With the highest payroll in MLB history, the New York Mets are currently stumbling with an unimpressive 30-31 record. With aggressive owner Steve Cohen and former Angels’ GM Billy Eppler, the Mets should be expected to pursue Shohei Ohtani.
It’s only a matter of time, isn’t it?
6.5 games back of the Atlanta Braves in the NL East and five back of the top Wild Card spot, the 2023 New York Mets need to do something drastic.
Well they certainly have the owner for the job, right?
Cohen has already shelled out the highest payroll in MLB history for a mediocre roster at best. He’ll have absolutely no qualms about pursuing Shohei Ohtani, the best player in baseball, right?
Why Shohei Ohtani to the Mets makes sense, midseason
First things first, New York stinks right now. From their end of it, they need a superstar player to greatly improve their on-field product.
From a front office perspective, Eppler is the only MLB GM to actually sign Ohtani, to date. It’s my belief that Cohen hired Eppler — despite his horrific record with the Angels’ franchise — for this reason alone.
Not only is Ohtani the best baseball player in the world — and perhaps, the greatest of all time — he’s also the most marketable globally. Ohtani is a textbook win-win in Cohen’s eyes: Greatly improves the Mets’ roster while simultaneously increasing revenue. He’s the perfect player for New York, really.
What about the Angels side of this equation?
Most believe this is the last hurrah for Ohtani with the Angels. His contract is up after the 2023 season, and we all know he’s about to become the highest-paid player in the history of the sport.
The Dodgers and Mets look like logical landing spots, all things considered. So what should the Angels do in the meantime?
Despite a decent 32-30 record at the moment, the Angels are not in an American League Wild Card spot. And the competition is stiff: The Baltimore Orioles (37-23), defending-champion Houston Astros (36-25) and New York Yankees (36-26) currently occupy the three coveted spots.
Can these Angels really compete with those three teams, long-term?
I doubt it, and I’m confident the Angels are leaning the same way because they don’t want to end up getting nothing for Ohtani.
The good news for them? The Mets have great prospects and young players in Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, Mark Vientos, Ronny Mauricio and Kevin Parada, to name some. There has to be a potential trade match in there somewhere, right?
What could a potential trade look like?
In my opinion, Alvarez is not on the table. Long considered the No. 1 overall prospect in baseball, the Mets can’t risk losing him for a potential rental in Ohtani.
I’d assume — if the Mets are serious about Ohtani — that all the others are potentially up for grabs, though.
I was thinking something like this: Vientos, Mauricio, Tylor Megill and David Peterson for Ohtani. Mets fans will scream about losing both Vientos and Mauricio in the same deal, but they also have to remember that Cohen will always spend on the back-end. If talent is lost, replacement talent will be paid handsomely.
In the end, Ohtani to the Mets midseason makes a ton of sense for all potential parties involved.
John Frascella is a published baseball author who has been covering MLB for 19 years. Follow him on Twitter @LegendSports7 for all things MLB, NBA and NFL throughout the year.