While we deal with the anticipation of the Carlos Correa contract being finalized, there are far more pressing matters at hand. Keith Hernandez is still unsigned for next season.
Now, this is an SNY/Hernandez negotiation meaning Steve Cohen isn’t a part of it. Whenever the Wilpons are involved, you can never fully trust the right thing will be done.
The thing is this is a deal that needs to get done. Hernandez is Mets royalty who is second only to Tom Seaver in stature with this franchise.
From an SNY perspective, Hernandez has been must watch TV. Honestly, even in lousy games, fans do stay tuned in to hear what he’s going to say or guffaw.
That is an extremely rare gift. Fortunately, SNY has understood that right from its inception. Whenever it’s been time to get a deal done with Hernandez, they’ve stepped up and gotten the deal done.
When both sides want to get the deal done, they find a way. This is why we should expect Hernandez to return in 2023.
It’s also informative for what’s going on with Correa. Through the endless non-updates updates, what remains clear is both parties are motivated.
Through this Correa Watch, we continue to hear Correa was thrilled when he and the Mets came to terms. We’ve also heard just how motivated Cohen is and just how personally invested his family is in getting this deal done.
Realistically speaking, it would be shocking if Correa wasn’t a Met in 2023 and beyond. On that point, while other teams are inquiring, Correa is negotiating with the Mets exclusively.
In 2023 and years to come, Hernandez should be talking about Correa’s “good fundies” at third base. We should also get to see this Mets team win the World Series like Hernandez did with the Mets in 1986.
When (if?) you add a player like Carlos Correa, he’s going to be hitting near the top of your lineup. You want and need him to get as many plate appearances as possible.
That’s going to push players down in the lineup. Whether it be fan favorites or more established players, you lost a spot in the lineup to someone who could very well be the Mets best hitter.
It’s something that happened to Jeff McNeil last year. Buck Showalter demurred to the more established and veteran players mostly batting McNeil in the second half of the lineup.
It was a mistake and unforced error. It’s something which cannot and should not be repeated in 2023.
It’s really hard to fathom why Showalter had his best hitter last season towards the end of the lineup. Seriously, as shown on Baseball Reference, here was McNeil’s batting order positions last season:
McNeil hit fifth, sixth, and EIGHTH more than he hit third. Remember, this was the National League batting champion. That can’t happen.
As we have seen studies how to optimize lineups to lead to more runs. Hitting your best hitter eighth is nowhere near a valid approach. The same goes for sixth.
Certainly, next year, assuming Correa will be a Met complicates matters. He’s spent most of his career batting third, but he was predominantly the second hitter for the Minnesota Twins last year. We can assume he will be there next year.
We also know Brandon Nimmo will be hitting lead-off. Showalter won’t change that even with there being good evidence the lineup should be McNeil-Nimmo.
If you have the lineup as Nimmo-Correa, that’s where you begin to run into some complications. Analyzing it, with that setup, McNeil should hit third.
There’s doubt Showalter will do that because he has Pete Alonso, Francisco Lindor, and Starling Marte.
Alonso is the prototypical clean-up hitter. An old school manager like Showalter won’t move him from that spot.
Lindor is the highest paid player. He’s a veteran, leader, superstar, and future Hall of Famer. With that typically comes deference from the manager and organization.
Finally, there’s Marte. He’s the fiery leader of this team. Many agree his injury is one of the reasons for the Mets collapse.
Certainly, it’s not all numbers in baseball. You have to account for team dynamics, and you have to put players in a position where they feel they will succeed.
In a sense, this is why the Mets hired Showalter. Ideally speaking, it wasn’t to get him to defer to the veterans, but to get him to get them to buy in on what’s best for the team.
That would have McNeil in the top half of the Mets lineup next season. Whether that happens remains to be seen.
In typical fashion, the Atlanta Braves traded for a player and signed him to an extension. Last year, it was Matt Olson. This time, it’s Sean Murphy.
Their homegrown players do it all the time too. As we saw with the Freddie Freeman saga last offseason, Larry Jones’ remarks indicated their players appear brainwashed.
Remember, Larry chastised Freeman for not taking the Braves lowball offer. He acted like it was Freeman’s duty. Of course, such a sentiment is absurd, especially with how profitable the Braves are.
Regardless of the revenues, players should be cautious signing extensions. Typically speaking, it’s to save teams money and gain control in at least one free agent year.
That’s not always the case. Putting aside the entirety of the Braves roster, there’s Fernando Tatis Jr. It’s a judgment call, but it just seems Braves players time and again show poor (financial) judgment.
