Steve Cohen chimed in on Shohei Ohtani following his deal with the Dodgers

Plus, Francisco Álvarez talked about his long-term ideas with the Mets, and a bat the Mets could be in play for

What’s Up with the Mets? 🍎

• Mets owner and CEO Steve Cohen said the agent for Shohei Ohtani never contacted him personally, which he believes was, “telling” in Ohtani’s interest in the Mets (Athletic)

• Francisco Álvarez is interested in a contract extension with the Mets (Newsday)

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Rumor Mill 💨

• The Mets could be among the teams interested in signing JD Martínez (New York Post)

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What does Shohei Ohtani’s deal with LA mean for the Mets? ✍️

Well, a bunch of things if you ask me.

First off, it means Shohei Ohtani got the richest contract in professional sports history and the highest average annual salary (not including deferrals) for anyone ever.

I’d say Ohtani is set for life, times 100.

Second, he stayed on the west coast, stayed near his home in Southern California, and did everything most of us expected him to do in the end by leaving the Angels where he had 0 playoff wins in his five years there for the Dodgers, who always have a legit chance at winning a World Championship.

Staying in LA made the most sense for him given what his apparent choices came down to. To me, if Toronto was even a real option competing with the Dodgers, he might as well had stayed with the Angels. It also never rang true to me that he would consider the Blue Jays but no other east coast teams (that we know of).

Third, it sets a bar for Juan Soto to reach in free agency, a player the Mets should most assuredly chase a year from now assuming he doesn’t sign an extension with the Yankees. Soto won’t get $700 million (well, I guess you never know now) but it makes $500 million easily achievable for him.

Fourth, it might impact Pete Alonso’s free agency as well and redefines what his price tag might be. Again, we aren’t talking about $700 million, we aren’t talking about $500 million, but we maybe talking closer to what Aaron Judge got from the Yankees last winter in terms of average annual salary, on both sides of that number.

Fifth, Ohtani’s deal with the Dodgers - even with the deferrals - should put both the Mets and Yankees in an advantageous position to sign Yoshinobu Yamamoto in the coming weeks. Yes, there are these, “unprecedented” deferrals for Ohtani, yes the Dodgers can still afford Yamamoto and yes, the Dodgers still need a ton of starting pitching, but $700 million is $700 million and no matter how much is deferred or how the present day value settles over time, it just has to change LA’s calculus for their 2024 payroll, even if it only tilts the scale towards the next tier of arms.

Sixth, I’m glad Mets owner and CEO Steve Cohen chimed in with the Athletic on the matter. I agree with him - in the case of this specific free agent, the player’s representative would unquestionably want to speak with the club’s owner if there was even a hint of interest. Mr. Cohen said that never even happened, and that was an important (non)sign in Ohtani’s interest in his interest in joining the Mets. No matter what Mr. Cohen or David Stearns thought of the price tag, if Ohtani wanted to come to the Mets, they would’ve both been nuts to not find a way to make it work. But, it takes two to tango, as I wrote yesterday.

I do wonder if the agent for Ohtani reached out to Hal Steinbrenner, John Middleton or John Henry, just for curiosity sake.

Seventh, as disappointing as Ohtani’s disinterest seemed to be in joining the Mets, it does help define items 2-5 and will help open up the gates of free agency this winter, as things have been a little delayed because of Ohtani’s free agency. I wouldn’t say this really dragged out too much - we are only four days removed from the winter meetings and this was both a complicated and obviously expensive deal that was forged. Things should start to happen now and aside from Yamamoto - who will be meeting with clubs in the US this week - other players will want to wrap deals up before the end of the year.

While the Mets court Yamamoto over the next week or two, they still have to find an additional starting pitcher, 2-3 quality, big league swing-and-miss relievers, and get two pieces for the lineup.

I’d really, really, really like it for once if the Mets could build a modern bullpen that actually shortens games, and not build one on the margins with a bunch of if’s, maybe’s and hopefuls.

They don’t have the luxury of waiting for Yamamoto’s free agency to play out and let those other pieces come off the board, so they’re going to need to walk and chew gum at the same time here.

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Hot Stove 🔥

• The Dodgers remain interested in signing RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (New York Post)

• The Twins are receiving trade interest for both Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler (Star Tribune)

• Bryce Harper is interested in a contract extension with the Phillies, beyond his current 13-year deal (Philadelphia Enquirer)