2023 New York Mets off-season thread

[NJDevs4978]

Ohtani to the Dodgers for $700 million over ten years, jesus 

But Cohen’s the one who’s bad for baseball lol

Edited December 9, 2023 by NJDevs4978

[ButlerBulldog]

1 hour ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Ohtani to the Dodgers for $700 million over ten years, jesus 

But Cohen’s the one who’s bad for baseball lol

Mother of God…

Ohtani’s a great player, but the Dodgers will regret having given him such a ridiculous contract.

[NJDevs4978]

Doesn’t even annoy me we weren’t in on him at that price and with him coming off a second TJS…what does annoy me is everyone in the fvcking media loves this sh!t but if we’d signed him for $700 million the hand wringing would be up the wazoo how it was bad for baseball, especially if we deferred so much money we got effectively a much higher luxury tax. But Magic (their frontman) isn’t a convenient villain.

[ButlerBulldog]

3 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Doesn’t even annoy me we weren’t in on him at that price and with him coming off a second TJS…what does annoy me is everyone in the fvcking media loves this sh!t but if we’d signed him for $700 million the hand wringing would be up the wazoo how it was bad for baseball, especially if we deferred so much money we got effectively a much higher luxury tax. But Magic (their frontman) isn’t a convenient villain.

Except perhaps in Boston.  In any case, despite being a Yankees fan, I sympathize, as I agree that there’s a double-standard for New York teams.  Case and point, it hasn’t even been three days since the Soto trade, and people are back to using the “Evil Empire” nickname.  Do they not realize that any organization with the right package had a chance to land him?  Moreover, would people lamenting the trade be so quick to complain if Soto had landed in San Francisco or Seattle?

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

16 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Ohtani to the Dodgers for $700 million over ten years, jesus 

But Cohen’s the one who’s bad for baseball lol

That is just…the most insane thing that I’ve ever seen.  And yeah no player is worth that.  He was obviously never coming East anyway so not like the Mets lost out here, but if they had signed him to that kind of money, I’d be shaking my head big time.

I wonder why they went SO high.  Did they need to?  Was anyone else even close to bidding that much?!

Makes me wonder what happens to other players’ price tags now.  What will Soto’s next contract look like?  Good lord…

[ButlerBulldog]

3 hours ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

That is just…the most insane thing that I’ve ever seen.  And yeah no player is worth that.  He was obviously never coming East anyway so not like the Mets lost out here, but if they had signed him to that kind of money, I’d be shaking my head big time.

I wonder why they went SO high.  Did they need to?  Was anyone else even close to bidding that much?!

Makes me wonder what happens to other players’ price tags now.  What will Soto’s next contract look like?  Good lord…

I’m sure Soto—and Boras, for that matter—is salivating at the prospect of a mega-deal given the size of Ohtani’s contract, but how many teams can realistically pay him what he wants?  What bothers me isn’t so much the average annual value of the contracts but their length.  How can anyone possibly know what kind of player Ohtani will be by the time he enters the second half of the contract?  Those last 4-5 years will be brutal, much as Judge’s last 4-5 years will be.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

4 minutes ago, ButlerBulldog said:

I’m sure Soto—and Boras, for that matter—is salivating at the prospect of a mega-deal given the size of Ohtani’s contract, but how many teams can realistically pay him what he wants?  What bothers me isn’t so much the average annual value of the contracts but their length.  How can anyone possibly know what kind of player Ohtani will be by the time he enters the second half of the contract?  Those last 4-5 years will be brutal, much as Judge’s last 4-5 years will be.

Yeah I really hate those kinds of contracts.  They’re bad from the second that they’re signed.  

[NJDevs4978]

So apparently Ohtani's deferring $680 million of the $700 million...sheesh, good on him but might as well just give the Dodgers Yamomoto and every other star now if you're gonna allow this kind of blatant luxury tax circumvention.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

9 hours ago, NJDevs4978 said:

So apparently Ohtani's deferring $680 million of the $700 million...sheesh, good on him but might as well just give the Dodgers Yamomoto and every other star now if you're gonna allow this kind of blatant luxury tax circumvention.

Yeah there's always that first team that tries something new, but to every countermeasure, there's a counter-countermeasure.  MLB's gotta nip this in the bud, and I will feel the same way if the Mets wind up landing Yamamoto and doing the same kind of thing with his contract.    

Edited December 12, 2023 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[NJDevs4978]

54 minutes ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Yeah there's always that first team that tries something new, but to every countermeasure, there's a counter-countermeasure.  MLB's gotta nip this in the bud, and I will feel the same way if the Mets wind up landing Yamamoto and doing the same kind of thing with his contract.    

I could definitely picture them pulling a Kovalchuk on us and finding an excuse to ding Cohen because the mid and small market owners look at him as evil incarnate lol

What’s ironic is the MLBPA nixed A-Rod to Boston because of contract restructuring that wasn’t anywhere near this egregious…where were they on this one?

