The New York Mets' Nate Lavender has taken a fascinating path.
In 2023, he had a 2.98 ERA combined across Double-A and Triple-A.
That offseason, the Mets didn't add Lavender to the 40-man roster, and he was eligible for selection in the Rule 5 Draft.
The Tampa Bay Rays chose Lavender. But he was injured for all of 2025 and didn't pitch in the Tampa Bay organization.
That meant the Rays could've carried Lavender's Rule 5 rights into another season.
Instead, they've opted to return him to the Mets, the Rays announced on Wednesday.
Lavender is still just 25 years old out of Illinois and was a great strikeout pitcher when last healthy for a full season, in 2023.
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He had an internal brace procedure in May 2024 and hasn't pitched in an organized baseball game since, which suggests some kind of setback at some point.
The Rays decided they weren't going to stick it out with Lavender for another year, so now he's the Mets' situation to figure out.
It seems like the Mets will want to see what Lavender can give them during the spring.
Given his time off, Lavender's safe bet would be that he'll begin the season at Triple-A Syracuse.
New York, even now, is skeptical about Lavender's health until he's back out there on the mound.
In the end, this feels a bit like a little bonus pickup for the Mets. They didn't necessarily expect to have Lavender back, but now that he's in town, they'll try to make the most of things with him.
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