New York Mets fans, your long regional nightmare is over. After 79 mostly ineffective appearances over the past two years, right-handed reliever Ryota Igarashi will pitch elsewhere in 2012, according to a Thursday report from ESPN New York's Adam Rubin. The 32-year-old Igarashi will be a free agent due to a clause in his contract that allows him to become such if he and the Mets could not agree on a deal at the end of his two-year, $3 million contract.
Igarashi pitched 69 innings for the Mets and allowed a 5.74 ERA while going 5-2. Though he put together a strong stretch during the middle of July this year after tweaking his splitter, the reliever hit a rut and allowed eight runs in 11 innings during August. His interpreter, Michael Peters, became a popular subject for profile pieces within the New York media.
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