The New York Mets have signed a name who's a blast from the past for Chicago Cubs fans.
Carl Edwards Jr., who for a time went by C.J. Edwards, is the newest Mets pitcher.
The deal was reported by The Athletic on Wednesday morning.
"The Mets agreed to a minor-league deal with Carl Edwards Jr. With the intention of using the longtime reliever as a possible depth starter, people familiar with the club’s plans said," The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon wrote. "He would slide somewhere in the club’s Triple-A rotation. Edwards, 34, has never started a game in his 11 major-league seasons. While pitching in Mexico, however, this past season, Edwards made 14 starts (74 2/3 innings) and produced a 3.38 ERA."
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Edwards was initially a starting pitcher coming up through the minors but couldn't maintain that role by the time he got to the majors.
Edwards is 34 years old now, and he's listed at 6-foot-3 and 165 pounds. One of his nicknames on Baseball Reference is The String Bean Slinger.
He actually entered professional baseball as a 48th-round pick in the 2011 draft by the Rangers out of Mid-Carolina High School.
Edwards entered the majors in 2015 and pitched five seasons for the Cubs.
He has since pitched for the Washington Nationals, San Diego Padres, Toronto Blue Jays, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Atlanta Braves and the Rangers.
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Edwards began his 2025 season with two outings for the Angels, then pitched two scoreless outings for the Rangers before heading to Mexico.
He has a career 3.56 ERA with 334 strikeouts in 286 innings pitched at the MLB level.
The Mets will try to see what he's got left in the tank.
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