Inside The Mets

Mets hurler making rival team regret offseason dismissal

New York Mets pitcher Griffin Canning is likely causing his former NL East team to lament their handling of him this past offseason.

Grant Young

New York Mets pitcher Griffin Canning (46) throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Chase Field May 5, 2025.
New York Mets pitcher Griffin Canning (46) throws against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the first inning at Chase Field May 5, 2025. / Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Griffin Canning has been a massive asset to the New York Mets to this point in the 2025 season. Few predicted that Canning would ultimately earn himself a spot in New York's rotation during spring training, if only because the Mets already had a crowded starting staff and Canning was fresh off a season where he posted a 5.19 ERA with the Los Angeles Angels, was traded to the Atlanta Braves at the deadline, then never actually pitched in a Braves uniform.

However, Canning was given an opportunity after Sean Manaea, Frankie Montas, and Paul Blackburn all went down before Opening Day — and he has made the most of that opportunity, posting a 5-1 record with a 2.47 ERA across 9 starts (47.1 innings pitched) this year.

What's interesting about Canning is that he essentially fell into the Mets' lap, as he signed a one-year, $4.25 million contract with the club in December 2024, less than a month after he was non-tendered by Atlanta, which was essentially the Braves' way of saying that they didn't want him anymore.

And in a May 20 article from Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller, he explained why he cited "non-tendering Griffin Canning" as the Braves' biggest offseason "mulligan" that they'd likely want to have back.

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"In what was one of the first transactions of the entire MLB offseason, Atlanta traded Jorge Soler to the Angels for Griffin Canning. The Braves proceeded to non-tender Canning a few weeks later, as the initial move was purely a salary dump to get out from under the two years and $26M remaining on Soler's deal," Miller wrote.

"But while Atlanta has been stuck with Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder as 'barely replacement level' options for a combined total of 17 starts, Canning is having the year of his life with the Mets, making it a double whammy for Atlanta."

The Mets' franchise and fan base are certainly happy that their NL East rival discarded Canning so willingly.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers the New York Mets and Women’s Basketball for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco, where he also played Division 1 baseball for five years. He believes Mark Teixeira should have been a first ballot MLB Hall of Fame inductee.

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