December 27: The deal has now been officially announced by the Mets.
December 20: The Mets and right-hander Adam Ottavino are in agreement on a contract to bring him back to Queens. It will be a two-year, $14.5MM deal with Ottavino having the ability to opt-out after the first year. The deal is pending a physical. Ottavino is represented by WME Baseball.
Ottavino, 37, has had some ups and downs in his career but has an overall track record of effective relief pitching going back a decade now. He debuted with the Cardinals back in 2010 but came to prominence with the Rockies over a seven-year stretch from 2012 to 2018. In that timeframe, he pitched in 361 games and logged 390 2/3 innings, posting a 3.41 ERA with a 27.6% strikeout rate, 10.1% walk rate and 46.1% ground ball rate. His strikeout rate ticked upward over his time in Colorado, getting as high as 36.2% in 2018, though there were some control issues, as he walked 16% of batters faced in 2017 and 11.7% in 2018.
He reached free agency and signed with the Yankees going into 2019, signing a three-year deal worth $27MM. The first year of that deal went very well as he posted a 1.90 ERA in the Bronx, though that ballooned to 5.89 in 2020. That was a small sample of 18 1/3 innings in the shortened season, but it was enough for the Yanks to move on, flipping him to the Red Sox in a salary dump trade. Ottavino then posted a 4.21 ERA for Boston in 2021, with his strikeout rate dipping to 25.7% and his walk rate coming in at 12.7%.
The Mets signed Ottavino to a modest one-year deal for 2022 worth $4MM plus incentives and were rewarded with an excellent bounceback campaign. The righty made 66 appearances out of the Mets’ bullpen in 2022, finishing the year with a 2.06 ERA, striking out 30.6% of batters faced while walking just 6.2% of them. He also got ground balls on 51.9% of balls in play while racking up three saves and 18 holds for the year. Based on that strong comeback campaign, MLBTR predicted Ottavino could secure himself a two-year, $14MM contract, which he has narrowly exceeded here.
The Mets were facing a huge bullpen exodus this offseason, with Ottavino, Edwin Díaz, Seth Lugo, Trevor Williams, Joely Rodríguez and Trevor May all reaching free agency a few weeks ago. They have since addressed that situation by re-signing Díaz, signing David Robertson, trading for Brooks Raley and now bringing Ottavino back into the fray as well.
In addition to those moves, the club has been extremely active in free agency to address other parts of the roster. The rotation also had a number of holes appear, with Jacob deGrom, Chris Bassitt and Taijuan Walker all becoming free agents. Those three were replaced by signing Justin Verlander, Kodai Senga and José Quintana. The club also bolstered its position player mix by re-signing Brandon Nimmo and signing Omar Narváez.
The Mets already had one of the highest payrolls in the league in 2022 and those moves have shot them up to incredible new heights. Roster Resource has them at $344MM before even factoring in the Ottavino deal, with a competitive balance tax figure of $356MM. Since the Mets are second-time payors and are well beyond the fourth CBT threshold of $293MM, they are now paying a 90% tax on any further spending. Ottavino will add $7.25MM to that CBT figure, leading to an extra $6.525MM in taxes, meaning the club is effectively paying $13.775MM for Ottavino’s services in 2022.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic first reported the Mets signing Ottavino and the two-year with opt-out structure (Twitter links). Jeff Passan of ESPN first had the dollar figures.
Mets and Padres… so many moves
And only one team can win it all… or even neither… this makes it even more exciting to watch from the outside.
Neither of them will crack the first round. Padres will sell after a sub .500 season
Lol, please post your NL playoff teams then.
*gets popcorn*
That was not smart. Jealous? A Phillies fan? 🙂
Seriously, once the playoffs start, crazy things can happen. Look what happened to the Dodgers. That was arguably worse than what happened to the Mets.
One thing is obvious: The Mets and Padres will have numerous, or many, exiting, regular season games won. The playoffs? Who knows? The chances look better and better for the Mets. Screw the Padres. 🙂
Yes, and the Pirates will win the World Series going undefeated but with a couple close games against the Tigers.
Pirates
DBacks
Marlins
gNats
Mets moves are more reactionary due to the influx of players who became free agents. Now I’m wondering if any other moves will be made, or even trades.
When half your team hits free agency you have to sign players to fill spots. It’s not reactionary it’s necessary to fill out the roster. They’ve rebuilt a rotation and a bullpen.
