Velocity has a way of keeping a pitcher employed, even when the résumé feels unfinished.
That reality helps explain why the New York Mets keep circling the margins of the pitching market, adding arms that most fans will never notice until a box score forces them to. Tyler Burch was announced earlier in the week. The list did not stop there.
According to Mets insider Mike Mayer, the organization has also signed veteran right-hander Ofreidy Gomez to a minor league deal, another low-risk swing in an offseason defined by depth building rather than splash.
Why the Mets Keep Making These Moves
Gomez does not arrive with hype, but he arrives with something teams never stop chasing. His fastball has touched 99 mph, and this winter he backed it up with real results in the Dominican Winter League. A 2.77 ERA and 22 strikeouts in just 13 innings is enough to get noticed, especially when paired with raw velocity.
The Mets are not pretending this is a finished product. They are betting on the one trait that can not be taught.
Gomez is 30 years old and very much a baseball lifer. He has logged nearly 700 innings across the minors, carrying a 4.53 ERA that tells the story of a pitcher who has bounced between levels without ever fully sticking. His last affiliated action came in 2023, after which he took his arm on the road, pitching for Queretaro and Los Mochis in Mexico and for Licey in the Dominican Republic.
That path matters. Winter ball is not a retirement tour. It is often where pitchers rediscover shape, confidence, or simply feel. For Gomez, the stuff appears to be alive again.
The Velocity Bet
Any pitcher who can flirt with triple digits earns at least a conversation. For the Mets, that conversation likely starts in minor league camp and continues only if Gomez buys into the grind.
Velocity alone does not solve command issues, sequencing problems, or secondary pitch inconsistency. The Mets know this. What they also know is that 99 mph plays differently when paired with even modest improvement elsewhere.
This is where the organization has quietly changed under its current leadership. The Mets are no longer just collecting arms. They are collecting traits. Fastballs with life. Spin that can be shaped. Profiles that might survive in shorter bursts if starting does not work.
Gomez fits that mold cleanly.
A Depth Play With Long-Term Value
The most realistic outcome is not Queens. It is Syracuse.
If Gomez accepts the assignment and sticks past spring training, the Mets hope he can soak up quality Triple-A innings. That alone has value. Pitching depth disappears fast over a 162-game season, and teams that survive August often do so because someone unexpected covered innings in May and June.
There is also a longer view here. Injuries will happen. They always do. By 2026, the Mets could be searching for power arms who can step into low-leverage bullpen roles or spot starts without blinking. A pitcher who throws 98 to 99 mph and has lived through multiple leagues is not intimidated by that moment.
This is how contenders are built on the margins.
The Bigger Picture in Queens
The Mets have made more than their share of these signings in recent days, and that is not an accident. They are treating pitching depth like inventory. Stock it now. Sort it later.
Most of these names will never matter. One might.
Gomez is a reminder that baseball development does not move in straight lines. Sometimes it loops through winter ball, comes back with better life on the fastball, and earns one more chance.
For the Mets, it is a simple wager. When a pitcher throws 99, you listen.
Gomez is yet to make his MLB debut. Maybe that can change with the Mets. It will all depend on him and how good an impression he makes in the spring.