Cohen Made the Correct Call on deGrom

In the end, it didn't come down to the dollars but the term. The Mets had a three-year, $120 million offer on the table to keep Jacob deGrom in Queens. That's $40 million per season. That wasn't good enough. So the two-time Cy Young award winner bolted and signed a five-year, $185 million deal with the Texas Rangers last week. At $37 million per season, deGrom traded $3 million in annual salary for an extra two years of job security.

It was a deal Steve Cohen had no choice but to reject. To commit five years to a pitcher who over the last two seasons started a grand total of 26 games and had only two more innings pitched last season than team closer Edwin Diaz would've been insane. The fact that they were willing to go as high as three years is proof that they were serious about retaining deGrom. 

And while I don't begrudge any professional athlete for getting the most money they can, my gut tells me that this is a move deGrom will come to regret, and probably sooner rather than later. The Rangers were one of the worst teams in baseball last season, and even if the righty regains his Cy Young dominance, the prospects of Texas making the postseason next year or any year in the future are remote at best, especially in a division that already has the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners.

So where does this leave the Mets? Fortunately, we didn't have long to wait for an answer. Monday, they replaced deGrom by signing three-time Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander to a two-year $86.6 million contract. A little more than Cohen probably wanted to fork over, but given the circumstances, necessary. Last season, Verlander went 18-4 with a 1.75 ERA for the World Series winning Astros. In 175 innings pitched, he surrendered only 116 hits while striking out 185.

If there's one concern I have here, it's the age at the top of the starting rotation. Verlander will be 40 by the time he takes the mound for the Amazins next season. When paired with 39 year old Max Scherzer, the Mets will have the oldest one-two punch in the big leagues. And given how Scherzer began to break down near the end of the season, Cohen is taking a huge risk here.

Another concern I have is the amount of money being doled out to Verlander and Scherzer. Last season, the Mets had a MLB high team payroll of $251 million. With the Diaz extension, the possible return of Brandon Nimmo, and new contracts for arbitration eligible Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil, that payroll will likely swell to $280 million, of which Verlander and Scherzer will command $86.6 million. That's a lot of up front Benjamin Franklins for a team that still needs a third starter and has a lack of depth in the bullpen. The reason the Astros won the World Series last season was because they had the best and deepest pen in baseball. If Billy Eppler doesn't address this sore spot, the Mets will go out early again in 2023.

But for now, at least, Cohen did what he had to do. He replaced an ace with an ace, albeit, one who's six years older. And he has shown the Mets faithful that he is no Jeff Wilpon. He's willing to spend whatever it takes to make sure this team is a contender. 

Good for him.

Mets Go Out with a Whimper

Some postmortems take longer than others to write. This one took five days. The New York Mets season came to a crashing end Sunday night at the hands of the San Diego Padres at CitiField. They didn't just lose the Wild Card round, they were humbled.

The team with the highest payroll in major league baseball was held to exactly one hit and one walk en route to a 6-0 game three drubbing. And while their bats were stymied, their supposed vaunted starting pitching was lit up like a pinball machine in two of the three games. Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt surrendered a combined 10 earned runs in 8 and 2/3 innings pitched. Scherzer's performance was particularly brutal, given the $43 million annual salary the Mets are paying him. All seven of the earned runs he allowed came via the long ball. He looked like he was throwing batting practice out there.

There's no way to sugar coat what happened. This was an epic fail, pure and simple. Yes, the Mets won 101 games, but their flaws were apparent pretty much all season long. You would've had to be blind not to see them. Inconsistent hitting and a bullpen that, sans Edwin Diaz and Adam Ottavino, was unreliable most nights. Why else do you suppose Buck Showalter brought in Diaz in the 7th inning of game two with a one-run lead? He literally had no one else he could count on.

As I wrote earlier, this is all on Billy Eppler. The GM knew there were holes in both the lineup and bullpen and yet, at the trade deadline, he acquired players who did little more than patch them up. Daniel Vogelbach was the cream of the crop, batting .255 with 6 home runs and 25 RBIs over 55 games, but was virtually useless against lefties. Tyler Naquin was supposed to provide Showlater with badly needed outfield depth, but batted .203 with 4 homers and 13 RBIs in 49 games. Not to be outdone, Darin Ruf literally brought up the rear, batting a putrid .152 with zero HRs and only 7 RBIs in 28 games. For the beleaguered bullpen, Eppler's sole acquisition, Mychal Givens, never got untracked. In 19 appearances, he gave up 24 hits, 6 walks and had an ERA of 4.79. 

So, where does Eppler go from here?

Well, for starters, he has some decisions to make about what to do with several of his own free agents. Even though the Mets had the highest payroll in baseball, it will undoubtedly need go up. How much will depend on who they keep and who they let walk. Let's take them in order.

