Was it a coincidence the Mets went the extra mile to sign Brandon Nimmo then grabbed David Robertson away from the Phillies on the same day as Jacob of Grom springs from the “Rangers vision to build something special” as the reason he signed with Texas?
I guess not, absolutely not. In fact, do you detect a trend here?
Remember when steven matz, or at least his agents, ticked off Cohen last offseason by backtracking on what the owner thought was a deal to sign with the Mets? All he did was get out quick and do Max Scherzer the highest paid pitcher (per year) in baseball.
Translation: Every time Cohen gets angry, the Mets get one step closer to winning a championship. In theory, anyway.
In truth, who knows? The timing could be completely coincidental. The Mets wanted Nimmo back all along, even though his price tag rose far beyond anyone expected even a month ago as he ended up getting $162 million for eight years. .
And Robertson is the perfect complement to Edwin Diaz as the first preparer. The Mets tried to get him at the trade deadline last summer and didn’t have the pitching prospects to outbid the Phillies, but now they land him a one-year deal for $10 million.
So maybe it had nothing to do with deGrom. Cohen has a pretty big day job, building his multi-billion dollar hedge fund business, and chances are he wasn’t watching deGrom’s introductory press conference in Texas this afternoon.
Still, I bet that somehow the comments got back to him. Not that deGrom was intentionally shooting his former team when he repeatedly reiterated how impressed he was with Rangers’ plans for the future.
In fact, he probably couldn’t bring himself to publicly admit that he had simply signed with Texas for the money, the $185 million for five years that the Mets were never going to match — and rightly so, on the basis of his recent injury history.
If he had done that, I would have applauded him for his honesty and said he had every right to leave, although it’s still a bit odd that he seems to have such a chip on his shoulder about that $137 million contract he signed with the Mets in 2019.
Since signing with Texas, in fact, I’ve heard a few important people at the Mets say how withdrawn he was at times even when he came back from injury last season.
A person who was on the team bus after a particular game, seated near a group of pitchers, said several of them, led by Scherzer, were in heated conversation about pitching, something we we’ve all seen happen in the dugout throughout the season.
“The weird part was that deGrom was sitting in the same area but he wasn’t involved in the conversation at all,” the person said. “He hadn’t pitched that night, so that wasn’t it. He was just sitting alone, not talking to anyone. It just seemed strange.
You hear that stuff and it’s hard not to think that deGrom did indeed want to go somewhere else. Rangers’ desperate need to start made it easier for him.
And he thanked the Mets and their fans during his press conference. Still, his comments on ‘vision’ could certainly be interpreted as saying he believed more in Rangers’ chances of building a lasting winner than the team that won 101 games in Queens last summer. .
At the very least, as many fans pointed out on Twitter, the comments had a vibe reminiscent of mike hampton once saying he left the Mets and signed with the Rockies because of the quality of their school systems.
So whether it’s true or not, the idea that Cohen might respond by saying, “I’ll show you who’s got a vision” is exactly why Mets fans are so confident he’ll win championships for them for a while. many years to come.
In any case, by re-signing Nimmo and adding Robertson, after having already obtained Justin Verlander to replace deGrom, as well as Jose Quintana and reliever Brooks Raley this week, Cohen is clearly ready to blow that $300 million payroll level that he previously indicated could be something of a barrier, even for him.
Plus, the Mets are apparently still on the hunt for a signing. Kodai Sengathe Japanese pitcher who has star potential, which could give them even more quality and depth in their rotation than they had last season.
Extending for Nimmo was important, allowing Starling Marte stay in the correct field while keeping their alignment intact. They could definitely use more power, but maybe that will have to come from the rookies Francisco Alvarez and Brett Baty.
Meanwhile, Robertson is still dominant, despite turning 38 next season, with that big curveball that neutralizes left-handers (they hit .169 against him last season). He’s shaping up to be an ideal guy in the eighth inning that they could have used last year, even as well as Adam Ottavino spear.
Bottom line, it was a big night for the Mets, a big week. It could be that Cohen also saw what the Phillies were doing, continuing to strengthen their ball club after going to the World Series, and decided he would respond in kind.
But it’s more fun to think he heard deGrom’s comments and immediately phoned with Billy Epplero say, “Finish with Nimmo. Get Robertson. Obtain. Obtain.”
And I’m absolutely sure Mets fans believe that’s exactly what happened.
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