And the Mets are not necessarily as blessed as the Dodgers because they can’t at the moment bring up guys major league ready, especially pitching. They didn’t have a lot of minor league prospect depth. This year Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez will get their shots, and maybe Mark Vientos gets traded. Getting traded helped Amed Rosario and Andres Gimenez. Maybe with Francisco Lindor signed to play shortstop for a decade it is time to move Ronnie Mauricio. So filling in from within isn’t an option for the Mets right now, but may be a way to package and get them out from under the McCann and Ruf contracts.
The Mets earlier in the season manufactured runs by hitting behind runners to the opposite field, going first to third, putting the ball in play and making the defense make the play. They also had longer at bats, took more pitches, worked at getting the other teams starters out of the game. Second half of the season they got away from that. My suggestion: BAN Pete Alonso from participating in the home run derby. tell him to take 3 days off. Rest! He looked so worn out sexond half.
That’s correct,Howie!!
Ruf is due 3M. What’s to get out from?
Getting traded didn’t ‘help’ Giminez. He always had a solid shot at being an AS caliber player. Rosario, on the other hand… Only the Alderson-Van Wagenen-Wilpon-Cohen Mets could have failed to realize they had an 11 WAR middle infield on hand for $5.7m in combined salary, dealing away from a position of strength while having innumerable holes elsewhere on the roster, increasing salaries ninefold just in this past season alone because of that trade and extension while forcing payroll to $350m just not to be worse in 2023 than they were in 2022.
It’s truly incredible.
What’s the real story? That Cohen has to send payroll plus LT penalties to half a billion a year to paper over his blunders. Instead we’re getting “Omigod, the Mets are as good as they were last year! It’s genius!!”
Right, because guys can hit behind the runner at will but somehow don’t have the bat control to beat shifts.
really surprised this is the most common response instead of the cries about “buying championships” or “this is why we need a salary cap.” Of course if this was the Dodgers or Yankees……………
1 year 11 mil?
10 years, 315 million. He gets the Correa money.
He is good (good at pitching)
He was also good in the Garden of Eden as well, let’s go out for ribs, but keep away from the apple pie…
Excellent move.
Time for Dombrowski to trade for Hendriks, even if he has to include McGarry.
No thanks. Hold on to McGarry.
Pretty solid offseason albeit an expensive one. They’re just as good as last season and arguable a decent amount better. The only weakness I see is a lack of power, but that can be fixed with some bench pieces and a deadline acquisition.
Agreed, Von. Unless Baty and Alvarez take a massive leap forward, the lineup as currently constructed cannot compete with the Phillies or Braves.
@HE Pennypacker: disagree. People seem to forget how many runs the Mets scored last year. Braves scored the 3rd most runs per game in MLB last year at 4.87 runs. Mets were tied for 5th with 4.77 and the Phillies were 7th at 4.61.
Braves lost Swanson, Philliez should have a full season of Harper plus Turner, but Mets should have zero problem competing with both of them.
Harper will be missing at least half the season after TJ surgery.
I think 2022 run totals are a bit deceiving for the Phillies and Braves. Phillies started the season with Gregorious and Herrera. Segura and Harper missed a ton of time. Braves lost Albies. If you look at the 2nd half of the season, I think that’s a more accurate expectation for the Phillies and Braves offense. To your point, Mets were able to score runs fairly consistently, but they did seem to run out of steam in the final months of the season, dropping a full run in average runs per game. I think it will be hard for them to replicate that offense success again without more power, but I also don’t think they have to, as the pitching depth is vastly improved.
@Silent Bob Very true, but important to remember, he missed a lot of time last year after the HPB by Snell.
@Silent Bob23: wwwwwhoops! Forgot all about Harper’s TJ surgery. So much going on this offseason.
@von: It’s funny because the Mets had some pretty glaring holes in their offense in the first half of the season last year: DH, Catcher, and 3rd base.
They addressed half of the DH problem with Vogelbach (who they’ll now have for a full season) and hopefully some combination of Alvarez/Vientos can help with the other half.
Catching was brutal offensively throughout the year, but got a little better with Nido getting hot (OPS .489 in the first half, .756 in the second half) and will hopefully get some punch from Alvarez and perhaps Narvaez if he turns it around. Maybe even McCann if he sticks around because he can’t get much worse.
Third base had Escobar hitting a .676 OPS in the first half with a .825 in the second half. Throw in Baty and hopefully they’ll get better production there.
