Kodai Senga helped set a precedent we should hope lingers for other NY Mets player

Kodai Senga gained more fans on Friday by willingly accepting an assignment to the minor leagues. As SNY’s Andy Martino reported, it wasn’t much of a fight between player and franchise. The New York Mets respected the situation with Senga who humbly took the reassignment in stride.

So what’s next? Senga will make 2 starts in Triple-A before possibly returning to the big leagues. Syracuse will wrap up their season in mid-September, giving Senga a limited amount of time to get right and feel his best.

This could have easily turned into something ugly. Senga could have refused the assignment, but it doesn’t sound like this was even a thought. He knows he isn’t right. It’s far more embarrassing to struggle in the major leagues than it is to go on what is essentially a rehab redo. Other Mets players, take notes.

If only every Mets player would gladly accept a demotion with this much grace

It hasn’t gone unnoticed how players have behaved differently during the Steve Cohen era as opposed to the Wilpon regime. A demotion of any kind isn’t the kind of circus it often seemed to be under the previous ownership.

It was back in 2018 when Matt Harvey refused a minor league assignment and instead went to the bullpen. He wasn’t happy about it. What could have been a good situation to get himself right again quickly led to a trade not long after. A year earlier, infielder Asdrubal Cabrera asked for a trade when the team moved him from shortstop to second base. That same year, Noah Syndergaard refused an MRI.

There’s a certain kind of cohesion with the current Mets regime and its players. Ex-players have shown some bitterness. J.D. Davis had one of the more recent scathing critiques. Tommy Pham attacked his teammates (no one specifically) for a lack of work ethic.

But in the present and while employed, everyone has been on their best behavior. No office is perfect whether it has cubicles or lockers. There’s always going to be a Toby Flenderson lurking.

Senga, as a high-profile player and the expected ace of the staff this season, being this willing to admit defeat is big. It could have been a LOLMets moment under different circumstances. Instead, it’s a precedent-setter. If he’ll accept a plan to make himself better, why should anyone else be too big to do the same?