Jacob deGrom: The two-time Cy-Young award winner missed the second half of last season and the first half of this one. He made $33.5 million in 2022 and was set to make $30.5 in 2023, but elected to opt out of his contract. How high Steve Cohen will go to retain the most popular pitcher the franchise has had since Tom Seaver remains to be seen.

Edwin Diaz: The best closer in baseball made $10.2 million this season and will command a very hefty pay raise over the winter. Cohen must not let him skip town, even if it means overpaying.

Brandon Nimmo: The center fielder was a reliable leadoff hitter this season and has outstanding range. He made only $7 million so Eppler should be able to re-sign him for a manageable number.

Then there are the players who are arbitration eligible.

Pete Alonso: The popular first baseman tied Aaron Judge for the most RBIs in the majors at 131 and made a paltry $7.4 million. Figure around $15 million for 2023 gets it done.

Jeff McNeil: The National League batting champ made only $3 million and, like Alonso, will see his salary double.

Now for the players under contract who are owed increases.

Chris Bassitt: Overall, Bassitt had a good year, but wilted in his last two starts against the Braves and Padres respectively. He made $8.65 million this season and is due to make $19 million in 2023. Eppler could include him in a package for Shohei Ohtani over the winter.

Starling Marte: At $14.5 million, Marte was one of the better signings the Mets have made in quite some time. Even at the $19.5 million he is due to make next season, he is still a good value. I doubt Eppler will move him.

Carlos Carrasco: At best, Carrasco is a fourth starter whose salary will increase from $12 million to $14 million. There are cheaper options out there that Eppler can and must explore over the offseason.

If the Mets can work out a deal for Ohtani, it would behoove them to do so. Ohtani kills two birds with one stone. He gives the Mets a solid power hitter who could smack 35 plus home runs per season and who makes the lineup deeper and less vulnerable to the types of ups and downs that plagued it throughout the season. As solid a season as Alonso had, there were too many times he struggled at the plate. Having Ohtani batting fifth behind him would force pitchers to throw him more strikes.

As a pitcher, Ohtani went 15-9 with 219 strikeouts in 166 innings pitched and a 2.33 ERA on a really bad Angels team. Imagine what he could do on a winning team. He just signed a $30 million contract extension for 2023, so if the Mets do acquire him, they would have to move out some contracts. That's why I think it's very possible that deGrom has pitched his last game as a Met. The money he would command could easily go to Ohtani.

But if there's one thing Eppler must do, it's fix the bullpen. A team with championship aspirations cannot let the likes of Tyler Megill (5.13), Trevor May (5.04) and Joley Rodriguez (4.47) take the mound next season. Showalter desperately needs relievers he can rely on. Just look at the job the Cleveland Guardians pen has done. In four postseason games, it hasn't allowed an earned run.

Bottom line, the way the Mets went out with a whimper will stick in the craw of the fans, as it should. If Cohen is serious about his commitment to make this team a legitimate contender, he needs to prove it. It is simply unacceptable for this franchise to have only two World Series championships in 60 years.

So Much for Control

No, the season did not come to an end Sunday night in Atlanta. The Mets clinched the playoffs two weeks ago in Milwaukee, so there will be at least two postseason games at CitiField after the conclusion of the regular season Wednesday night against the Nationals.

What did come to an end Sunday night is the illusion that this resilient team, which had turned so many heads this season, is a genuine threat to win the World Series.

Let there be no ambiguity about what happened here. The Mets rolled out their top three starters and the Braves treated them like they were rookie league pitchers. Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt collectively surrendered 17 hits and 11 earned runs in 14 and a third innings pitched for a combined 6.91 ERA. For a team built on starting pitching, that's about as ugly as it gets.

And while Seaver, Koosman and Matlock were getting their bells rung by the likes of Dansby Swanson and Matt Olson - both of whom smacked homers in each of the three games - Pete Alonzo and Francisco Lindor were held in check. Neither had so much as a single RBI the entire series.

There are sweeps and then there are beat downs. This was a beat down. The only matchup the Mets won was when Edwin Diaz took the mound in the bottom of the 8th of the third game. He struck one of the two hitters he faced. A small consolation prize in an otherwise abysmal weekend.

So now it's come down to this. If the Mets take two out of three from the Nats they will secure their fourth 100 win season in franchise history. Then they host the San Diego Padres in the Wild Card round starting Friday. 

But before you go reserving your NLDS tickets, it's worth noting that, apart from having home field, there is little evidence that this team is capable of winning a best of three series. Yes, on paper, they should be favorites, but then if paper meant anything at all, the Mets wouldn't have gone a collective 6-8 against the Nats, Marlins, Cubs and A's in September (0-3 against the Cubs). Indeed, the only reason they had a winning record at all last month was because they took six out of seven against the Pirates. And to think, September's schedule was suppose to be a breeze.

