The Mets have signed left-hander Joe Jacques to a minor league contract, MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reports. Jacques will receive $800K in prorated salary if he makes New York’s active roster, and he will receive an invitation to the Mets’ Spring Training camp.
The move is a bit of a homecoming for Jacques, who was born in Shrewsbury, New Jersey and played his college ball at Manhattan University. The Mets are the sixth different organization Jacques has played for since he was a 33rd-round pick for the Pirates in the 2018 draft, and the sidearmer’s on-field resume in the majors consists of 29 2/3 innings with the Red Sox and Diamondbacks over the 2023-24 seasons.
All but three of those innings came during Jacques’ 2023 rookie season in Boston. The D’Backs claimed him off waivers in April 2024, giving him exactly one MLB appearance each with Boston and Arizona during the 2024 season. He has since bounced to the Dodgers and Mariners without getting any more time in the Show, as Jacques struggled to a 6.02 ERA over 52 1/3 combined Triple-A innings with both teams’ top affiliates in 2025.
Jacques (who turns 31 in March) is a groundball specialist who has a 61.7% groundball rate in his brief time in the majors. He has steadily increased his strikeout totals during his minor league career, with a respectable 22.3% strikeout rate to show for his 218 1/3 innings at Triple-A. Jacques has had very large platoon splits for much of his minor league career and there was still a sizeable gap within his splits in 2025, though left-handed hitters still did pretty well (.768 OPS) against Jacques while righty swingers crushed him (.885 OPS).
Forty-six different players pitched for New York this season, due to both injuries and Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns’ penchant for acquiring and cycling through a ton of arms. It isn’t surprising to see the Mets get a quick jump on their non-roster invites already, and Jacques figures to be one of many minor league pitching signings for the Amazins as the team tries to figure out its bullpen mix.