They also show they’re completely unaware of who Steve Cohen is.
After purchasing the Mets, Cohen’s first splash was Francisco Lindor. The Mets traded for him, and then, he was given the largest ever contract to a shortstop.
He followed that up by giving Max Scherzer the largest ever AAV to a player in the following offseason. Cohen has shown he is willing to spend to get great players and build great teams.
All of Major League Baseball is on notice. The other owners are angry while the players are thrilled. For example, when the deal fell apart with the San Francisco Giants, Carlos Correa jumped at the chance to sign with the Mets.
Apparently, the Braves players don’t seem to know or care that’s happening. Every agent, player, GM, and owner is watching Cohen’s every move. Meanwhile, the Braves players happily take less.
In all seriousness, they have to be brainwashed somehow. They even have former Braves spreading pro-team, anti-union rhetoric. After all, who wants to make far, far less than worse players while an intra-division rival continues to assemble a juggernaut?
There are a number of things we know about Carlos Correa at the moment. Chief among them is the New York Mets are the second team who found an issue with his medicals.
We also know Scott Boras is his agent. One of the reasons Correa even agreed to a deal with the Mets is because of Boras.
When the San Francisco Giants wanted to re-open negotiations after concerns about his surgically repaired leg, Boras did just that by reaching out to other teams like the Mets who agreed to a 12 year $315 million deal.
That also means we know the Mets have been highly motivated to acquire Correa. This is the second offseason the Mets have pursued Correa.
When the Mets first chased him this offseason, Steve Cohen spoke about the need to acquire another bat. When Correa became available again, the Mets moved quickly to sign him.
It does not seem the Mets are entirely scared off by the medicals. All indications are the Mets still want him. Aside from scattered reports and speculation of optimism, there was a personal story about the Mets interest in him.
As an aside, if Jon Heyman is reporting there’s optimism, there’s optimism. He’s about as well connected with Scott Boras as anyone.
As reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN, the pursuit of Correa was personal to Cohen’s family. In fact, Cohen’s father-in-law, a huge Mets fan himself, pushed for the team to sign Correa.
This is very personal to the Cohen and Garcia families. They want Correa. They believe he’s the missing piece for this franchise. It’s why they’ve pushed so hard to get him.
Perhaps, it’s also why Cohen hasn’t been as tight lipped as many owners are. Now, it’s probably not as unprecedented as many want to make it out to be, but it’s certainly very optimistic.
Of course, that was all before the physical. We’ll know more soon. All we know is seeing how personal this is for the Mets ownership, if there’s any ability to get a deal done, they will get it done.
For all those who read, thank you for taking your time to visit this site. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.
Hopefully, Santa was as good to you as Stevie Claus has been to us New York Mets fans so far this offseason.
From the old files of the New York Mets could never have nice things, we discover there was an issue with Carlos Correa’s physical. Apparently, it was the same issue the San Francisco Giants had.
In reality, we have no idea what this means. We don’t know where the Mets and Correa go from here. That goes double for Scott Boras, but we sure did get some dumb takes on it:
No, the other 29 owners didn’t collude to get Steve Cohen and the Mets to back out of the deal. Certainly, it is far too soon to intimidate there will be a grievance.
Really, what we are seeing is people are clinging to the “LOL Mets” narrative. They want to see Cohen and the Mets fail. Pay it no mind.
All we know right now is there’s an issue with Correa’s physical. We have no idea if it will be an impediment to Correa playing third base for the Mets in 2023 and beyond.
If you want a reaction, it’s to celebrate your holidays and await hearing something more tangible. No need to be concerned now.
You’re a reviled one, Mr. Cohen
You made Correa a steal,
You’re moves stings like a cactus, you got him even with McNeil, Mr. Cohen,
You’re a bad banana with an incredible infield
You’ve got Verlander, Mr. Cohen,
You filled the deGrom sized hole,
Your pocket is full of dollars, you have Gotham in your soul, Mr. Cohen,
I couldn’t touch your pitching with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole!
You’re a foul one, Mr. Cohen,
You have Nimmo and his smile,
You have all Alonso’s sweetness of a swing hitting it a mile, Mr. Cohen,
Given a choice between the two of you’d call in sick for a while!
You’re a rotter, Mr. Cohen,
You’re the king of concession spots,
Your ballparks got helmet nachos with Mr. Softee instead of those lame Dippin’ Dots, Mr. Cohen,
You’re a three decker sauerkraut hotdog and double burger with extra Shack sauce!
