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.

Did Buck Showalter Just Tip His Hand?

It was Vince Lombardi who once famously said, "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing." Of course, Lombardi lifted the phrase from Red Sanders, the legendary UCLA Bruins football coach. It might very well be the most quoted phrase in all of sports, right up there with, "The best defense is a good offense," which traces its roots all the way back to, if you can believe it, George Washington.

The bottom line is this: we celebrate the winners in this country and quickly forget the losers. If you don't believe me, recite, in order, all the teams that have LOST the Super Bowl - without looking it up. Go ahead, I'll wait.

Buck Showalter is quite aware of what happened last season. The Mets entered the month of August five games up on the Atlanta Braves in the NL East, only to fade like a cheap pair of jeans in the dog days of summer. Going into last night's game, the Amazins were up three and half games over the Braves - four in the loss column. Would this be a case of, to quote the late, great Yogi Berra, "deja vu all over again?" Buck was determined to do everything possible to ensure it wouldn't.

Which explains his decision to go with his closer Edwin Diaz to get the last six outs of the game when his set-up man Adam Ottavino could've pitched the 8th inning. He had allowed a run on two hits in the 7th, narrowing the Mets lead to 6-4. At one point, they were comfortably ahead 5-0. A Braves comeback in front of the hometown faithful was something that had to be avoided at all costs. Even if it meant Diaz would be unavailable for tonight's game. 

But Showalter's decision to have his closer pitch two innings might have inadvertently revealed something else about his thinking that should be far more worrisome to Mets fans. Apart from Diaz, there isn't a single relief pitcher he can trust to protect a lead.

Consider what happened in Washington. The Nationals scored a total of three earned runs in 18 and 2/3 innings against Max Scherzer, Jacob deGrom and Chris Bassitt. But against the bullpen, they scored nine earned runs in just 7 and 1/3 innings. And all of those runs, mind you, were scored after Juan Soto and Josh Bell were dealt to the San Diego Padres. That's right: against a lineup that had almost as many Triple A hitters as it did major league hitters, the vaunted Mets bullpen was lit up like a pinball machine. What do you suppose a team like the Braves would do to it?

Now you know why so many baseball analysts were scratching their heads when the Mets only added one reliever at the trade deadline. Seriously, if you think that the acquisition of Mychal Givens and the return of Trevor May from the IL is going to intimidate teams like the Braves, Dodger or Padres, you've taken one too many leaps off the Pepsi Porch. Yes, I know it's now called the Coca Cola corner, but Pepsi Porch just sounds better.

Here's the thing: Buck Showalter knows he has arguably the best starting rotation in baseball. He knows he has a pretty deep lineup capable of putting up a lot of runs. But even with all that, he also knows that this team will go only as far as Edwin Diaz takes it. And now, thanks to him tipping his hand last night, the entire National League knows it too.

Did the Mets Just Blow the NL East?

Are the Mets a better team today than they were before the trade deadline? Yes.

Are they as good as they could've been? Unfortunately no.

For the record, the moves Billy Eppler made were all solid pickups. J.D. Davis for Darin Ruf was a no-brainer. Davis has looked lost at the plate all season, while Ruf has been solid against lefties. He will platoon at DH with fellow trade acquisition Daniel Vogelbach, who has a pretty good average against righties. The addition of Mychal Givens to a beleaguered bullpen will come in handy in the dog days of August and September. And Tyler Naquin will provide much needed depth in the outfield. Gone are the days when Dominic Smith (.194) and Travis Jankowski (.164) were the only options available to Buck Showalter off the bench.

But here's the painful truth: Eppler failed to acquire the big bat this team desperately needs. Face it, once you get passed Starling Marte (.300, 11 HRs, 47 RBIs), Francisco Lindor (.261, 19 HRs, 74 RBIs) and Pete Alonso (.276, 27 HRs, 86 RBIs), there isn't one hitter in this lineup who puts the fear of God into an opposing pitcher. Mark Canha is a nice enough player with modest power; Jeff McNeil hits for a higher average but has even less power; and the Ruf / Vogelbach platoon is adequate at best. Luis Guillorme can't hit lefties and Eduardo Escobar can't hit righties. And whoever Showalter puts behind the plate is as close to an automatic out as there is in baseball. 

Look, I get it. The Mets weren't going to gut their farm system just to land Juan Soto. And even if they had been willing, no way the Nationals were going to trade him to a division rival. It's bad enough they have to see Max Scherzer staring back at them from the Mets dugout nineteen times during the season. Imagine the torment Soto could inflict upon them for the next decade and a half.

But even if Soto was nothing more than a pipe dream, it's hard to imagine Eppler couldn't have found someone better than Ruf, Vogelbach or Naquin out there. The Cubs were looking to move both Willson Contreras and Ian Happ. Contreras is a catcher who has 14 homers on the season, and when he's not behind the plate can easily DH, while Happ is a switch-hitter who can play both left field and third base. Who would you rather see batting behind Alonso? Contreras or a platoon of Ruf and Vogelbach?

