PORT ST. LUCIE — The Mets received a visit from Generation Ex yesterday, and evidently liked what they saw.
Twelve years removed from throwing his last pitch for the Mets, right-hander Jason Isringhausen is back, after agreeing last night to a minor-league contract with the club that carries an invitation to major-league camp.
Earlier in the day, Isringhausen auditioned for Mets special adviser J.P. Ricciardi, whose relationship with the reliever dates more than a decade, when the two were together in Oakland.
Isringhausen, 38, last appeared in the major leagues with the Rays in 2009. After undergoing Tommy John surgery, he appeared in seven games last year at Triple-A for the Reds.
Isringhausen arrived to the Mets in 1995, along with Bill Pulsipher and Paul Wilson, as part of “Generation K.” Isringhausen’s best work came as Cardinals closer in 2004, when he saved 47 games.
“Hopefully I can bring an elder [perspective] to some guys and help out if they need it,” Isringhausen said before his signing yesterday. “This is where it all started. Full circle, so we’ll see what happens.”
He will face plenty of competition for a job in the Mets’ bullpen, but there are few slam dunks on the roster other than Francisco Rodriguez and D.J. Carrasco, who may compete for a starting job.
GM Sandy Alderson viewed Isringhausen as a low-risk proposition.
“We don’t need to be that cautious given the level of investment you would have,” Alderson said. “You have to put yourself in a position to get lucky, and who knows? Luck may have just walked through the door.”
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The surest sign Rodriguez was en route to spring training yesterday: His metallic Lamborghini arrived on a flatbed truck and was placed in parking spot No. 75. . . . Alderson said he didn’t initiate Monday’s chat with Oliver Perez, during which the lefty expressed his desire to be a starter this season.
“Oliver wandered into Terry [Collins’] office when we were in there, so this wasn’t an orchestrated attempt to manage Oliver’s psyche or approach to spring training,” Alderson said. “It was self-motivated on his part. That’s the way I like to approach things, sort of a naturally occurring basis, rather than a schedule of events.”
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Collins is scheduled to officially kick off spring training with a state of the Mets press conference today. The first mandatory workout for pitchers and catchers is tomorrow.