Of course, everything hinges on ‘ifs’, but I don’t see how the Braves or Phillies lineups are much better than the Mets’. They’re all solid teams top to bottom.
@rct Agreed. Mets lack power, but not offense. That’s just a misconception. I think it’ll all come down to health. Mets offense remained relatively healthy last year while their pitching staff did not. Phillies offense was devastated with injuries, and Harper will miss time this year as well. I think Phillies fans are also banking on a return to form from Castellanos who was pretty terrible during the regular season last year. If he bounces back, that lineup is deadly, even without Harper. As for the Braves, I just think they’re so well balanced. It’s going to be a wild year. I like all 3 teams on paper, but it never plays out the way you expect it to.
Mets do not “lack” power since they finished at about league average and not below league average. At the end of the day run differential determines W/L based on hitting, pitching, and fielding.
What should they do differently?
@dugmet Mets finished 16 in homers hit last year. Braves finished 2nd. Phillies 6th. That’s a significant gap, and when your offense slumps, you need a few guys able to pop a random homerun.
Their lineups, especially the braves, were also way more reliant on that random HR for offensive production than the Mets. The Mets work counts better and rally more consistently
Right, but in big series against aces, hits are few and far in between. It’s why teams live or die by the homer in the playoffs. To your point though the Mets offense can carry them through the regular season.
Amen dugmet. “Power” is overated. Mets had a heck of year offensively in 2022. Top 10 in MLB in categories like OPS, Slugging, RBI, OBP. Hopefully a repeat of this in 23. A healthy pitching staff with little DL action is what they need to happen.
Yeah, they managed to be tied 5th in runs scored, despite being tied 15th for home runs and they were also 2nd in batting average, 2nd in on base percentage and 8th in slugging percentage.
@VonPurpleHayes:: Royals finished 24th in HR in 2015 and 21st in HR in 2014 and went to the WS in consectutive years prompting teams and fans to think Small Ball was the answer. Short term trends don’t mean much. What is consistent however is run differential. The Mets would have likely beaten the Padres and maybe progressed farther in the post-season except Scherzer and their #3 starter flopped while deGrom struggled in his last couple of starts.
Mets did not have a Healthy Marte for August and September.
Mets lack of power is partially due to Citifield. CBP and Truist park are homer havens.
Maybe, though not a fact. More to be done,too. We will see. 🙂
Their pitching though, potentially makes the Mets overall — a 101-win team last season — an extremely competitive team for the division championship.
They need a bit more in the pen for sure.
I think their pen is really good as of now. They have a solid bridge to Diaz. Combined with strong starting pitching, it’s going to be tough to score on this team. More additions would be nice, but honestly if they stop right now, they’re one of the best teams in the NL.
Von, imagine Raley/Ottavino in the 7th, Hendricks in the 8th, Diaz in the 9th?
That would be the best pen in baseball, but it would cost prospects, which sort of contradicts Cohen’s 3-year plan. Still, for the right price, I’d do it.
Forgot about Robertson too
@HE Packer: They signed Robertson as an option for the 7th or 8th inning.
1. This is a fantastic move.
2. They shouldn’t be done with the bullpen. Trade for Liam Hendricks and the back end is formidable.
Or sign Chafin
Just when you think they’re done…love it!
I didn’t think they were done, and they still probably aren’t.
What’s crazy is, I expect them to make a big splash at the trade deadline too.
I wasn’t sure if they were done. Sometimes I thought they were done but then I would think maybe they’re not done. This morning I thought they were done but then after lunch I thought maybe they’re not done.
It’s win the chip or Bust for the Mets. They aren’t getting younger.
Dbacks – that’s the plan of course! No guarantee based on past history of epic collapses though.
I never was a met fan but as I got older I got to appreciate some of their players. I never liked teams who buy their championship. However I get what the Mets are doing. The time is now. I love Buck and I want him to do what Dusty did. Great managers.
No one is getting any younger. What with the retirement of Benjamin Button and all.
LOL – who are you comparing to Benjamin Button?! Made me chuckle, thanks for that.
hate these stupid opt outs… love the signing though
How do opt-outs affect you? They are just a negotiating option used to bridge gaps between different contract lengths. If a deal with an opt-out is what the market will bear, so be it.