Clearly, the loss of Starling Marte took its toll. An already top heavy lineup was made even more so after the right fielder fractured a finger on his right hand September 6. For the last four weeks, Buck Showalter has had to shuffle his hitters around, looking for the right combination, with mixed results. And with Marte doubtful for the playoffs, Buck will have his hands full. The Padres pitching staff may not be able to exploit the advantage; I can assure you the Dodgers staff will.

To some extent, Atlanta might've done the Mets a favor by sweeping them. With the division now gone, Buck is free to set up his pitching rotation the way he wants. deGrom, Scherzer and Bassitt will have a full seven days rest and should be ready to go. The Padres hitters are good but they're not nearly as potent as the Braves. This is the one matchup that actually favors the Mets.

The lion's share of blame for what went wrong must go to Billy Eppler. His trade deadline acquisitions just haven't panned out. Daniel Vogelbach has been ok against righties but dreadful against lefties; Darin Ruff, who was suppose to platoon with Vogelbach, has been an unmitigated disaster; and Tyler Naquin, who was suppose to provide much needed depth in the outfield, of late, has been an automatic out. Had Eppler acquired a legit bat to hit behind Alonso, there's no telling what could've been.

But the lineup wasn't the only area Eppler dropped the ball on. The bullpen, aside from Adam Ottavino and Diaz, has been a sore spot all season long, and yet while the Braves plucked Raisel Iglesias from the Angels, the Mets overpaid to land Mychal Givens. Going into Sunday night's game, Iglesias had a 0.36 ERA as a Brave while Givens had a 5.03 ERA as a Met.

Regardless of what happens over the weekend, Eppler must shore up the bullpen and add a bat. He also has to re-sign Diaz and figure out whether or not to keep deGrom. Both are free agents after the season and will cost an arm and a leg to retain. Steve Cohen will have to pony up some big bucks this winter.

Apologists might argue that going into the 2022 season, most people didn't expect the Mets to be a playoff team, much less a division winner. That may be so, but after leading the Braves most of the year, it will be a bitter pill to swallow if the Braves go on to repeat as champions, especially knowing how well they played against them earlier in the season.

Mets fans are used to being disappointed. This disappointment will sting for a long time.

Mets Have Control of Their Own Destiny

Wednesday night, the New York Mets avoided yet another humiliating loss and pulled out an extra-inning victory over the lowly Miami Marlins at CitiField, thanks to a five-RBI performance by Eduardo Escobar. Coupled with the Washington Nationals extra-inning win over the Atlanta Braves, the Amazins now have a one-game lead in the National League East with six games to go.

Heading into this weekend's three-game series against the Braves in Atlanta, the Mets are in the driver's seat. If they sweep, they clinch the division; if they take two out of three, their magic number would be one; and even if the Braves take two out of three, the Mets, by virtue of a tie-breaker, could still win the division if they sweep the Nationals next week. The only possible way the Mets would lose control of their own destiny is if they themselves got swept. In that event, they would have to sweep the Nats and hope the Marlins do the same to the Braves. Not very likely.

We've been here before. Only a week earlier, the Mets were up two and a half games over the Braves after a 9-2 shellacking of the Oakland A's. All they had to do was sweep that series and take both games against the Marlins and they could've gone into this series needing to win only one game to clinch the division. Then again, if the Mets had swept the Cubs two weeks ago, instead of getting swept, this race would be over by now and Buck Showalter would be setting up his starting rotation for the upcoming NLDS.

But that's water under the bridge. What's done is done. Besides, the Braves have had their own share of missed opportunities in this pennant race. Before they dropped Wednesday night's game to the Nats, they split a four-game series against the struggling Phillies, and a week before that, they lost two out of three to the Giants. Whichever team winds up losing this division will have plenty of time for recriminations during the offseason should it prove costly in the playoffs.

Right now, though, the Mets need to put all that behind them and focus on the series at hand. They have their top three starters going for them. Jacob deGrom has struggled over his last three starts, giving up eleven earned runs in fifteen innings, but dominated the Braves earlier in the season; Max Scherzer has allowed only four hits and one earned run in his last twelve innings; and Chris Bassitt has been the team's most reliable starter all season long. There will be no excuses if the Mets let this opportunity slip through their fingers.

The good news for the Metropolitans is that their offense has come alive of late. Since the Cubs swept them, they've scored four or more runs in eleven of their last twelve games. The other good news is that Edwin Diaz has been lights out all season. If the Mets have a lead going into the ninth inning, they can count on him to seal the deal.

The problem, however, is getting to Diaz. The rest of the relievers, save for Adam Ottavino, have been inconsistent at best. Showalter has done his best trying to navigate through the minefield GM Billy Eppler laid for him. While the Braves fortified their bullpen at the trade deadline, Eppler picked up retread Mychal Givens from the Cubs, who has been a big disappointment. Neither of the starters Showalter has used in middle relief have proven reliable. If deGrom, Scherzer or Bassitt can't go at least six innings, the Mets will be in trouble.

