I warned Mets fans that this offseason would be messy. It might not bear the fruit that they were hoping for. The Mets did finally hire their GM but still don’t have a manager. This comes at the heels of a small buying frenzy that will conclude on December 1st when the CBA runs out and the doors close at MLB for the foreseeable future.
Having the most money is great. Saying you will spend it is fine. Getting players to come to your team that has had a recent exodus of good players, makes it challenging, and not outbidding your competition makes us all think that they are giving competitive offers to players like Aaron Loup and Steven Matz, but they are going to other teams that they feel have a better chance of winning because the money didn’t change their minds. Agents use the teams with the most money to make offers so the better teams can match them. The Yankees deal with that routinely. Shaming them in a Twitter rant won’t help the team.
When you are on a down team. And the Mets are that even though they try to paint a different picture publicly. Players have to be convinced and overpaid to play for your franchise. Players like to know who will be managing them, and the Mets can’t give that answer. That creates uncertainty in what was always going to be a narrow free-agent window because of the impending CBA expiring. The Mets hired their GM late after being turned down over and over again and going into this period with no manager was disastrous.
NL Free Agency
The free-agent shortstop issue may carry over until there is a new agreement. The Mets don’t need that but what they needed to do is convince some others, and still need to do this, before the window closes. It’s bad for season ticket holders who are on the fence. It’s bad for fans who buy tickets earl,y and it’s a bad look for a big market team that is still spending like a mid-market team until proven otherwise.
The San Francisco Giants are maintaining. They signed pitchers Anthony DeSciafani (13 wins) and Alex Wood (10 wins). Both pitched well for them, and they retained both. Kevin Gausman led the staff with 14 wins. He remains at large with a lot of offers coming his way. Unlike the Mets, they are trying to keep their successful team from last season together.
Oh, and the Phillie Phanatic and the team have settled their lawsuit, so he will be back in 2022.
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