Why does something have to affect someone for them to have an opinion about it? I hate yellow cars but they zero affect on me. Let the man hate opt outs – for the record I hate them too. Also for the record I have no idea if I am using affect correctly as I always confuse effect/affect and am too lazy to look it up ( I just assumed you were using correctly)
Thanks and you make a fair point. Affect is a verb and effect is a noun, eg things that affect you have an effect on you.
So in a Effect you’re being Affected by not knowing when your lack of knowing the Effect of not knowing Affects your ability to be Effective
I knew it was something simple to remember – just never can lol.
RAVEN: (R)emember (A)ffect (V)erb (E)ffect (N)oun
I like that!
Haha. Thanks for clearing that up blin7.
and now after seeing your response. I reserve my unnecessary sarcasm and now owe you an apology for it. have a good holiday.
relax there big fella… never said it affected me in the sense that oh crap my life is freaking destroyed. relax there boo baa. I have a right to express my opinion. how does My opinion affect your life? shouldn’t, right? moving along then…
Of course you do, as I do mine.
obviously lol… you didn’t see my comment above this one that apologized for my sarcasm
But it wasn’t clear who you were addressing.
it would be you, sir lol
As a cards fan, he was one of the good ones who got away. Always wondered why he got placed on waivers when there were way worse options. Glad he’s had a great career
Actually, he kind of belongs in New York. He grew up here in Brooklyn, learned to play in Prospect Park Little League, and attended the Berkeley-Carroll School less than a mile from my house in Park Slope, across Prospect Park and about two miles from the site of Ebbets Field at Bedford Avenue and Montgomery Street.
This is win or heads roll? I can’t wrap my head around this payroll.
Why? Eppler has done a fine job and will be needed if they have any chance at Ohtani next offseason.
Alderson is running on fumes and is going to be replaced with a new PBO sooner than later regardless.
Eppler has done a fine job
===========================
I am curious why you would think that. I presume that, if I were to offer Ottavino $14.5M/2, I could’ve signed him as well.
I may be wrong, but I believe Alderson is President of the team on the business side now. I believe Eppler is the highest ranked baseball ops exec.
Alderson is supposedly now an advisor to Steve Cohen.
@CJML: More like win or lose and keep trying. George Steinbrenner is dead.
Maybe. This is like video game roster construction.
-Press (R3) to erase Cap Penalties-
I shouldn’t be shocked anymore with Cohen’s spending, but I am! Thought maybe Robertson was the replacement for Ottavino. Happy to have him back!
Me too, rct!
Now I’m just waiting on the inevitable comment:
“So the Mets are actually paying him $28M with the luxury tax!”
Inevitable comment lol
It looks like Robertson is the replacement for Lugo and Ottavino is the replacement for… well, um… Ottavino.
Robertson and Raley replace Lugo and May.
Raley replaces Joely Rodriguez as the lefty in the pen. Lucchesi and Peterson are also lefties that will be spot starter/long relief options.
Personally, I wanted Chafin over Ottavino, but this is still a good move if he doesn’t have one of his down years.
Why did I think this already happened?
Maybe because your IQ isn’t so high, LOL!
It’s funny that the GM has completely ignored their lack of run production. Maybe he’s decided he will actually trade prospects in July to upgrade the offense for the final stretch. Lots of great teams stacked with pitching still lose in the postseason in 1-0 and 2-1 games all the time.
@Nico ….the Mets were 3rd in the NL behind only the Dodgers and Braves and 5th overall in MLB in runs per game in 2022. The bats went cold when the weather turned in late Sept and didn’t recover for the playoffs, but for 5 and a half months the offense was solid. That can happen to any team. In the playoffs this year Trent Grisham became Mike Trout and Aaron Judge along with the Yankees top 5 RPG offense disappeared. That’s baseball.
They also had a staggering record (74-5?) when they scored 4 or more runs.
Fair, and they lost Marte at a very inopportune time.
@Walloper- So you’re accepting the fact that the team will be built with the same foundation as last year and possibly watch the bats not produce as the weather turns cold again? You’re gonna leave that up the old adage of “that’s baseball?” I get it that this game lets so many unthinkable things happen. As a cubs fan I get it! And I’m not even hating on or rooting against the Mets. They are a very interesting team to me. I’d rather add some more consistent bats that get the bat on the ball and put it in play. Timely hitting and doing what the moment calls for is exactly why the Phillies went as far as they did. They weren’t a perfect team either, but they were better rounded to succeed in the postseason. Did the Mets somehow win points with their fandom for only being so good for the first 5 1/2 months of the season? What do their 5 1/2 month trophy and rings look like? It just seems insane to spend that much money in one offseason and still have a lob sided team. The Astros (gawd I can’t stand them) seem to understand the balance of the various parts of the game and building without spending all the money in the world.
