Mets fans dreamed big once Steve Cohen took over his team. Why not?
No one wins the lottery and is considering switching from one bedroom to two. They see the mansion or the penthouse. And for believers, he certainly felt like a winner of the lottery when Cohen’s wallet squeezed Wilponi.
He demonstrated the power of deep pockets, especially in this free environment, when the Mets traded with Francisco Lindor and Carlos Carrasco. Most teams only tried Lindor because it meant adding $ 20 million to this year’s salary and at least determining what it would cost in the long run to keep the star shortstop after 2021. Most clubs only participated in Carlos Carrasco, because years and 27 million dollars still owed were more than he would have probably received if he had been a free agent and it would not have cost any player to return.
The Mets got them both – they added both to the bottom line of pay. They presented Lindor at the Zoom conference on Monday and Carrasco on Tuesday. And yet, let’s quickly go to Wednesday and a former teammate of Indians from Lindor and Carrasco, to exemplify that what the Mets can do now is to differentiate themselves on the opposite side of the market, that not all are mansions and penthouses.
Corey Kluber has a workout scheduled for Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. at Cressey Sports Performance in Palm Beach Garden, Florida. About 20 teams, including the Mets, will have a representative to watch the two-time Cy Young winner throw a 30-pitch Bullpen. The rooms will be trained on the Kluber, as well as the most modern machines to determine the speed of rotation and movement on its grounds.
Teams will examine the data and what the right eye looked like, trying to determine how long Corey Kluber remained in Corey Kluber. Of course, it’s just a snapshot. Kluber has only made eight starts in the last two years because he was canceled out by the weird (a right arm fractured by absorbing a line) and the worrying (abdominal and shoulder conditions). On his 35th birthday in April, Kluber’s chances of returning to even 80 or 90% of his dominant form 2014-18 are, what? Ten percent? Twentieth? Thirtieth? It’s not great.
What if the Mets like what they see? What if they like what they see at a time when a few other clubs want to take their salary, even on safer things? What if they like what they see and have Cohen’s wallet as a separator? After all, they are no longer Jeff Wilpon’s father’s Mets.
Rich Hill, a quality player but prone to injury, signed the last off-season with the Twins for $ 3 million, with $ 9.5 million in incentives based on innings and starts. Suppose Kluber will fall into the same realm – a low base with a chance to do much more with healthy pitching. How many teams in this money atmosphere would even offer the Kluber the Hill business?
Therefore, for Cohen, the Mets differentiation may be about providing a $ 5 or $ 6 million base. Marginal money for him. What if the Mets offered $ 5 million with a chance of winning $ 13 million if Kluber returned completely to Kluber – 200 innings, for example? That would replicate the $ 18 million 2021 option that Rangers refused to make Kluber a free agent.
Again, Kluber is a feature film to be that guy again. But if it is, then it’s worth $ 18 million. And the Mets are suddenly the kind of franchise that could risk $ 5 million to see if that Kluber is still hiding.
For, at best, Kluber is installed behind fellow Stetson alum Jacob deGrom in rotation and moves Carrasco and Marcus Stroman to the best combo no. 3-4 in the major, with David Peterson protected in fifth place and Seth Lugo and Steven Matz in pen to give halves.
In an average scenario, Kluber rotates and stays long enough to form a team for 2021 with Noah Syndergaard, which will take place around June after Tommy John’s operation.
In the worst case scenario, Kluber never resembles his old self. In this case, the Mets rotation is deGrom, Carrasco, Stroman, Peterson and Matz or Lugo with Syndergaard percolating. The Mets cost him $ 5 million, but they left the contract after the 2021 campaign.
Obviously, there are a lot of moving parts here. Kluber must look good on Wednesday, the Mets must be interested, Kluber must want to play for them and the parties must agree to that contract of bells and whistles.
But this should be taken as an indicator of what the Mets can do now. Cohen’s arrival allows fans to dream of mansions and penthouses in the purchase of players. Welcome Lindor / Carrasco. It also puts them in a better position to be bold on the other side of the market, trying to find differences.