None of this was by accident. Manaea took inspiration from a Chris Sale start and significantly lowered his arm slot to create a tougher angle for hitters. He supplemented that with a simplified pitch arsenal, relying more on sinkers and sweepers. With these changes came a pitcher who provided both quality and quantity — one who finished the year with a 3.59 ERA in 200 2/3 combined regular-season and postseason innings.

It’d be an understatement to say that this was an improvement from 2022-23, when Manaea had a 4.87 ERA in 277 innings as both a starter and reliever. Set to be 33 before Opening Day in 2025, Manaea looks like a legitimate middle-of-the-rotation starter who can produce in October.