Kodai Senga
Normally, when the Kansas City Chiefs are in the Super Bowl, we are anticipating it to be tangentially related to the New York Mets because there is discussion of Patrick Mahomes being the son of former Mets reliever Pat Mahomes. Certainly, there was some of that with Mahomes saying his son was prepared for these moments because he had him there at the 2000 World Series.
There was also the Philadelphia angle. In a world we where people mistakenly believe you are either Mets/Jets or Yankees/Giants, the simple truth is Mets/Giants and Yankees/Jets make much more sense. The Mets and Giants fans hate Philadelphia, and they want to see them fail, and Super Bowl LVII was another area where Mets and Giants fans had the chance to see that happen.
So, between the Mahomes and the Philadelphia angle, Mets fans were locked in, but then again, who isn’t locked in for the Super Bowl. After all, it’s the biggest sporting even in our country, and that is why we see ads costing $7 million.
That brings us to Steve Cohen. In a shock to us all, the Mets ran a Super Bowl ad featuring Brandon Nimmo, Francisco Lindor, Tomas Nido, Kodai Senga, Edwin Diaz as the closer, and of course, Mr. Met. It was a perfect commercial for Mets fans:
We Wanna Hear You! 📞https://t.co/UweYKix2Ir pic.twitter.com/XfM1qszMrQ
— New York Mets (@Mets) February 9, 2023
This would be the perfect commercial to run on SNY, or really any of the New York television stations. To be fair, that is what did happen. It was a regional Super Bowl ad, but nevertheless, Cohen purchased a Super Bowl ad, and it is one gaining a lot of traction.
Note, this ad comes off the heels of the other owners complaining about how Cohen is spending money.The deals for Justin Verlander and the almost completed deal for Carlos Correa sent them into a tizzy whining about the unfair economics.
Well, Cohen showed the rest of Major League Baseball it’s not just the spending on the players. As we know from recent interviews, it’s also not just the spending on the advanced technology and analytics.
Now, Cohen is making the Mets a more well renown brand. He is trying to be what the New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys, and Los Angeles Lakers are. For that matter, he’s trying to make the Mets what they once were in the 1980s.
The Mets purchased a Super Bowl ad. On the surface, it was to sell tickets. In reality, it was to sell the Mets. It was to send a message that the Mets are not stopping at beating you on the field. They will use every resource to grow the team and the brand even if that means purchasing a Super Bowl ad.
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.