Before the Mets embarked on the 2023 offseason with new figureheads in the front office and the dugout, it appeared as though they were in on Shohei Ohtani. At one point, it seemed like a foregone conclusion that the Mets would land baseball’s unicorn and the richest owner in the game would hand him the biggest contract the sport had ever seen.
As it turns out, the Mets were out the entire time. Ohtani did get that historic contract from a rich team, but it was the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Of course, the Dodgers were always a threat, but everything we thought we knew a year ago about the Mets has changed. Billy Eppler, the general manager who signed the two-way phenom in Anaheim in December 2017, is no longer with the Mets, having resigned a few days after David Stearns was hired above him amid an investigation into improper use of the injured list (the investigation remains ongoing and the Mets are still unsure if they will face punishment). Steve Cohen can still spend whatever he wants, but the Mets are not spending the type of money they spent last winter when they brought in three-time Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander and nearly signed shortstop Carlos Correa to a long-term contract.
Let’s clarify: Cohen certainly could have offered Ohtani a record-breaking amount of money. He could have seen the Dodgers’ $700 million offer and pushed more poker chips into the middle of the table. It’s not Cohen who needs to compete with other owners, it’s the other 29 owners in baseball who have to try to keep up with him.
Ultimately, this whole ordeal signals a change in philosophy for the Amazins’ and, hopefully, a change in the offseason, which has been sluggish to this point.
It might remain sluggish for another few weeks as Yoshinobu Yamamoto continues to interview with teams in the United States. The star right-hander recently posted by the Orix Buffaloes of the Nippon Professional Baseball League would give the Mets another ace to put behind another Japanese right-hander, Kodai Senga. It would also give the Mets another ace for years to come with the 25-year-old Yamamoto approaching his prime years.
Pitching is the priority for the Mets and Ohtani won’t be able to pitch next season. After Tommy John surgery in 2018 and an undisclosed surgery in September (one that sounded a lot like Tommy John), it’s tough to know what exactly teams can expect from him as a pitcher when he does return to the mound.
A year ago, the Mets might have thrown the book at Ohtani, but now they’re spending their money differently. They’re fortifying the depth around the fringes of the roster. They’re identifying which players fit best in which roles, unlike last year when they wanted Correa to move to third to accommodate Francisco Lindor.
They’re spending smarter, which may be difficult to see at the moment since most of their offseason acquisitions have been mostly depth players. They haven’t signed a single player to a multi-year contract. Their two biggest pitching acquisitions, Luis Severino and Jorge Lopez, signed one-year prove-it deals. They still have not signed an outfielder and as of right now, they’re looking at a DH tandem of Mark Vientos and DJ Stewart, which is pretty underwhelming when you consider the Mets could have used Ohtani instead.
The thought of Ohtani on the Mets, a team with seemingly unlimited resources, was quite compelling to a fanbase raised on bargain-bin transactions. “We tried” was the theme every year under Wilpon family ownership. Plus, with the unprecedented contract structure and $680 million in deferred salary, the Mets would have been able to add quality depth pieces and sign others to long-term contracts. Mets fans can dream, but even this dream was too big for Cohen and the Mets.
With Ohtani off the board, the rest of the winter market should start to speed up. When leaving Nashville, Stearns wasn’t exactly happy with a decidedly cold stove but was optimistic that the situation would soon be changing.
“We’re working on it,” he said. We continue to feel good about the progress we’re making with some of our discussions, and we also feel good about some of the acquisitions we have been able to make around the edges of our roster.”
Every team in baseball could use a 6.0 WAR player and a two-time MVP, but Ohtani’s presence in the lineup doesn’t guarantee a winning season. Ohtani and Mike never once made the playoffs with the Los Angeles Angels.
Ultimately, Ohtani didn’t want to be in New York. The Mets saw an impossible get and decided to move on with the rest of the offseason.
