Mets sign LF Daniel Palka to minor league contract

The Mets have signed left fielder Daniel Palka to a minor league contract.

Palka played in 154 MLB games with the Chicago White Sox from 2018-19. 

124 of those came in 2018, where he finished in fifth place in the American League Rookie of the Year voting, behind Shohei Ohtani, Miguel Andujar, Gleyber Torres, and Joey Wendle, and ahead of Ryan Yarbrough.

Palka spent last season with the Washington Nationals' Triple-A affiliate, where he hit .256 with an .836 OPS. He hit 18 homers and drove in 58 runs in 106 games.

He was drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the 19th round of the 2010 MLB Draft. After deciding to go to Georgia Tech, he was a third-round pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013.

He was then traded to the Minnesota Twins and was claimed off waivers by the White Sox two years later before his impressive rookie year.

He was DFA'd after the 2019 season and spent the 2020 season in the KBO league.