Why is it so important for the Mets to win the division? After all, as the top wildcard, they'd host all three games at CitiField. And based on how the other two wildcard teams are playing, the Mets would be the clear favorites to prevail.

True enough, but winning the division would give them an extra five days off. And that could be critical for Starling Marte. The all-star right fielder suffered a fractured finger on his right hand in a game against the Pirates on September 6 and has been out of the lineup ever since. His absence has forced Showalter to play Tyler Naquin in right. Naquin has been another of Eppler's disappointing trade deadline acquisitions. It's possible Marte might be ready to go by the divisional round. I can't see this team going to the World Series without him.

So, it's come down to this: two of the best teams in baseball battling it out for the National League East division title. It doesn't get any better than that.

Baseball How It Oughta NOT Be

It's time to face facts. The New York Mets are in a slump; the worst slump they've been in all season. After taking two out of three against the National League best Los Angeles Dodgers at CitiField and entering what many consider to be the easiest September schedule of any team in the division, the Amazins' dropped two out of three to the lowly Washington Nationals.

Only a month ago, the Mets were sitting pretty in the NL East. They had just swept the Cincinnati Reds at home and were 73-39, seven games in front of the Atlanta Braves. Since then, they've gone 12-11 and their lead has been whittled down to a mere one game. While the pitching - particularly the bullpen - has been sporadic, it's the hitting that's been problematic.

Over the last 23 games, the Mets have scored a total of 75 runs, for a 3.2 runs per game average. If you think that's bad, when you subtract the 26 runs they scored in the four-game series against the Phillies in Philadelphia, that average goes down to 2.5 runs per game!

There's plenty of blame to go around. For starters, Pete Alonso continues to be susceptible to pitches out of the strike zone. Since hitting home runs in back to games against the Nats and Braves in early August, he has only three home runs and 15 RBIs in his last 30 games. Over a 162 game schedule that would come out to 16 HRs and 81 RBIs. That simply is not good enough.

Next up, Francisco Lindor. The gold glove shortstop has only one home run and four RBIs in his last 18 games. Lindor, on the whole, has had a solid season. Batting third in the lineup, he's been a productive run producer and he's been solid in the field. But like Alonso, he's picked a particularly bad time to go into a slump.

When your top two run producers are struggling to generate runs, it puts extra pressure on the rest of the lineup. And let's be honest, even with Starling Marte and Jeff McNeil having good seasons, we're not exactly talking about the 1927 Yankees here. The acquisitions by Billy Eppler at the trade deadline are turning into pumpkins. Daniel Vogelbach hasn't driven in a run since he smacked a two-run homer at Yankee Stadium on August 22. That's nine games. Tyler Naquin has only two hits and no RBIs in his last 17 games; and Darin Ruff has two hits and one RBI in his last 13 games. The decision not to go big at the trade deadline is coming back to bite this organization.

Throughout much of this season, the secret to the Mets success was their ability to extend at bats and make opposing pitchers work hard, especially in the first inning. No team in the majors has been better at it. Of late, though, Mets hitters have been anything but patient at the plate, swinging at pitches they have no business swinging at and letting opposing pitchers off the hook. That's led to a lot of three up and three down innings, which has forced Buck Showalter to go to his bullpen earlier than he would like to.

With so much going wrong lately, the news that yesterday's game against the Pirates in Pittsburgh was rained out was probably the best thing that could've happened to this team. And if the weather report for tonight proves accurate, the Mets may have consecutive days off for the first time since the Allstar Break. Hopefully they can put the time to good use.

Regardless of what happens tonight, the Mets must find a way out of this funk and fast. The winner of the the National League East will likely earn a first round bye and a ticket to the divisional round, while the loser will have to take its chances in a best of three wild card round.

Why is that significant? Let's assume that the Mets and Braves are tied for first going into the last three games of the regular season. Buck would undoubtedly be forced to use his top three starters in order to clinch the division. And if it works out, he would then be able to rest Jacob deGrom, Max Scherzer and Chris Bassitt and start them in the NLDS. But should the Braves prevail and the Mets wind up as the wild card, Showalter would have a decision to make. Does he start deGrom and Scherzer on short rest or does he go with his fourth and fifth starters? Either way, it's risky. 

That's why it's imperative that the Mets, if they have any hope of advancing deep into the postseason, win the division. Their one lone advantage is their starting rotation, especially the top two, who when they're on, are arguably the best one-two punch in baseball. 

The good news is the Mets are still in first place and between them and the Braves, they have the easier schedule. The bad news is the Braves are clicking on all cylinders while the Mets are sputtering. As of now, if you had to pick a favorite, it would be the Braves.

From this point on, the Mets have to assume their season is on the line, because it is. Alonso and Lindor have to snap out of their funk and start producing. Everything hinges on what those two do. As for Vogelbach, he has to do something other than strike out and ground out, which is what he's been doing a lot of lately. Marte, McNeil and Mark Canha - who's been the most consistent hitter in this lineup - will be just fine. And if Luis Guillorme comes back soon, that will be a tremendous help.

