How can the Mets make themselves a destination franchise?

The Mets were not the preferred destination for either Shohei Ohtani or Yoshinobu Yamamoto this winter

The nice part about this time of year is that it’s quiet around baseball. Most clubs are essentially closed for the week, MLB is also closed, some of your organizations are closed as well, or you’re just taking the week off and avoiding work that way. It’s a time to reset, a time to forget about the hustle and the daily grind if you can.

But not all clubs are closed for the holidays.

The Dodgers held their press conference to introduce their newest player on Wednesday, Yoshinobu Yamamoto. He will wear number 18 for the Dodgers, conveniently a step up from Shohei Ohtani’s number 17.

Yamamoto got 12 year, $325 million in riches from the Dodgers, apparently baseball’s greatest destination. What’s not to like? Great weather, great scenery, a low key vibe, a team that gets to the playoffs all the time, and a place where he can go and disappear among the stars around him over time as well.

As has been well documented to this point, that 12 year, $325 million is the same as that offered by the Mets, that which was reportedly the original offer posed to Yamamoto and that which was matched by the Dodgers.

The Mets reportedly were never given an opportunity to up their offer to try and secure Yamamoto.

What does that tell you?

Well, Yamamoto essentially said it himself during his press conference in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

“I wouldn’t say [Ohtani] was the sole reason I decided to come here,” Yamamoto explained. “Even if he went somewhere else, I probably still would have ended up in LA as a Dodger.”

I wrote before this was all sealed that in order for the Mets to ensure they landed Yamamoto, they would’ve had to blow the doors off of the next best offer. A 12 year, $325 million offer is seriously impressive, and if given the opportunity, I’m firmly confident the Mets would’ve done just that in a second offer.

But even if that had happened, would he have taken it, or just gone to LA anyway?

One might suggest the Mets were played a little bit so that Yamamoto could get what he wanted out of the Dodgers, but that might unfounded. We don’t know how exactly the bidding went down, we don’t know what the order of operations truly were.

And even if they were played, that’s fine. That’s just the nature of business. The player is entitled to seek out as much money as he can get and go to the place he wants to go for that money.

As Steve Cohen said in the aftermath, you win some and you lose some. No hard feelings.

But one thing this does say, assuming Yamamoto isn’t offering any lip service here, is that the Dodgers were his number one choice all along, even over the Yankees who were at one point, “the favorites” in the Yamamoto derby. Just as it was for Ohtani.

All of that is fine too. Every player has his or her preferred destination in any industry, but nobody can surely bank on one destination being both interested and coming up with preferred financial terms. And in this case, why shouldn’t Yamamoto pit three of the richest teams in the sport against each other to see who comes up with the biggest number?

I’d say it all worked out just fine for him, financially anyway.

All of this - between Ohtani apparently having no interest in coming to New York and now Yamamoto apparently preferring Los Angeles over New York - has me thinking about why New York has suddenly become a place where the biggest stars are shying away from.

Forget the Mets for a second - One might believe that Ohtani, baseball’s greatest unicorn since Babe Ruth, would relish the opportunity to play for the Yankees, the same franchise the game’s last great unicorn became a legend with, right? For Yamamoto, the Yankees have enjoyed far more historical success than the Dodgers, having spent the better part of two decades in New York winning one championship after another against them with the exception of 1955 and in both 1977 AND in 1978 (not 1981, of course).

In the end, both players will be wearing Dodger blue likely for the rest of their careers.

I know New York is a difficult place to play for every professional athlete in sports, both for the home player and the visiting player. The booing and the ridiculing at the ballparks and arenas can be very difficult on a person regardless of how good they are or how much money they make, and it happens in the markets in the northeast more than in any other market.

For every one reporter in Pittsburgh there are four in New York, the talk radio coverage and the three regional sports networks (YES, SNY and MSG) provide wall-to-wall coverage of every team in every sport and it often borders on ridiculous, especially when there’s literally nothing to talk about and they need to fill air time. All of that along with the often tabloid type content at times in our local papers can make it very difficult for players here.

That’s just the way it has been, is now and always will be here, and in Boston and in Philadelphia.

But is that it? I mean, Los Angeles isn’t exactly a small market and the Dodgers aren’t exactly operating pressure-free when they take the field every night.

This leads me back to the Mets specifically, and the need for Steve Cohen to make the Mets a destination franchise again.

It takes more than just throwing Benjamins on the negotiating table, or building apartments, hotels and casinos as the future backdrop of Citi Field. And I think Mr. Cohen is learning that as he goes as a new owner in this industry.

So, how can the Cohens make the Mets baseball’s destination? It’s a complex question with multiple sub-questions, if you ask me.

How can they make the Mets a destination for the best possible minds for the front office to not only just want to come here, but stay here and thrive in a manner that’s good for baseball, and not just public relations?

How can they make the Mets a destination for the best player development staff to not only draft well, but cultivate well and continuously graduate quality, well-rounded, mentally strong players who can handle New York on a routine basis?

How can they make the Mets a destination for the best and hungriest managers and field staff and retain them to help create consistency for those up-and-coming players?

How can they make the Mets a destination for the Juan Soto’s of the world, ie the best players in the world and make them say, “the Mets are MY first choice.”

How can they make the Mets a desirable and functional place for everyone which lacks chaos and uncertainty on a day-to-day, week-to-week, and year-to-year basis?

The Dodgers have done this, and they rose from the ashes of their own failures and dysfunction from the McCourt era not too long ago. And they’ve done it one of the biggest markets in the country at that.

So if they can do it, the Mets can do it as well.

Mind you - I don’t believe the Mets should mimic the Dodgers, or the Braves or or any other franchise. They shouldn’t be copycats and followers. They need to create their own identity and their own image.

Be pioneers, be leaders, be innovators. Make other franchises want to be like THEM.

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Hot Stove 🔥

• Dominican prosecutors have issued a summons for Wander Franco to appear on Thursday in response to his alleged inappropriate relationships with minors (ESPN)

• Martin Maldonado and the White Sox are in agreement on a one-year contract (MLB.com)

• The Blue Jays have agreed to sign INF Isiah Kiner-Falefa to a two-year deal (FanSided)

• The Blue Jays are also expressing interest in former Met Amed Rosario (SportsNet)