I know it takes two to tango, and given that the Cubs were unable to find a trade partner for either Contreras or Happ, we can assume that their demands were too high. But for a fanbase that's grown accustomed to the Mets playing second fiddle in this town, it would've been nice to see them go all in, even if Eppler had to overpay. The 64 wins they had going into August represented the most wins the franchise has had at this point in the season since that magical year of 1986. It would be nothing short of gross negligence if this opportunity is wasted.

With the return of Jake deGrom, the Mets have arguably the best starting rotation in all of baseball. But after Edwin Diaz and Adam Ottavino, their bullpen is still too thin. And their lineup, with the exception of the aforementioned Marte, Lindor and Alonso, isn't nearly as potent as the Braves, Dodgers or Padres, who after acquiring Soto, Josh Bell and Brandon Drury are now a legit threat to win the World Series.

Are they good enough to make the postseason? Probably. But their odds of winning the division and avoiding the wildcard round took a serious hit this week.

Here's How the NHL Can Fix Its LTIR Embarrassment

By now it's become something of a punch line within the ranks of NHL front office executives. Need more cap space? Simple, just put one of your players on long-term injured reserve. Problem solved.

It worked so well for the Tampa Bay Lightning that they tried it twice. At the start of the 2020-21 season, GM Julien BriseBois placed Nikita Kucherov and his $9.5 million cap hit on LTIR for the entire regular season, thus allowing the Lightning to be under the salary cap.  But once the postseason began, Kucherov made a remarkable recovery. I don't know what's in the water down in Tampa, but ole Kuch led his team in scoring with 32 points in 23 playoff games.

During the ensuing offseason, BriseBois decided he couldn't count on one of his players coming down with a strong case of injuritis so he traded Tyler Johnson and his $5 million cap hit to the Chicago Blackhawks for Brent Seabrook, who, by the way, hasn't played an NHL game since midway thru the 2019-20 season and whose career, for all intents and purposes, is likely over. Seabrook, in case you're wondering, carries a cap hit of $6.875 million, all of which goes on, you guessed it, LTIR.

Now you know why BriseBois is the best GM in the league, as far as I'm concerned. No other executive manipulates the system as brilliantly as he does, all with the tacit approval of the suits who work at 1185 Sixth Avenue, New York, NY. 

Well, almost no one. Kelly McCrimmon of the Vegas Golden Knights borrowed a page out of BriseBois's playbook over the summer when he traded Evgeni Dadonov and his $5 million cap hit to the Montreal Canadiens for Shea Weber. Like Seabrook, Weber hasn't played in at least a year, which means his entire $7.85 million cap hit goes on LTIR. When the Golden Knights traded for Jack Eichel last season, Eichel was on LTIR. In order to activate him, McCrimmon was forced to move Mark Stone to LTIR. Talk about musical chairs.

If this charade weren't so embarrassing, it would be comical. The NHL, in its infinite lunacy, has not only failed to close a loophole in its LTIR policy; it is giving a wink and a nod to teams that are ostensibly gaming the system in order to get a leg up on their rivals. As for the damage such ambivalence is causing to the league's reputation, well we are, after all, talking about the NHL: the only professional sport in North America that still tolerates fighting and allows its top stars to be mauled, all to appease a fanbase that looks upon the Broadstreet Bullies as the Golden Era of Hockey.

If the NHL really wanted to fix its LTIR embarrassment, these are the steps I would immediately consider implementing.

1. The LTIR would be eliminated altogether. In its place, each team would be allowed to carry a reserve fund of $10 million to be used to replace players who sustain season-ending injuries. If, for example, the Rangers were to lose the services of Artemi Panarin for the season, Chris Drury would have upwards of $10 million to spend on a replacement without having to worry about going over the salary cap.

Teams would also be permitted to use part of that reserve fund to acquire players they feel would improve their team. However, for every dollar spent on one of those players, two dollars would be subtracted from the fund. For instance, if the Rangers wanted to acquire Patrick Kane from the Chicago Blackhawks at 50 percent retention, they would use up the entire $10 million reserve fund plus be on the hook for the remaining $250,000. They also would be shit out of luck if one of their players went down for the season.

See how this works? The league gives each team the same amount of money to work with and says to them, use this money as you see fit. Those who know how to spend their money responsibly will flourish; those who don't will suffer. But the shenanigans will finally be over.

Since I don't for a minute believe Gary Bettman and the Board of Governors will ever agree to this, let's proceed to the following steps.

2. Any player that goes on LTIR during the season must be activated at least five games PRIOR to end of the regular season in order to be eligible for the postseason. If a team does not have sufficient cap space to accommodate the return of said player than it must create that space by moving another player or players off its active roster. If the salary cap is $83.5 million during the regular season, it's $83.5 million during the playoffs. In other words, the Kucherov maneuver is now kaput.

3. A player who is on LTIR cannot be traded either during or after the season. In order to be traded, that player must be eligible to play the moment the trade is consummated. Trading contracts simply to get cap relief will no longer be allowed.