You nauseate me, Mr. Cohen,
With a payroll super cost!,
You’re Scherzer is joined by a Koudai, and you sold McCann at a loss, Mr. Cohen,
Your opponents are left as an appalling dump heap overflowing with the most intimidating
assortment of pitches imaginable putting batters in tangled up knots!
You’re a foul one, Mr. Cohen,
You’re Omar catches pitches that sunk,
Your Edwin had us soil our jocks, your Quintana puts us in a funk, Mr. Cohen,
The three words that best describe the NL East opponents follows, and I quote,
“Stink, stank, stunk”!
EDITORS NOTE: Adapted from “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch”
Truth be told, Steve Cohen has been spending at a level no one anticipated. We should have anticipated there would be backlash to that with Major League Baseball trying to establish a system to discourage spending to build a team.
To some degree, you have to give the other owners credit. They were tight-lipped last offseason when the New York Mets free agent spree was highlighted by Max Scherzer and Starling Marte in addition to the Mets trading for Chris Bassitt.
They bit their tongues as the Mets signed Justin Verlander, José Quintana, David Robertson, and Koudai Senga in addition to re-signing Edwin Díaz and Brandon Nimmo. It’s fair to assume they weren’t happy, but they didn’t react publicly. Then, Carlos Correa happened.
Cohen and the Mets initially made a too late push for Correa, and Correa signed with the San Francisco Giants. To be fair, the Giants offered more than the Mets were willing to offer. If you were a skeptic, you were left believing Scott Boras was using Cohen and the Mets to extract every last dollar from the Giants.
After that, Correa “failed” his physical leading the Giants to try to renegotiate the deal. Boras being Boras treated this as an opportunity to re-open the bidding for Correa with the Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers re-entering the picture. In the end, it would be the Mets who signed Correa to a 12 year $315 million deal.
This is what caused the rest of baseball to snap. In an article from The Athletic by Evan Drellich, the other owners, who did not go on record, spoke about this disdain about how Cohen has conducted his business this offseason. There were a few choice quotes speaking about how Cohen was not stopped by control measures put in place for him to not outspend what other owners and markets were willing to do.
Note, the choice of the word willing isn’t of able. That choice was highlighted by an unnamed source who said, “There’s no collusion. But . . . there was a reason nobody for years ever went past $300 million. You still have partners, and there’s a system.” Another choice quote was, “We’ve got somebody with three times the median payroll and has no care whatsoever for the long-term of these contracts, in terms of the risk associated with any of them.”
Essentially, owners don’t like or feeling comfortable going to the lengths Cohen has been willing to go. That’s not the same as can’t go. They don’t want to go there, and as Drellich astutely points out, owners are not happy Cohen is raising the price of player contracts.
This is much in the same way the Wilpons restricted player salaries. They had a team in the largest market in the world, and they couldn’t spend on players. Having a very large market out on a player suppressed player salaries, which is why other owners had zero issues with the Wilpons.
They didn’t care about the psyche of Mets fans or what not having a large market non-competitive for all but two years in a decade was doing to the growth of the sport. All they cared about is players were cheaper. They left money and growth at the table to make their bottom line better. Now, they’re faced with the choice of spending a little more to be competitive, or as we see with the Tampa Bay Rays, find real ways to be competitive other than artificially suppressing player salaries.
Make no mistake here, the other 29 owners didn’t give a damn about their fans, especially Mets fans. It was all about their profit margin, which is what Cohen is directly impacting despite their efforts to stand in the way. In the end, not one fan should care what they think because they certainly didn’t care about Mets fans when the Wilpons were actively destroying baseball.
To the shock of everyone, the New York Mets signed Carlos Correa to a 13 year $315 million deal after the San Francisco Giants found an issue with Correa’s physicals. Once we sift through the shock and awe of it all, we are eventually left with the question as to what it means for the Mets top prospects.
Both Brett Baty and Mark Vientos are third baseman, and Ronny Mauricio is a shortstop. We saw Baty and Vientos make their Major League debuts this past season, and Mauricio was just named the Dominican Winter League MVP. In an alternate universe, they could have all been on the Mets in 2023 playing everyday at some point in the season.
With Francisco Lindor and Correa set to play the left side of the Mets infield for the next decade, all three of the aforementioned players are going to have to find a new position if they are going to stay with the Mets. In all honesty, these were decisions the Mets were investigating anyway.
