The New York Mets were at the top of MLB payrolls during the 2023 season. The $353,546,854 monetary value didn’t live up to the numbers, but that doesn’t mean owner Steve Cohen refuses to stop spending.
That appears to be the case when it comes to Japanese star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto. But it wasn’t the case for Shohei Ohtani.
According to MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, the Mets “never talked seriously with Ohtani.”
DiComo mentioned one of the more well-known factors being Ohtani preferred playing on the West Coast. and why not stay in the same spot you’ve loved over the last six seasons during your time with the Angels?
The second one is money — of course.
With the Dodgers signing Ohtani to a 10-year, $700 million deal, if those similar numbers came from the Mets, the team would still have to sign more starters and relievers. Sure, the contract deferrals shifted things, as DiComo points out, but:
“Ohtani alone couldn’t have transformed the Mets from a fourth-place team into an immediate contender; that sort of leap would have required the Mets to spend hundreds of millions more, potentially making this offseason more expensive than the last one. Even for an owner worth billions, that’s no easy check to write.”
It would have been amazing, however. The team essentially would be signing the Aaron Judge of the opposing New York team, but with an eventual arm to add to the starting rotation.
Ohtani will serve as a designated hitter during the 2024 after undergoing surgery on his right elbow in September.
Either way, an Ohtani upgrade at DH is one heck of an upgrade.
[MLB.com]
