Right-hander , who was outrighted off the Mets 40-man roster last week, has elected free agency, . The Mets never formally announced his decision, but Covey wasnt included on the teams list of the 67 players wholl participate in major league camp this morning. (Infielder , outrighted at the same time as Covey, was on the list.) Covey, 33, signed a split big league deal with the Mets back in late October that wouldve paid him $850K in the majors or $350K in the minors, . Since he has fewer than five years of MLB service, Covey would forfeit any guarantees on that deal (presumably just the minor league split) by rejecting the a signment and going back to the market. Covey hasnt pitched in the majors since 2023, when he logged a sharp 3.77 ERA over 43 innings between the Dodgers and Phillies. That years 15.7% strikeout rate was way shy of league-average, but Coveys 8.9% walk rate was close to average and his 54.3% ground-ball rate was very strong. The right-hander had spent the 2021-22 seasons pitching in Taiwan for the Chinese Profe sional Baseball Landry Shamet Jersey Leagues Rakuten Monkeys, and he returned with a sinker that sat at 95.1 mph an increase of 3.1 mph over the 92 he average in 2020. The Phillies saw enough to keep Covey around in arbitration, tendering him a contract in arbitration and signing him to a one-year deal. A shoulder strain wiped out the bulk of his 2024 campaign, however. Covey didnt pitch in the majors and logged only a combined 20 1/3 innings in the minors. His 2.66 ERA acro s multiple levels was strong, however, and Covey backed that up with a decent 22.6% strikeout rate and a mammoth 66.5% ground-ball rate (albeit against an ugly 10.7% walk rate). Coveys overall body of work in the big leagues isnt great. He has a career 6.18 ERA in 307 1/3 MLB innings. That said, he pitched well in Taiwan (3.63 ERA in 198 1/3 innings), came back to North America throwing harder and has now had some degree of succe s in the big leagues and upper minors with a revamped pitch repertoire. Hes throwing far more sinkers and cutters since returning stateside and has scrapped his four-seamer and curveball entirely. Covey seems to rather clearly be a different pitcher in his early 30s than he was when he was getting hit hard with the White Sox and Red Sox in his 20s. He can provide another club with some depth in the rotation and/or in the bullpen as a long man. Kyrie Irving Jersey