Steve Cohen gave NY Mets fans a reason to speculate about a Freddy Peralta return

Game 2 between the Tampa Bay Rays and Cleveland Guardians resulted in a 3-1 victory for the former. An attendance of 32,125 may or may not have included New York Mets owner Steve Cohen. Whether or not he was tallied when he went through the turnstile or not, he was at the game.

Rays starting pitcher and ex-Mets “ace” Freddy Peralta found out after the game and was as confused as anyone.

What’s the motive? Was Cohen there to take in some baseball in Florida? There to support an old player? A recruiting mission of some kind? Cohen’s inability to hide from the public gave every fan a reason to speculate about a Peralta reunion and maybe a few more theories beyond just wanting to experience a playoff atmosphere.

There’s no way Mets owner Steve Cohen went out of his way just to watch Freddy Peralta start an ALCS game

Perhaps he was already in the area and decided to pop in. It doesn’t sound like Cohen had any sort of meeting with Peralta, not that it would probably be allowed anyway due to his contract not belonging to the Rays. A public show of support, possibly, is enough of a recognition to Peralta that Cohen doesn’t blame him for what went wrong with the Mets.

Peralta has been ace-like again with the Rays. Countless stories about what he’s doing different and how he is being coached. It’s a look yourself in the mirror type of moment for the Mets.

Cohen’s presence during a Peralta start could’ve been coincidental, too. Teams help teams and there are vacancies within the Mets front office they’d like to fill. The Rays and Guardians are a pair of organizations who’d make sense to pick from. Although it was Tampa Bay, the Mets have already done the Guardians a favor when they told them about their PitchCom volume issue after beating them up in Cleveland.

Frequently spotted in courtside seats at New York Knicks games, Cohen doesn’t hide from being photographed or noticed. He’s not a flamboyant, attention-seeking billionaire, but he is quite public.

No exact reason why he chose this game to attend, seeing Peralta throw 6 shutout frames of 4-hit ball can only lead us down one definitive path: the idea of a reunion isn’t 100% off the table.

Would fans accept it? Peralta has worked his way back into the conversation as a top free agent starting pitcher on the tier below Tarik Skubal. Mets coaching couldn't get much out of him. Unless he truly was a guy who couldn't take the heat of New York, it's a conversation to have. A short one, though. Something about revisiting and hoping the Rays' magic spell sticks with him seems foolhardy on the Mets' behalf. They need to do something different. It doesn't mean the rumors won't pop up again when free agency officially begins.

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