4. To avoid any ambiguity as to what constitutes eligibility, the player in question must have played in at least five games during the regular season and be examined by a league physician prior to the trade. He also cannot be placed on LTIR immediately upon his acquisition. In other words, no more "Gee, he was healthy when he got here and now, look at him, he can't play" horse shit. Either you're eligible to play or you're not.

5. Teams that violate this new league policy will be subject to any or all of the following: 

• The full amount of the cap hit will be subtracted from the team's salary cap the following season.
• The team will lose the services of said player for the entirety of the playoffs.
• The team will forfeit a draft pick or picks to be determined by the Commissioner's office.

Wow, that's pretty strict. You bet your ass it's strict. And it will send a message loud and clear to every general manager throughout the league. If you can't manage your cap, get a new job.

I submit that the vast majority of teams will have no problem complying. Teams like Tampa Bay and particularly Vegas, who are still over the cap and have only 16 players on the active roster, are going to have to rethink how they conduct their business.

The bottom line is that this has become an eyesore that the NHL can no longer afford to ignore. The powers that be have got to put an end to it.

Drury Needs To Lock Up Lafreniere ASAP!

While we "patiently" wait for Kaapo Kakko to come back from wherever he is and sign his extension, believed to be a two-year bridge deal worth between $2 and $2.5 million, another ticking time bomb is one year away from possibly going off.

Let me put this as plainly as I can. Chris Drury cannot afford to let Alexis Lafreniere become an RFA next summer. If that happens, if Lafreniere hits the free agent market, there is absolutely no doubt that a team will sign him to an offer sheet. You can bet the ranch on it; in fact, you can bet every ranch in the state of Texas and Montana on it.

How do I know this? Because Jesperi Kotkaniemi was the third overall pick of the Montreal Canadiens in 2018 and after his entry-level contract was over, the Carolina Hurricanes signed him to a one-year, $6.1 million offer sheet. Lafreniere was the first overall pick of the Rangers in 2020, and if you do a side-by-side comparison of both players after only their second season, Lafreniere has more goals and points than Kotkaniemi. Furthermore, Lafreniere appears poised to have a break out season, especially if he plays on the Zibanejad line. There are those in the organization who believe the winger has the potential of becoming one of the team's best forwards. No one in Montreal thought that about Kotkaniemi during his tenure there.

Now I know what you're thinking. The offer sheet to Kotkaniemi was just payback by the Hurricanes for Montreal signing Sebastian Aho to an $8.45 million offer sheet back in 2019; an offer sheet that they were forced to match, mind you. And we all know that payback's a bitch, right? No way a rival GM would ever do that to the Rangers. Oh, really? Perhaps we should run that by Jeff Gorton and John Davidson. Both men were once employed by James Dolan before he unceremoniously fired them last year. Gorton now runs the Montreal Canadiens while Davidson runs the Columbus Blue Jackets. How do you spell "fuck you" in hockey? O-F-F-E-R S-H-E-E-T, that's how.

Wow, that's pretty cynical, wouldn't you say? To think that Gorton and Davidson would be that petty. Are you fucking kidding me? If I were them, I'd hire a messenger to deliver the offer sheet to Dolan personally with the inscription, "Blow me, asshole!" written at the bottom. Then I'd call up Drury and say, "Sorry, man, it's not about you."

So what kind of deal should Drury dangle in front of Lafreniere? The same kind of deal Kotkaniemi got from the Hurricanes after his one-year offer sheet deal expired: $4.8 million x eight years. That's a shit-load of money, Peter. Well, yes and no. Up front, it's a lot, but down the road, if Lafreniere turns out to be the player we all believe he can be, it'll be the steal of the decade. Seriously, how much do you think wingers who average 25 to 30 goals will earn in a couple of years? A helluva lot more than $4.8 million, that's for damn sure. Think about it: Chris Kreider makes $6.5 million a year and he just had the first 30 plus goal season of his career. Trust me, in a couple of years, Drury will look like a genius for inking this contract.

How would locking up Lafreniere to a $4.8 million, eight-year contract starting in 2023-24 affect Drury's ability to re-sign his other RFAs like K'Andre Miller and Filip Chytil? Admittedly, it'll be tough. Drury may have to choose between the two. Personally, I'd keep Miller. The upside on him is far greater and, let's face it, you can always find an affordable 3C out there for between $2.5 and $3 million that could easily replace Chytil. Defensemen with Miller's skillset don't grow on trees.

The reality is that this roster will look radically different after the 2023-24 season anyway. Jacob Trouba's NMC converts to a NTC, which means the Rangers wouldn't need his permission to trade him. Also Ryan Lindgren's contract is up, and while he has been one of the hardest working defensemen on the team, it is unlikely that Drury would re-sign him. That's $11 million more in the kitty to sign other, younger players. Drury's ultimate goal should be that never again would he, or any future GM, be forced to send out a letter to the fans informing them that the Rangers are being torn down and rebuilt. You get one mulligan for that as an organization.

One!

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.