In terms of Vientos, he had been twice bumped off of third base. When Baty was promoted to Double-A in 2021 and Triple-A in 2022, he became the the primary third baseman. However, it should be noted the Mets organization did take this as an opportunity to move Baty and Vientos to different positions as well. In the end, that is probably best for both.
Baty’s size has always made his long-term ability to play third a debate. To his credit, Baty has continued to improve at the position, but he was never going to be a plus defender at the position. He projects as hopefully average at the position. In essence, this is part of the reason why the Mets have exposed him to left where he has looked good.
FWIW: I thought Brett Baty looked pretty comfortable in left field when he played there in the minors.
— Michael Mayer (@mikemayer22) December 21, 2022
In terms of Vientos, the Mets had already seemed to realize his best defensive position is DH. He has struggled at third, and while he has made improvements, there really aren’t any scouts who believe he can handle the position on an everyday basis. This should allow the Mets to let him focus on DH and maybe even work at first base in the event of an unthinkable Pete Alonso injury.
Mauricio is more interesting, but with him, the Mets have more time to make a decision. Much like with Baty, the expectation was his size coupled with his continuing to grow was eventually going to force him off of his natural position. However, Mauricio has continued to stay at short and has played well there. Still, with Lindor’s presence, eventually, Mauricio was going to have to move off of short.
Ronny Mauricio's first play at third base — or anywhere other than shortstop — in his pro career: https://t.co/3nqggcblQK pic.twitter.com/TB0QzyrYF8
— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) November 26, 2022
Mauricio played some third with LIDOM, and he looked quite good. In fact, with his ability to move to his left and his big arm, third seemed like the perfect spot for him in the future. However, now, that is no longer in play because Correa is there for the next 13 years.
Ultimately, this may mean he needs to shift to right field sooner rather than later. Mauricio being an above average runner with a big arm should translate very well there. You can also argue he should get some looks in center.
Another note here is the upper levels of the Mets system does not have much outfield depth. The depth they did have took a hit with Jake Mangum being traded to the Miami Marlins. To a certain extent, moving Baty and Mauricio to the outfield would help a need for the Mets. That goes double when you consider Mark Canha has an expiring contract at least theoretically opening up left field for next season.
There is also the elephant in the room. Having Correa and Lindor makes this trio of prospects more available to be traded. If there is a move available at the trade deadline, the Mets are more in a position to trade them.
However, the Mets proceed, they have a very good problem. They have All-Stars and future Hall of Famers on the left side of the infield with very good prospects who are trying to break through at those positions. In the short term, the Mets are insulated against injury. In the long term, the possibilities are endless.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This was first published on MMN.
When Steve Cohen took over the New York Mets and went on an unprecedented spending spree for the franchise, there were hopes he would land Carlos Correa. In fact, here, it was discussed how Correa was a future Hall of Famer and a perfect fit for the Mets.
To our shock and surprise, the Mets made a run at Correa this offseason even after re-signing Edwin Diaz and Brandon Nimmo in addition to signing Justin Verlander, Jose Quintana, David Robertson, Koudai Senga, and Omar Narvaez.. We thought Cohen had his limits, but apparently, he doesn’t have a limit. He is just that intent on winning the World Series this season.
Well, Correa had an issue with his physicals, and Scott Boras does not renegotiate based on physicals. So, when the San Francisco Giants balked, Boras went right back to the Mets, who were apparently happy to re-offer the 13 year $315 million contract they were willing to give Correa. Just like that, one year later, the Mets got their perfect fit.
When healthy, Correa is just as good as any player in the game. With the exception of last year, he’s an exceptional fielder, and you can argue last year was an indication he needed to move to third now anyway. He is a phenomenal hitter who hits the ball hard and draws walks. His only weakness is his back, and we should note the Giants did not balk at the physicals when it came to Correa’s back.
There is nothing to like about this move for the Mets. The lineup is deeper and more potent. The infield defense is so much better in a year with no shift. It is going to accelerate position changes on Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, and Ronny Mauricio they were eventually going to need to make anyway. Again, this is a great move from every angle.
More than the fit, what really stands out is Cohen really is doing everything possible to win. After years of the Wilpons tomfoolery, we see how a New York team really should operate. For every owner who claims they don’t have money to expand the payroll, Cohen is showing that to be complete and utter nonsense. He is making a mockery of every owners excuses.
New York Mets fans knew the Wilpons could do much more than they did. They deserved better after the Wilpons. We expected more. However, in no way did we ever or could we ever expect this. This was simply astounding, and World Series or not, we can just appreciate a team really trying to win a World Series.