The Mets' one-year deal with Rick Porcello became official on Monday, with the team designating reliever Stephen Nogosek for assignment in order to make room on the 40-man roster.

"Rick has been one of the most dependable, durable starters of the last decade," GM Brodie Van Wagenen said in press release. "He is a proven winner who has reached the pinnacle of the sport on both a team level and as an individual with a World Series championship and a Cy Young Award."

Porcello -- who said he grew up a Mets fan and cited team advisor Al Leiter as one of those who was an instrumental part of the process to sign him -- said the Mets were the first team that checked in with him when the offseason started.

"The Mets were the first one that called, even (as) kind of a small gesture because you get so many phone calls that day from different teams checking in," Porcello said. "It was something that kind of put me on alert. I had my eyes set on the Mets entering free agency."

Porcello added that the Mets being in position to win lined up with his goals and cited hometown comfort as another deciding factor.

He also discussed what went wrong on the mound in 2019 and how he'll be able to turn things around in 2020.

"I've got a bunch of things that I've been doing this offseason," Porcello said about what he's working on. "Whether it's drill-work, looking at video and comparing some of the things I've done well to what I wasn't doing well. And making sure that I'm staying on top of that. I started throwing a lot earlier this offseason, using some different drills and mechanical things to help me get my arm up in position a little bit better. Some of those things that really are a big difference in me executing pitches."

Porcello, who turns 31 years old on Dec. 27, had a down year for the Red Sox in 2019, with a 5.52 ERA (4.76 FIP) and 1.39 WHIP in 174.1 IP. That came on the heels of a much stronger 2018 season, where Porcello had a 4.28 ERA (4.01 FIP, 3.87 xFIP) and 1.18 WHIP in 191.1 IP.

During his 11-year career, Porcello has never pitched fewer than 162.2 innings, which includes eclipsing 200 innings three times in the last six seasons.

With Porcello on board, the Mets seemingly have six starting pitchers for five spots, with the recently signed Michael Wacha, Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Marcus Stroman, and Steven Matz rounding out the group.

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