Edited December 12, 2023 by NJDevs4978

[NJDevs4978]

Mauricio with a torn ACL in winter ball, our sh!tty off-season just keeps getting worse

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

53 minutes ago, NJDevs4978 said:

Mauricio with a torn ACL in winter ball, our sh!tty off-season just keeps getting worse

Sounds about right

[Muevelos]

The dodgers did the same thing with Betts ( $120mil deferred ) and Freeman ($57mill deferred). This precedent has been set, it's not bringing anything NEW to light with Ohtani. And it's totally legally. Whether this should or shouldn't be is a different question. But basically, it is what it is  

 

According to the CBA Article XVI of the MLB collective bargaining agreement says, “There shall be no limitations on either the amount of deferred compensation or the percentage of total compensation attributable to deferred compensation for which a Uniform Player's Contract may provide.” In other words, defer freely.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 13, 2023 by Muevelos

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

6 hours ago, Muevelos said:

The dodgers did the same thing with Betts ( $120mil deferred ) and Freeman ($57mill deferred). This precedent has been set, it's not bringing anything NEW to light with Ohtani. And it's totally legally. Whether this should or shouldn't be is a different question. But basically, it is what it is  

 

According to the CBA Article XVI of the MLB collective bargaining agreement says, “There shall be no limitations on either the amount of deferred compensation or the percentage of total compensation attributable to deferred compensation for which a Uniform Player's Contract may provide.” In other words, defer freely.

C'mon, this level of deferment is unprecedented.  I have a feeling that when this article was implemented, no one imagined that over 97% of a contract's value (especially one THIS expensive) would be deferred.

I'm curious to see if anyone now calls for a percentage limit, as to how much money for any given contract can be deferred.  I don't blame the Dodgers for taking advantage (no rule in place that said that they COULDN'T do this), but at the same time, sometimes it's that first "Is this really in the spirit of what we were going for?" case that leads to re-evaluation and rule adjustments...like we saw with Kovy and the Devils.  

[Muevelos]

I could see the outside forces trying to make waves and maybe get a giggle or 2 from an owner or so of a smaller market. But ultimately this benefits players and owners, i don't see this changing anytime soon honestly.  Now don't get me wrong, this is absolutely insane. And more insane how Ohtani will be in Japan getting all that money untaxed to boot. We'll see. 

[ButlerBulldog]

Tyler Glasnow to the Dodgers

I wonder if this is an indication the Dodgers don’t think they’re getting Yamamoto.

[NJDevs4978]

You knew it was only a matter of time after the Mauricio injury before the Mets were linked to Justin Turner ROTFLMAO....while there's no such thing as a bad one-year deal (assuming that's what it would wind up being), especially in the age of Cohen, you just KNOW this guy's gonna come here and stink it up and/or just be hurt all the time and it'll be more LOLMETS when we have him before and after he became a very good everyday player.

Edited December 16, 2023 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

1 hour ago, NJDevs4978 said:

You knew it was only a matter of time after the Mauricio injury before the Mets were linked to Justin Turner ROTFLMAO....while there's no such thing as a bad one-year deal (assuming that's what it would wind up being), especially in the age of Cohen, you just KNOW this guy's gonna come here and stink it up and/or just be hurt all the time and it'll be more LOLMETS when we have him before and after he became a very good everyday player.

Yeah too early to judge this offseason but maybe it’s time for someone to tell Stearns that he’s actually working in a major market now.  The dumpster diving is getting to be a bit much.

[ButlerBulldog]

1 hour ago, Colorado Rockies 1976 said:

Yeah too early to judge this offseason but maybe it’s time for someone to tell Stearns that he’s actually working in a major market now.  The dumpster diving is getting to be a bit much.

Cody Bellinger is still available, as the Cubs haven’t been able to convince him to re-sign.  He’s been linked to Blue Jays and Yankees, of whom the latter may flip Alex Verdugo for pitching depth.  Kevin Kiermaier’s also unsigned, although he won’t give teams as much offense as Bellinger.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Stearns doing some Brewers Dollar Store shopping...brings in starting pitcher Adrian Hauser and OF Tyrone Taylor.  Is what it is...he gave up a minor leaguer (Coleman Crow) who just had TJS and will miss this upcoming season to do it.  Pretty much a salary dump by the Brewers.

[NJDevs4978]

The Dodgers get Yamamoto too, guess we’re going back to the Coupon days of coming up second on everyone….sigh

At least the Mets apparently matched the high bid, or even made the high bid themselves that the Dodgers matched but we’re gonna have to find some big name FA’s to take Cohen’s money who aren’t 35 plus sooner or later 

 

Edited December 22, 2023 by NJDevs4978

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Sucks but yeah can’t make players take your money.  Clearly the Mets made a big offer.

[NJDevs4978]

As bad as things have been, glad this dude isn’t our problem now

 

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Agree, I wanted no part of ARod and Jennifer Lopez here.  Especially since with them, it was all about "Oh wow look a Latina female owning a team, aren't we such trailblazers?!"  That would have been a disaster and then some.

Mets can still be OK under Cohen.  Even if some free agents don't want to take his money, that doesn't mean that said money can't be used to keep young homegrown guys due big raises (that make SENSE to keep).  Or to get creative in adding prospects, like we just saw.

The Benignos and others seem to think that Cohen would just going to buy winner after winner.  Hard to do and that approach doesn't often work all that well anyway.  

Edited December 28, 2023 by Colorado Rockies 1976

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Mets “whiff” on Lucas Giolito, but I didn’t want him in the first place.  Guy absolutely stunk up the joint down the stretch, and wasn’t exactly awesome the last couple of seasons.  Yeah he Ks guys, but that’s baseball these days.