Mets sign wild-haired left-hander who once had ‘neon green’ locks

The Mets agreed to a $28 million, two-year deal with free agent left-hander Sean Manaea early Sunday morning, The New York Post reported. The deal includes a player opt-out after the 2024 season.

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Manaea joins a rebuilt rotation that now includes ex-Yankee Luis Severino, who signed for $13 million, and Adrian Houser, who was acquired in a trade with the Milwaukee Brewers. Jose Quintana is another left-hander expected to be in the rotation, with lefties David Peterson and Joey Lucchesi also candidates.

Manaea, 31, is probably best known for his wild and varied hair styles — from mutton chops to flowing curling locks to badly managed dye jobs — which he discussed in 2022 with the San Diego Union Tribune:

“So my hair has been on quite a journey. I’ve had a lot of different hairstyles over the years. Growing up, my mom would never let me grow my hair out. So I was always combover, clean cut, all that stuff. And then I got to the (Kansas City) Royals and it was kind of the same thing. Even in college you had to be clean cut. So I could never grow my hair out, you know? But then I got to Oakland, and it was like, we don’t really care, just go out and play. Nice! So for my debut, I had long hair. And then I had a couple bad starts and cut it off. I’ve gone from long hair to shaving it, then I grew it out again, then I had cornrows. Cut that and then dyed it blonde just to see what it was going to be like. I had never dyed my hair before, so it turned out a tennis ball color. Like neon green. And I was like, okay, this is not what you were going for. So we made it a little bit darker, then it turned green. But then it faded to blonde after a week. So I had blonde hair right before quarantine. And then I shaved my head in May 2020 and I haven’t cut it since.”

In April 2018, Manaea pitched the first no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox in 25 years in a 3-0 win with the Oakland Athletics. He struck out 10, walked two and threw 108 pitches to capture Oakland’s first no-hitter since Dallas Braden tossed a perfect game against Tampa Bay in 2010.

Last season, Manaea — who spent six seasons with the Athletics and one each with the Padres and Giants — was used mostly in relief by the Giants after posting a 7.85 ERA in April. Overall, he was 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA last year.

He is 65-56 with a 4.10 ERA over his career, which includes 166 starts in 196 appearances.

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