With 27 games left in the regular season, the Mets are 85-50, only 15 wins away from their first 100 win season since 1988. As good as that would be, it still might not be enough to beat out the Braves. 

Time For the Polar Bear to Come Out of Hibernation

Beginning tonight, the New York Mets enter their most important stretch drive since 2015. With a record of 79-46, they currently sit in first place, one and a half games in front of the Atlanta Braves, who, since they got spanked in a five-game series against the Amazins' at CitiField, are 14-2 in their last 16 games.

Meanwhile, since that series, the Mets have gone 9-7 over their last 16, including a two-game sweep at the hands of the Bronx Bombers at Yankee Stadium. I'm sure I don't need to remind the reader what happened last year. August has habitually not been a kind month to the Mets.

The good news? The Mets schedule for the rest of the season isn't all that difficult. In fact, it's pretty damn good. After they host the Colorado Rockies for four games, the Dodgers come to town for three games. After that, the Mets don't play another team with a winning record until September 19, when they head to Milwaukee to play the Brewers. They then play another five games against losing teams before their last series with the Braves in Atlanta. They wrap up the season at home against the Nationals. All told, the combined won-loss record of these losing teams is 197-300. That's a winning percentage of .398. If the Mets can't make some hay with a schedule like that, they don't deserve to be in the postseason, much less advance in it. 

But here's the thing. Even if the Mets play .800 ball against those teams, that still might not be enough to beat out Atlanta for the division. That's because the Braves schedule is almost as good. In fact, the toughest part might be their upcoming three-game set against the Cardinals in St. Louis. As hot as the Braves have been, the Cardinals have been almost as hot. They're 17-5 in the month of August. So if you're the Mets, you're hoping St. Louis can win at least two out of three.

So what do the Mets have to do to right their ship?

It all comes down to the 800 pound gorilla in the room. Pete Alonso has been in a funk the last few weeks. The cleanup hitter has hit only one home run in his last twenty games and has only four for the month of August. That is simply not good enough. Almost as bad as his lack of power is the fact that he's falling into old habits by swinging at pitches out of the strike zone. He is particularly susceptible to pitches that are low and away. There isn't a pitcher in the majors who doesn't know how to pitch to Alonso and the more he continues to swing at those pitches, the longer he will be in a slump.

If Alonso is looking for a way out of his doldrums, he might want to start taking notes from Mark Canha. The left fielder has been on a tear of late; during the ten-game road trip, in which he played in nine, Canha hit .417, with ten hits - seven for extra bases - in twenty-four at bats. Three of those extra base hits were home runs. Think about it. Over his last nine games, Canha has hit only one less homer than Alonso has hit for the entire month.

The difference between the two players could not be more apparent. Canha, though not nearly the player Alonso is, is far more disciplined at the plate. He looks for his pitch and isn't afraid to take a strike if it's not the pitch he wants. Conversely, Alonso will often reach for a pitch that he knows is out of the strike zone. As a result, he either strikes out or grounds out. Every once in a while he manages to get just enough of the ball to get one by the infielders for a single, and he's even managed to draw the rare walk or two.

For a Mets team that isn't exactly blessed with an over abundance of power to begin with, that won't do. As good as Francisco Lindor and Daniel Vogelbach have been - and they have been solid, particularly Lindor who is having a career year both at the plate and in the field - without Alonso's bat, they have no chance at the division. The way this lineup works is that Alonso carries the bulk of the load; the rest of the hitters compliment him. If he becomes an easy out - like he has of late - then the whole team struggles to score runs, as they did in three of the four games in Atlanta and both games in the Bronx. In multiple situations during the road trip, Alonso came up with men in scoring position. Only twice - game three in Atlanta and game one in Philly - did he come through.

Something has to give. Either hitting coach Eric Chavez can somehow get through to him or manager Buck Showalter has to move him down in the lineup. With the Mets only two games up on the Braves in the loss column, they cannot afford to let his slump continue to plague the offense. Maybe batting fifth or sixth will take some of the pressure off Pete. One thing's for certain: the status quo is unacceptable. This isn't April or May, it's late summer and the heat is on.

Yes, the bullpen could be deeper, but it is what it is. Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Chris Bassitt are about as automatic as any starters in the game. And when Carlos Carrasco comes back in late September, Buck will have himself one helluva starting rotation going into the playoffs. But the sixty-four thousand dollar question that remains to be answered is whether the Mets will go in as a division winner or a wildcard. Right now, it's 50 / 50 at best.

Look, all players - even the great ones - go through slumps from time to time. And without exception, all of them snap out of it. It's time for Pete Alonso to snap out of his slump and be the leader this team needs.

It's time for the polar bear to come out of hibernation.

