


A potential depth starter for the Mets is now off the market.
Erick Fedde is returning stateside after signing a two-year, $15 million deal with the White Sox, The Post’s Jon Heyman confirmed on Tuesday.
The right-hander, whom the Mets were in the mix for, spent 2023 in the KBO, going 20-6 with a 2.00 ERA and 209 strikeouts against 35 walks in 180 1/3 innings (30 starts) last season for the NC Dinos.
His dominant performance earned him league MVP honors.
Before pitching in South Korea, Fedde, a 2014 first-round selection, spent six seasons with the Nationals, largely as a back-end of the rotation starter, going 21-33 with a 5.41 ERA over 541 1/3 big league innings.
The 30-year-old, who was once one of the Nationals’ top pitching prospects, went 6-13 with a 5.81ERA across 27 starts for Washington in 2022.
While being more known for getting guys out on the ground during his first stint in the majors, Fedde struck out a career-best 10.4 hitters per nine innings while in the KBO last year, holding a 0.954 WHIP.
Fedde told the Washington Post this summer that he changed his approach, using a performance facility to up his game.
“Right as I was getting out of college, it was maybe when the Driveline ideas were just starting to go mainstream, and a lot of people in the sport had negative thoughts around it,” Fedde said. The opinion I heard most was that it was just these guys throwing weighted balls as hard as they could and there wasn’t any pitchability to it. And then I started using some heavy balls this offseason, and it really helped keep my mechanics clean. My shoulder has felt better than ever because of all the stuff I’m doing.”
While the Mets missed out on Fedde, they are also among those in play for Japanese superstar right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
They are also interested in Japanese lefty Shota Imanaga, The Post’s Mike Puma reported Monday.
Imanaga, 30, had a 2.80 ERA over 22 appearances this past season with the Yokohama BayStars.
The Mets previously added former Yankees hurler Luis Severino on a one-year deal to give themselves more rotation depth.