NY Mets passed on 3 dud free agent deals this offseason

The constant complaints. Same old New York Mets. The Mets never spend money. This ownership is just as bad as the last ownership. Steve Cohen is no different than the Wilpons. Nothing changes.

Those words of dismay, displeasure, and disgust have circulated around the fact that the Mets front office did not sign any of what was clearly believed to be the “big three” free agents available this past offseason. But Steve Cohen, in assuring the fan base that the commitment to excellence would be more apparent than in the past, at the same time clearly indicated that there would be no “stupid money” spent.

Perhaps there is a tendency to believe that the only way you are legitimate is if you spend big bucks, regardless of how you spend it. Growing up, for some reason, I believed that the most expensive thing on the menu was the best. And I would always order that most expensive thing in any restaurant I visited. However, ordering from the right side of the menu doesn’t always guarantee you the best to be offered.

It seems like some ardent Mets fans can’t get past the “big three” landing elsewhere.

The New York Mets passed on JT Realmuto

Generally regarded as THE hottest commodity, the “do everything” catcher, Realmuto received a five-year, $115.5 million contract from the Philadelphia Phillies after playing out his prior contract with the Phillies the season before. Every team was clamoring for this guy, and Mets fans were drooling over him for years. But, alas, the Mets decided they couldn’t wait for Realmuto to make a decision and, instead, signed James McCann.

Realmuto has struggled and has certainly not had a “Realmuto-like” season, getting banged up a bit, but just not able to get going. At the midway point, Realmuto, with an average annual salary of over $23 million, is hitting .263 with 8 home runs and 31 RBI.

The Mets gave McCann a four-year, $40.6 million contract after he had a career year with the Chicago White Sox. McCann, after getting off to a bit of a slow start, is hitting .244 with 7 home runs and 29 RBI while playing stellar defense behind the plate. And he also did a very admirable job playing some first base in a pinch. Average annual salary? Just over $10 million…about 40% of what Realmuto earns for the same rate of production.

The New York Mets passed on Trevor Bauer

With the two of the top three gone…the Mets made a run at Trevor Bauer. And for what reason? I certainly do not know. It really made no sense to me from the get-go. This guy is a real beaut.

The man pitched in nine seasons – one of them being the short season of 2020 – and had one good season other than 2020…ONE GOOD SEASON. In 2018, pitching for the Indians, Bauer went 12-6 with a 2.21 ERA. He threw 175 innings, striking out 221 and walking only 57 batters. However, over the course of the other eight seasons, Bauer was 63-57 with and ERA of 3.82 and in seven of those seasons, he had an ERA of at least 4.18.

And that doesn’t even tell the story about Bauer.

But the man was demanding $40,000,000 a season? How can anyone justify giving that kind of money to that kind of player? I didn’t get it then, and I don’t get it now. The Los Angeles Dodgers gave him a three-year contract for $102 million plus a signing bonus.

Bauer, with an annual salary of $34 million, has pitched to a record of 8-5, 2.59 ERA, with 137 strikeouts and 27 walks in 107 innings pitched, and a WHIP of 1.003.

The Mets, after getting spurned by Bauer, had a fallback in Carlos Carrasco, part of the deal with the Cleveland Indians for Francisco Lindor. But, as it turns out, that didn’t materialize as Carrasco has been shelved since spring training.

The Mets pulled off a move that truly went under the radar when they signed Taijuan Walker to a three-year, $23 million contract. Walker, very quietly (remember that term), has pitched to a record of 7-3, 2.44 ERA, with 87 strikeouts and 27 walks in 85 innings pitched, and a WHIP of 1.012. Average annual salary? $7.6 million…about 1/5 of what Bauer is getting with very comparable stats and a lot fewer headaches.

Walker has to be considered the bargain of the offseason, especially after everything else that came along with Bauer.

Want your voice heard? Join the Rising Apple team!

Write for us!

So be careful what you wish for. True, you can’t judge any transaction by just a half-season of play. But you can certainly see where getting any of the “big three” this past offseason would not have satisfied anyone, certainly not the way their respective seasons have played out thus far.