3 worst Mets free agent signings since Steve Cohen took over as owner
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The Steve Cohen era of New York Mets baseball has been mostly pleasant. What keeps fans coming back is the idea that with him as the majority owner, the team will at least have a shot to win. Despite coming up short in the first two years with him calling the shots, the future remains a positive one.
Free agency is where the Mets have a lot more power than ever before. Spending money, taking risks, and making headlines is what Cohen can help the Mets do.
Not all of the free agent signings during his tenure have gone well. It’s not just about the contracts either. In some cases, the Mets have muffed minor free agent signings. Based on a mix of money spent and production, these are the three signings during Cohen’s time that have been the worst.
3) Worst NY Mets free agent signing since Steve Cohen took over: Albert Almora
Remember Albert Almora? The Mets took a chance on him for the 2021 season. The spin was that he was an outcast former Chicago Cubs outfielder who could play solid defense and give the Mets some outfield depth.
Those positive thoughts were washed away rather quickly. Almora’s time with the Mets was terribly unmemorable and brief. He ended up playing 47 games and receiving only 54 plate appearances. He was generally used as a late-game replacement.
The offensive output was miserable. Almora slashed only .115/.148/.173. Any of the goodwill he could have offered them as a defensive player was washed away. He was hurt for a good part of the year when the Mets desperately needed some outfield help during the 2021 season.
It was easy for the Mets to move on from Almora after one year. It only cost them a $100K contract. These other two bad free agent signings were much more expensive mistakes.
2) Worst NY Mets free agent signing since Steve Cohen took over: Eduardo Escobar
Is it took early to call this one a bust? While Almora was infinitely worse than Eduardo Escobar, we have to consider the price tag and role with the team.
Escobar signed as a free agent with the Mets in the 2021-2022 offseason a year after his first All-Star selection. The spin with him was that he’d be a great short-term option until Brett Baty was ready for the big leagues. If the team traded Jeff McNeil, he could have even become the new starting second baseman.
The Mets used Escobar primarily as the third baseman in 2022. He defended poorly and failed to hit regularly until the last month of the season. In 542 plate appearances, Escobar was a .240/.295/.430 hitter. He knocked 20 home runs, too. It was one of his weakest power outputs since becoming a regular in MLB.
Escobar remains signed through at least 2023 for another $9.5 million on top of the $10 million he took home in 2022. The 2024 campaign includes a $9 million team option as well as a $500K buyout.
Already, Escobar is someone who could see his role go from starter to part-timer or platoon. Year one with the Mets was bad but not dreadful. He did at least come up with a few big hits. The same cannot be said about the absolute worst free agent signing of the Cohen era.
1) Worst NY Mets free agent signing since Steve Cohen took over: James McCann
There’s no debating this one. Keep your pitch-framing to yourself. Tomas Nido can do that at a fraction of the cost.
In the 2020-2021 offseason, the Mets had a catcher decision to make. Do they overpay for J.T. Realmuto or go with the second option, James McCann? They chose the latter. There should be some regrets.
McCann slashed .232/.294/.349 in 2021 and followed it up with a .195/.257/.282 performance in 2022. His playing time was cut down to only 61 games this past year due to injury but also Nido hitting just as well as him.
In two years with the Mets, McCann has knocked only 13 home runs and driven in 64. The numbers are even below what he was doing with the Detroit Tigers earlier in his career. McCann is a payroll burden. More painful, he’s too automatic of an out.
McCann has $24.3 million left on his contract over the next two seasons. The Mets could look to dump him this offseason. It might be easier just to cut him loose entirely, although we shouldn’t expect the Mets to do this.
The chance the Mets took on McCann hasn’t worked out. His awesome output with the Chicago White Sox over a season and a half is nothing close to what he has been able to give the Amazins. But his pitch-framing, right?
Next. 3 worst Mets trades since Steve Cohen took over. dark