Kodai Senga
MLB Pipeline released their top 100 prospects rankings in January. One name that was conspicuously absent was right-handed staring pitcher Kodai Senga.
Now, MLB Pipeline was not alone in omitting Senga from their rankings. In fact, when Keith Law of The Athletic released his rankings, he, too, did not include Senga. That isn’t because Law doesn’t believe Senga wouldn’t be a top 100 caliber pitcher, but rather, out of respect for the Japanese Leagues, he won’t rank their players as pure prospects.
For someone like Law, that is a reasonable stance. After all, there is nothing tied to his rankings than clout. The same can be said for Baseball America, who ranked Senga 16th overall.
Now, Baseball America and Law can each take their respective positions. It is fine and reasonable, and honestly, they’re allowed to take their respective stances on Senga because nothing is at stake with their rankings.
The same is not true with MLB Pipeline.
Due to the service time manipulation issues with players like Kris Bryant, there was a clause set in the CBA set to incentivize early promotions. If a player with fewer than 60 days of services time wins Rookie of the Year or has a top three finish in the MVP or Cy Young voting, their organization receives draft compensation. There is a caveat.
That caveat is that player must be listed as a top 100 prospect on two of MLB Pipeline’s, Baseball America’s, or ESPN’s top 100 prospect rankings. If all of those measures are in place, then an organization will be in line for draft compensation.
Senga was listed on Baseball America’s meaning he needed to be named on one of MLB Pipeline or ESPN. Well, MLB Pipeline, owned by MLB, opted not to rank Senga in their top 100. There is zero justification for this action.
Someone like Law has the privilege of not counting Senga as a prospect. His decisions do not impact organizations ability to garner extra draft compensation. He does not have the power to incentivize teams to have prospects on the Opening Day roster.
MLB Pipeline has that power, and with that comes the duty to act accordingly. They don’t have the right to leave Senga off because he’s from the Japanese Leagues. Senga is eligible for National League Rookie of the Year, and he’s clearly better than many of the other players on the rankings.
Leaving off Senga only accomplishes one thing, and that is screwing the Mets. If you want to link this to prior complaints/threats from other MLB owners, you’re now welcome to do so even if the people behind MLB Pipeline shouldn’t be deemed to be so malicious..
Whatever the case, they made an error in judgment. Frankly, it is an inexcusable one. They owe everyone an explanation because their rankings only accomplished (potentially) screwing over the Mets organization.
With Steve Cohen, things have changed so much for the better. Just look at this offseason, So far, the Mets have given record deals to keep Edwin Díaz and Brandon Nimmo. They have also brought in Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, Omar Narváez, José Quintana, and David Robertson. In the past, it would take the Wilpons more than a decade to bring in all of these players, and of that group, we’d never be able to consider a Verlander coming to Queens.
However, even with the Wilpons gone, they still find ways to mess with New York Mets fans. Of course, it comes with them being cheap and not realizing the value of franchise greats.
There is still a gap between SNY and Keith Hernandez in contract talks. Hernandez was offered a new deal, rejected it, and counter-offered. SNY has not yet responded with another offer.
— Mike Puma (@NYPost_Mets) February 1, 2023
SNY (read, the Wilpons) always seems to do this with Keith Hernandez. They make the contract negotiations more prolonged than they need to be. In many ways, they don’t realize his value to the franchise and their broadcasts. Keep in mind, Hernandez and his commentary keeps fans tuned in during blowouts because fans want to hear Keith in those situations. That’s not hyperbole.
Actually, maybe the Mets do realize Hernandez’s value. It may be much more likely they really just don’t care. Based upon their ownership of the Mets, we can safely assume that is the case.
That is what actually makes this worse. They already have their billions from the sale of the franchise. They were financially made whole from the Madoff Ponzi Scheme scandal. Now, they’re just making money off the Mets like they always do.
There is going to come a point in time where Keith steps aside, and we are no longer going to have Gary, Keith, and Ron. However, that has to come on GKR’s terms. They’re Mets legends, and they earned that right as they are about to surpass Lindsey Nelson, Bob Murphy, and Ralph Kiner as the longest serving Mets announcing trio.
The Wilpons cannot mess this up. They’ve already messed up too much, and for all they have done, this would be a step too far. We shouldn’t put it past them. All we can do is hope they finally do the right thing by the fans.