3 biggest Mets contracts Steve Cohen may be forced to eat this year

There was a 1980 short documentary called Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe. Werner Herzog told fellow documentarian Errol Morris he would eat his own shoe if he [Morris] ever finished his film, Gates of Heaven about the pet cemetery business. Morris finished it and Herzog lived up to the bet. New York Mets owner Steve Cohen won’t need to go quite that far when it comes to eating contracts. It’s more figurative than the literal way Herzog took the term.

Nonetheless, Cohen’s wallet could take a hit while his tummy only accepts foot and not paper contracts. The Mets payroll has a couple of potential duds in it.

In a worst-case scenario for any of these players, the Mets may be forced to eat all of at least some of these contracts.

1) NY Mets contract the team may have to eat: Carlos Carrasco

The good thing with Carlos Carrasco is they could always first demote him to a long man role in the bullpen. The bad news is they can’t contemplate that until they at least have some healthier arms back.

Rather than move on from Carrasco this offseason, the Mets picked up his $14 million option for 2023. It seemed like a wise enough choice. He was reliable for them last year and his deal isn’t so outrageous for a ball club willing to go a few extra miles when it comes to paying its players.

Carrasco would have to be completely destroyed on the stat sheet for the Mets to DFA him. I can envision a scenario where he’s not living up to expectations and ends up traded away this summer with the Mets improving the rotation in a separate deal. Pitching is always a need. Someone else could be more desperate to take a chance on Carrasco. Even if a team did come calling, the Mets wouldn’t get much for him or they’d need to eat a part of the contract.

We’ll need a few more starts to see if Cookie is more 2021 or 2022 or even somewhere in between. Unfortunately, two starts in, I’m having flashbacks to 2021.

3) NY Mets contract the team may have to eat: Tommy Pham

Mark Canha is one guy whose contract could get eaten but it’s quite high in comparison to what the Mets are paying Tommy Pham. At $6 million, it’s the third-highest salary the Mets may need to cut with a fork and knife this year.

Pham has gotten off to a decent start. Thoughts of them parting with him are way too premature. We also know better than to believe anything we’ve seen in the first few weeks of the season.

Among all of the additions the Mets made this offseason, the free agent signing of Pham was met with the most disdain from the fans. It’s a bit silly considering his role with the team as a fourth outfielder. Many were hoping the team would sign Adam Duvall or Andrew McCutchen. Far more popular players and seemingly better ones in several regards, Pham ended up as one of the last logical choices for the Mets to add.

Early on, the Pham signing seems like a good choice. There is a lot of season left. Hitting almost exclusively against left-handed pitchers should help his overall numbers. Buck Showalter has already shown faith in him by batting him leadoff on an off-day for Brandon Nimmo.

Things can always change. A rough stretch from Pham could always have the team looking elsewhere for help in July or August.