@Nico, the team has a plan and is executing it. Spend whatever it takes now to win now and spend whatever it takes on scouting and analytics to win in the long run. Cohen has said from the beginning he planned on copying the Dodgers and he has. I’m a Dodger fan, not a Mets fan, but I like Cohen’s style, so I’ve been following all their moves. Can’t wait for the Mark Walter/Guggenheim vs Steve Cohen “Shohei Showdown!!”
As a Met fan, what was more concerning to me was the way their top starters folded the last couple of weeks. I’m hoping they manage JV’s and Max’s innings so they aren’t worn down by the end of the season, and I really hope Senga can have the impact they want.
As far as the offense, I’m sure the Braves didn’t think Harris and Grissom would contribute the way they did, but they did. Along the same lines, the Mets will need Alvarez, Baty, Vientos at least to provide more XBH power than what they got from C and DH last year, which I think they should and will.
The crazy thing is, if the Mets do get Ohtani, which is still a long shot BTW. He’ll cost them $100 million per year ALONE… LMFAO!
Strong move. NYM have built a better pen (on paper) than last season. I’d say apart from deals to free roster space (McCann, Ruf) they are done. But then – who knows with Cohen.
Nice signing. Was really hoping the Twins could lure him away. They need a solid veteran in the pen. Would Lugo be a little cheaper?
Robertson & Ottavino is a pretty good bridge to Diaz. Has to be up there with the better 7,8,9 guys in the league. Add in Raley, drew smith, E. Hernandez, Ridings, Lucchesi, Curtiss, Brigham and possibly Megill or Peterson and the depth is definitely there.
There are even more possibilities for the bullpen that may not make the opening day roster. The Mets took Zach Greene from the Yankees in the Rule 5 Draft, so if he doesn’t make it they have to offer him back to the Yankees. Tommy Hunter’s back on a minor league deal. I believe Stephen Nogosek is out of options, so he’ll have to be DFA’d if he doesn’t make the roster. Add them to the 12 you mentioned and that makes 15 pitchers fighting for 8 bullpen spots. Syracuse could have a deep staff in 2023.
Best teams in baseball as of right now:
1. Astros
2. Yankees
3. Mets
4. Dodgers
5. Padres
6. Phillies
No surprise it’s the teams that spend.
I think the Braves certainly belong on here.
So you think the Braves are a 3rd place team…bahahahaha
Yes but a wild card team. Maybe leapfrogging Philly depending on how much time Harper misses.
@tut A third place team made it to the World Series, and the last two teams to make it to the World Series for the NL won less than 90 games, so being one of the very top teams during the season is t what it’s cracked up to be.
Bwahahahahha… you know what’s so funny about what you said? Implying other poster is dumb for picking a 3rd place team as one of the best in baseball, 2 months after a 3rd place team went all the way to World Series and was 2 games away from winning it all.
@ Nico huh? Wasn’t trying to imply that at all, was just saying where a team ends up in the regular season doesn’t mean much as long as they make it to the October dance.
@Walloper- my reply was actually to King tut just like yours. I didn’t even read your comment till now, or I think we prob both replied to him at about the same time.
Best teams in baseball as of right now.
30 way tie for first place with a record of 0-0
All teams
Well said hiflew.
Braves are better than the Dodgers. Dodgers aren’t that great rn. The Mets have 2 ace pitchers who are pretty old they are gonna rely heavily on.
1. Yankees
2. Astros
3. Padres
4. Braves
5. Cardinals
6. Mets
Depth matters greatly.
It’s interesting to me how high people are rating the Yanks off of one very solid addition to the pitching staff. Judge had a historic season that is pretty unlikely to ever happen again. Even with that, the Yankees were no match for the Stros. I just don’t see how anyone can rate the Yankees higher to the Astros.
@von it’s because of are young talent.
Yanks are still very good, but in my opinion, very far from the Stros, who have even more young talent.
Well it really all depends on Volpe I think. But don’t forget the young pitching we have also.
*Our young talent
IQ still highest
I don’t think the Cardinals belong on here, but they will likely win their weak division so I understand the rankings.