Mets Put On a Clinic and School the Braves

Sometimes stats can be a little misleading, and sometimes they can nail it on the head. When it comes to the 2022 New York Mets, clearly it's a case of the latter. Don't believe me, just ask the Atlanta Braves, last year's World Series winner. In 12 games against the champs this season, the Amazins are 8-4, 4-1 in their last five. 

The Mets put on a clinic in these five games. They outscored Atlanta 31-22. Mets starters had a better ERA than Braves starters: 4.68 to 6.75, and that was with game-two starter Taijuan Walker getting lit up for eight runs in the first two innings. Even the Mets relievers - which I still contend is a concern that could undermine their postseason aspirations - were better than their Braves counterparts: 4.05 to 5.29; though I suspect a lot of that had to do with Edwin Diaz's three stellar appearances in which he didn't allow a run and struck out seven in 3 and 2/3 innings.

Bottom line, the Mets were simply the better team in this series. Their top stars outperformed the Braves top stars. They out hustled Atlanta on the base paths and played much better defense. The Mets made every big play there was to be made in this series; even the trade deadline acquisitions that Bill Eppler brought in made significant contributions. This team can hit, it can pitch and it can play defense. And with Jacob deGrom now back in the starting rotation and pitching as if he never left, they are going to frustrate opposing teams the rest of the way.

These aren't the 2021 Mets; not by a long shot. That team collapsed in August and wound up in third place with a record of 77-85. Not only aren't these Mets wilting, as Ethan Sears of The New York Post writes, they're getting better. At 70-39, they are tied with the hated Yankees for the second best record in major league baseball. Only the L.A. Dodgers have more wins. They are 12-2 in their last 14 games; they lead the Braves by six and a half games - seven in the loss column. And with the lowly Cincinnati Reds coming to town to begin a three-game set, the Mets are in excellent position to build on that lead.

There are many reasons for the success of this team. They are deeper than last year's team, that's for sure. Starling Marte and Mark Canha have been valuable additions and have vastly improved an outfield that was average at best last year. Chris Bassitt has been an excellent pitcher all season long and has a 2.52 ERA over his last eight starts. With deGrom and Scherzer serving as a one-two punch, he rounds out the best starting trio in the National League. Eduardo Escobar and Luis Guillorme make for an excellent platoon at third base, and Jeff McNeil has rediscovered his hitting stroke while playing a solid second base. After a woeful first year, Francisco Lindor has become the player the Mets were hoping he'd be when they acquired him from Cleveland. And as for Alonso, the Polar Bear, as he is affectionally known, is leading the National League in RBIs with 95.

But by far the biggest reason for the Mets success this season has been the re-emergence of Edwin Diaz as an elite relief pitcher. Since his arrival from Seattle, along with Robinson Cano, he has struggled to regain the form that made him the best closer in baseball in 2018. This year he's been lights out for the Mets, saving 26 of 28 save opportunities and posting a league-best 1.39 ERA. In a best of seven series, with Scherzer, deGrom and Bassitt starting and Diaz coming out of the pen, this team will be very tough to beat come October.

And there will be an October for this team. It isn't bravado, or cockiness. This team believes in itself, and with each passing game they are making believers out of skeptics. Even when they fell behind 8-0 in game two against Atlanta, they refused to give up. They scratched and clawed their way back into the game. And if Ronald Acuna doesn't rob Pete Alonso of a two-run homer, and if third-base coach Joey Cora doesn't foolishly challenge center fielder Michael Harris's arm with the bases loaded, the Mets might've swept all five games against the Braves. Think about that.

Credit Buck Showalter for the way in which this team comports itself both on and off the field. They play the game they way it's supposed to be played; the way it used to be played: executing both offensively and defensively. They extend at bats better than any team in baseball. Three of the five Atlanta starters never made it out of the fifth inning, that's how patient and disciplined the Mets hitters were at the plate. 

The fact is this team doesn't beat itself; it's one of the reasons why they haven't gone through a prolonged slump. The outfielders hit the cutoff man, the pitchers cover first base, ground balls are run out. Despite being in the middle of the pack in home runs, they are third overall in runs scored. That doesn't happen by accident. And to think, George Steinbrenner fired this man after the 1995 season.

Look, there's still a lot of baseball yet to be played; anything can happen. But for the Flushing faithful things are looking up.

Memo To Steve Cohen: Get Soto!

Let me first just go on record right now and say that the salaries of major league baseball players these days are completely out of control and insane. There's simply no justification for them. None. Seriously, when a ballplayer who's barely hitting his weight is making $10 to $15 million a year, and a family of four has to scrape together $300 to $400 to watch him play in person, there's something profoundly wrong with America's national pastime.

The sport I grew up loving has been irrevocably harmed over the last couple of decades by greed. The stars always took center stage, but there was at least a grudging acknowledgment that they owed, if not their fame, than certainly their wealth to the patrons who frequented the ballparks or watched them from the comfort of their home. The money didn't grow on trees, that much they knew.

