The 10 biggest Mets mistakes of the Steve Cohen era

7. Chris Bassitt leaving for the Toronto Blue Jays

The Mets saw its entire 2022 rotation hit free agency with the exceptions of Max Scherzer and Carlos Carrasco. To fill these holes, Eppler added Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga, and Jose Quintana while letting Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt, and Taijuan Walker sign elsewhere. We understood the decision to let deGrom sign with the Texas Rangers given his partially torn UCL from 2021. We also understood Walker was very replaceable at a cheaper price than 4-years $72 million. 

The decision to let Bassitt sign with the Blue Jays was puzzling considering his health and performance track record since 2020. His contract is not atrocious either, just 3 years and $71 million. The feeling after the 2022 Wild Card Series was that Bassitt is ‘not made for New York’ given his comments about pressure. However, Bassitt was reliable for the Blue Jays making 33 starts and throwing 200 innings. Even had the Mets kept Scherzer and Verlander beyond the trade deadline, only Senga pitched a full season. Taking poor performance and the health of the rotation into consideration, Eppler made the wrong decision to move on from Bassitt after 2022.

6. Trading Steven Matz to the Blue Jays for 3 relief pitchers

With the Mets continuously being short on starting pitching depth, this move never made sense. Following a brutal campaign for every starting pitcher not named deGrom in 2020, Jared Porter decided to move on from Steven Matz in return for Yennsy Diaz, Sean Reid-Foley, and Josh Winckowski. The Mets would later send Winckowski to the Boston Red Sox in a 3-team trade involving Khalil Lee, which did not work out either.

As injuries to the rotation mounted in 2021, the Mets immediately regretted the decision to move on from Matz. He would make 29 starts for the Blue Jays including 150 innings and a 3.82 ERA. While these statistics are not Cy-Young Award caliber, the Mets only had Marcus Stroman make every start in 2021. It was reported at the time Cohen never loved the Matz trade, to the extent he tried to re-sign him before 2022. Regardless, the Mets would have rather had Matz pitch amid a division title stretch than Jerad Eickhoff or Robert Stock.