Mets vs. the World: It's time for Cohen to win his first signature bidding war

The latest news and rumors in an offseason that is heating up. Plus, how it's time for Steve Cohen to win his signature bidding war.

What’s Up with the Mets? 🍎

• The Mets, Yankees and Dodgers are considered to be the favorites for RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto in free agency (Heyman)

• Yamamoto’s contract could approach the $300 million territory, according to multiple reports

• New York has not yet had extension talks with 1B Pete Alonso this offseason (Newsday)

• Francisco Lindor and his wife partnered with Players For the Planet for a beach cleanup in Puerto Rico (MLB.com)

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Rumor Mill 💨

• Despite signing RHP/DH Shohei Ohtani to a record contract, the Dodgers are still expected to meet with RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto this week (The Athletic)

• The Yankees will meet with Yamamoto in Los Angeles this week (Heyman)

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It’s time for Steve Cohen to win his signature bidding war… ✍️

For the first time in the Steve Cohen era, the New York Mets have found themselves in the midst of a true, honest-to-god bidding war for a superstar.

Now sure, the Mets have seen themselves out-bid other teams like the Dodgers and Astros for players like Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander in recent years, but those were short-term deals to veterans for a lot of annual money. Since Cohen purchased the team, New York has not actively found themselves in sweepstakes for a star player in free agency. The club bowed out of the Aaron Judge pursuit last year, and did not find themselves as true players for Shohei Ohtani this offseason, either.

But in the case of Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Steve Cohen’s Mets find themselves right in the thick of things.

Now that Ohtani has signed his record deal with the Dodgers, the bidding is about to open up for Yamamoto’s services, as the 25-year-old Japanese starting pitcher is set to meet with teams around the league this week. The Mets are far from alone in their affinity for the right-hander, as they are ready to face-off against teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and, yes, even the Dodgers, for him in free agency.

Over 24 starts this past season, Yamamoto pitched to a 1.16 ERA with 176 strikeouts, 28 walks, two home runs allowed and a 0.860 WHIP in 171 innings pitched.

We’ve always wondered how aggressive Cohen would get when a true superstar that fit the club’s needs became available, and it looks like we’re finally going to see how that will play out over this next week or so. For the first time, Cohen will find himself in a dog fight with the crosstown Yankees for a free agent – something we haven’t seen from these two teams in many years, if not ever.

Reports throughout the offseason have indicated that Yamamoto has always been the club’s top target this winter, and that they are expected to be all-in on him in free agency. And from brief discussions I’ve had, for what it’s worth, I have heard that Cohen “will not be outbid” for Yamamoto.

For the Mets, it is now time for that to be the case. We begrudgingly understood why the club was not in it for Judge last year, and gave the team a pass with Ohtani seemingly having little-to-zero interest in playing in New York – hell, we won’t even hold last season’s strange Carlos Correa situation against them considering the medicals that were involved in that decision. But entering the fourth year of this ownership, the perfect free agent has finally come along at the perfect time for Steve Cohen to truly make his mark. Despite spending lots of money over the last few offseasons, Cohen has largely sat and waited to make that major long-term splash other than the trade and extension for Francisco Lindor in 2021.

There may be other big market teams interested, but this is one of those rare opportunities for the Mets and Cohen to flex their financial might and do whatever it takes to get a deal like this done. There are plenty of times where it makes sense to be frugal or conservative, like what the organization is doing now by holding onto their prospects tighter, but sometimes an opportunity presents itself where you have to go all-out. This is that time for Cohen to go full George Steinbrenner and do what needs to be done in order to make sure that Yamamoto is wearing orange and blue.

That will mean having to outbid Steinbrenner’s own flesh and blood, that may even mean having to outbid the Dodgers if they’re truly still in this thing but if not now, when?

Nothing about this is going to be easy, but if Cohen wants to be the owner that he’s presented himself to be, this is that chance for him to bring it to fruition. It’s time to tell the baseball world that the Mets are for real and, when it comes to their top targets, that they will not be outbid by anyone.

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Hot Stove 🔥

• The Cubs, Mariners and Pirates have all shown interest in trading for Guardians 1B Josh Naylor (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

• The Guardians reportedly signed C Austin Hedges to a one-year, $4 million contract (Heyman)

• The Royals reportedly signed LHP Will Smith to a one-year, $5 million contract (Passan)

• The Tigers reportedly signed LHP Andrew Chafin to a one-year, $4.25 million contract (Detroit Free Press)