Those days are long gone. Today's professional athletes act as if the money that shows up in their checking accounts comes from some magical printing press. They are oblivious to the long-term consequences their bloated salaries are causing, not just to their own integrity, but to the integrity of the very game itself.

It is a system that is unsustainable, and deep down everyone knows it. Sooner or later, the breaking point will be reached. Fans will simply stop coming out to the ballpark; they won't be able to afford it anymore. The Law of Elasticity will eventually kick in and have the last laugh with these athletes. It is inevitable.

But it will not happen this year, nor is it likely to for several years to come. For the time being, baseball remains a top heavy sport in which the richest franchises have a built-in advantage over their poorer counterparts. Without a salary cap to constrain them, like the NHL, NFL and NBA currently have, baseball owners are ostensibly allowed to spend like drunken sailors on a three-day pass. 

And one of those drunken sailors - Steve Cohen - happens to have the wherewithal to buy his own fleet of ships if he prefers. George Steinbrenner ain't got nothing on this guy. The Mets owner has already gone full bore on contracts for Francisco Lindor and Max Scherzer to the tune of $341 million and $130 million respectively; the former over ten years, the latter over three. And he's made it abundantly clear to his general manager Billy Eppler, that there's more where that came from should the opportunity to improve the roster present itself. Mets fans haven't been this giddy since they heard the Wilpons were selling the team.

That is certainly good news to Juan Soto, currently playing right field for the Washington Nationals. Since the Nats decided to go into full rebuild mode, their home park has resembled a morgue. The 23 year-old phenom has made it abundantly clear he wants out and just rejected a 15-year $440 million offer that was heavily backloaded to stay in Washington. That means he is officially on the trade block.

Let's cut to the chase. There are maybe three or four teams that can afford to sign Soto. The Mets, the Yankees and the Dodgers are the top three, and the Phillies are the fourth, but owner John Middleton may have over-extended himself a bit in Philly. Plus, he's already got plenty of hitting; it's his pitching that sucks. The Dodgers, after pilfering Freddie Freeman from the Atlanta Braves, had to defer $57 million of the $162 million they are paying him over six years. I doubt they have the resources to reel in a fish as big as Soto.

That means it's between the Mets and the Yankees. The Bronx Bombers have for decades been the big spenders in town. While the Metropolitans had to be content to eat chop steak, the Yankees were dining on Filet Mignon. But now, for the first time in their respective histories, it's the National League franchise whose pockets appear to be deeper. Let's not forget that Cohen was willing to write off $45 million of his own money just to rid the team of Robinson Cano's contract. You know any other owners who have that kind of disposable income?

And the Yankees may have a much bigger problem than just Steve Cohen's ego to contend with. Their mega star Aaron Judge rejected a contract offer that would've paid him $30.5 million a year over seven years. He will become a free agent after the season. The bidding for his services will start at $400 million for ten years. And I do mean start. It could go as high as half a billion. With Gerrit Cole and Giancarlo Stanton already making $36 million and $29 million a year respectively, not even George himself would have the stomach to take on another big contract.

Which leaves the Mets in the driver's seat, as it were. All that's needed to bring Soto to Flushing is a) for  Eppler to be willing to part with the top prospects in the system, including Francisco Alvarez, as well as one or two position players on the team, and b) for Cohen to remember to bring his check book with him.

That's it: the richest franchise in baseball with the prospects available to make this a done deal. Cohen would be nuts not to do it. And as for the argument that Soto isn't worth that kind of money, who is? Is Lindor worth $341 million? Is Scherzer worth $130 million? Will Judge be worth $450 million? Don't be ridiculous; no one is worth that kind of money. But like it or not, that is what they are fetching these days.

The truth is if Scott Boras tells Steve Cohen that the price to ensure Juan Soto will be patrolling right field for the Mets for the next 15 years is $500 million, then that's the price. Cohen has the money, he just has to pony it up. Imagine a lineup with Lindor, Soto and Pete Alonso in it, and a pitching rotation with Scherzer and Jacob deGrom at the top.

With the exception of the 1980s, the Mats have played second fiddle to the Yankees. With Steve Cohen at the helm, they finally have a chance to buy the whole fucking orchestra. Excuse me if I don't seem overly concerned about appearances right now.

As for the tab, don't worry about it. Tomorrow will get here soon enough.

Steve Cohen Finally Reels in a Big Fish

Look, did the Mets overpay for Max Scherzer? In a word, yes. 

Why? Because they're the Mets, that's why. They had to beat out the Dodgers who, truth be told, are a lot closer to winning a World Series than the Flushing Orange and Blue. So when Los Angeles offered Scherzer $40 million per year, Steve Cohen had to up the ante to $43.3 mill to close the deal.

Was he worth it? That depends on whether Cohen's offseason spending splurge is over or whether it's just getting started. Because even with a starting rotation that features Jacob deGrom and Scherzer at the top, there are still plenty of question marks for this organization.

For starters, who's going to be the closer? Edwin Diaz has one more year left on his contract and has yet to establish himself as a reliable closer with this team. At times he's been light's out; at others he's been lit up like a Christmas tree. No matter how great your starting rotation is, if your bullpen can't protect the lead, you're not going to be successful. And it's not just Diaz that is a cause of concern. The middle relievers by the end of the season had clearly been overworked. If the starters can't pitch into at least the 7th inning, the Mets are going to find themselves in the same predicament as last season.

And speaking of starters, the Mets still don't know what they can expect from Carlos Carrasco, Taijuan Walker and David Peterson. Carrasco was on the IL most of last season, and when he wasn't he was hardly what you would call major league caliber. Walker had an outstanding first half of the season, then crashed and burned the second half. And Peterson is still a work in progress. With Noah Syndergaard defecting to the Los Angeles Angels for $23 mill and Marcus Stroman practically out the door himself, this is very top heavy rotation. And keep in mind, we still don't know if the physical ailments that plagued deGrom most of last season will return in 2022. If they do, Scherzer might be the only legit starter on this staff.

Starling Marte, Eduardo Escobar and Mark Canha are all quality signings and represent upgrades over the players the Mets had at those positions, but none are what could be considered elite. Marte was once viewed as one of the best center fielders in the game not that long ago. And while his numbers have tailed off a bit since his days with the Pittsburgh Pirates, he managed to hit 12 homers, drive in 55 runs and bat over .300 with the Miami Marlins and the Oakland A's last season. If he can replicate that performance this season in Queens, the Mets will be very happy with him. 

With Javier Baez signing with the Detroit Tigers, second base is now up for grabs. Do the Mets go with a tandem of Jeff McNeil and Robinson Cano, or do they buy out Cano's contract, trade McNeil and sign a replacement? And with Michael Conforto turning down their qualifying offer to become a free agent, the Mets will also need a new right fielder. In other words, don't put that check book away just yet, Stevie.

And we still don't know who's going to manage this team. New GM Billy Eppler, who in his five years with the Angels did not have a single winning season, will be tasked with finding someone who can take this team to the next level. Good luck with that. Quality managers don't grow on trees.

So, yes, the Scherzer signing was huge and well worth it. Kudos to Cohen for ponying up the big bucks. But there's a lot more work that needs to be done before this team is ready to contend for the National League East, let alone the World Series.

Mets Will Win, If...

Going into their first World Series in 15 years, the New York Mets are slight favorites over the Kansas City Royals. The reason comes down to starting pitching. Put succinctly, the Mets have a huge advantage here. All four of their starters have extremely impressive ERAs, much more impressive than the Royals.

In fact, when you break it down, both teams are fairly close everywhere else. Both have impressive lineups that can inflict damage on the other team's pitching; though, as we shall see, each do it differently. And both clubs have solid closers in their bullpen. But it's their starters that give the Mets the edge and why many feel they should prevail in the Series.

Yet I remain cautiously optimistic. Why? Because until now the Mets' starters haven't been truly tested. The Dodgers' lineup was, well, a joke. At best, there were maybe two or three legitimate hitters on it. The Cubs' lineup was built around the home run. They mauled the Cardinals in the divisional series. Against the more potent arms of the Mets, they wilted.

The Royals won't go away so quietly. While they can hit the occasional home run, they much prefer to smack the ball around to all areas of the park. They took apart the Blue Jays' pitching in the previous series. They can test a pitching staff like few lineups can.

This presents a huge problem for the Mets, especially their likely game two starter, Jacob deGrom. On two occasions deGrom was on the ropes in this post season: game five against the Dodgers and game three against the Cubs. He fell behind early and ofen and put his team in trouble. His pitch count was extremely high through the first four innings of both games. What saved him was the inability of both the Dodgers and Cubs to capitalize on their opportunities.

If the same thing should happen to him against the Royals, it will cost him this time. DeGrom won't be the beneficiary of either a lousy hitting team or a sloppy and undisciplined one. Kansas City's lineup is patient enough to wait him out and make him throw a hittable strike. Also, since they don't strike out a lot, deGrom will have to entice the Royals' hitters to hit 'em where they are rather than where they ain't.

With that in mind, it becomes imperative that game one starter Matt Harvey win the opener. Harvey is for all intents and purposes the most complete starter the Mets have. If they are to win the Series, Harvey must win his games. Period.

Also, Terry Collins will have to get solid performances from his bullpen. And that means more than just Jeurys Familia. At some point Tylor Clippard and Addison Reed are going to be on the mound and both must come through. Expecting these young starters to go eight innings each game is way too much to ask.

So there you have it. The Mets will win if both Jacob deGrom and Matt Harvey win their games and if the bullpen holds up. If either falters, it will be another close but no cigar year for the Amazins.

Prediction: Mets in six.