@Nick: It’s not clear to me that the Yankees are any better than the Mets or Padres.
I think it could go either way with the NY teams. I think they are both top 3 teams.
NickofTime:
I don’t know how you could have the Dodgers above any of those teams with a straight face. Atlanta needs to be there – arguably in the top 3. And I’m not sure why you have the Yankees so high? They signed one injury prone pitcher and Judge will never replicate last season again. Plus, Volpe and the kids, while promising, have done nothing yet. Care to explain? It’s far too early for this type of ranking anyway! -Cheers
I think the Yankees pitching will be top notch. Same as the Mets. I think that’s what separates them from the pack (along with Houston) in my opinion. Dodgers are still the Dodgers. Great lineup and rotation although they’ve taken a step backwards this offseason. Atlanta has too many holes on the roster to be a top 5 team. I have them around 7/8 with STL.
Like Otto, good pitcher and could mitigate the walks issue if would lay off slider after slider.. FB reaches upper 90’s and should throw more often than he does.
Like to ask MLBTR which team stories on average get the most clicks? NYY? NYM? LAD? maybe BOS cuz they have all of New England to draw on? STL? Curious
It’s got to be NYM this year. Whether it’s the NLE fans or pure Cohen haters, this threads are always packed.
Tigers probably the least.
On Pro Sports Daily (am I allowed to name another site?), the Mets always have had the most activity by a fairly large margin.
So this is basically $7 million per year for a good but not elite reliever. Finally a deal within normal range.
It’s iffy given the two setup men to get to Diaz will be 37 and 38.
Enjoy another September collapse, Mets fans.
Glad to see the FO has learned from its… yeah, never mind.
This is a good signing. Both parties wanted a reunion. Bullpen looking better than last year.
Fantastic!
why did yall use a pic of Ottavino on the Rockies? He was literally just on the Mets
Things like this don’t surprise me anymore with this site/app.
I think I remember them saying that they don’t necessarily pick the photo for their story. I think the publishing interface selects the photo. It’s also why sometimes the wrong player’s B Ref profile is linked if the name is the same as another player’s.
It seems to me that the Mets are spending a fortune just replacing what they lost.
@onenatsfan Yes in a way but it would have cost more to keep what the Mets had over the long run; in a few years a big part of this will all be gone just like the 48 million tied up in Cano and McCann alone; 2 useless pieces held over from the last failure of a GM
Love this signing btw
Not really in the BP though. Diaz and Ottavino are now back, but Robertson and Raley should be a big step up from Lugo / May and Joely. So I’d say on paper the BP is noticeably better (though we all know RPs can be very up and down year to year).
I also like JV and senga over degrom and bassitt, but some might disagree. And I definitely think Baty, Alvarez, Vientos will come up and contribute more this year.
It’s funny because they replaced 3/5ths of their rotation with FAs but it would have been even more expensive to keep the same rotation. deGrom, Bassitt, and Walker all got big contracts. Verlander has a higher AAV than deGrom, but Senga and Quintana are cheaper than Bassitt and Walker.
Exactly… they would’ve had to spend regardless
@onenatsfan They are, and it’s actually worse than that. They’re spending a fortune, hobbling the team for 2024 by accumulating the oldest team in MLB (which collapsed in 2022, so “hey, let’s get even older!”), and ensuring that Cohen will have to spend $350-400m just to lock down 2nd place in the NL East for each of the next three years–at least..
Amazing that an MLB FO couldn’t see the obvious consequences of the Lindor deal and extension, and the Scherzer deal.
Never liked the Lindor extension, and not at all a fan of the Correa contract, but like it or not, they’ll be part of our core for the next decade.
@Ma4170 I don’t think it’ll work like that, if you meant that literally. Imagine the left side of your infield in today’s fast, faster, fastest game manned by a 37 and 38 year old. Heck, if they age like most stars who were never really superstars except for one peak season, they won’t be the same players in even just half that time. In 2027 they’ll very probably be 2-3 win players (assuming no extreme degradation or injury) to whom you’ll be paying $60-65 million, combined—guys who’ll be blocking prospects, former stars who you’d love by then to have off the team, but who are untradable and who you still owe something like $320m to, combined for their extreme decline phase.
True, it’s more likely neither will even be in a Met jersey by 2028 if the Correa deal happens, which I’m doubtful it will at this point (or maybe that’s wishful thinking)
This notion that Ottavino is costing the Mets $13.775 due to the CBT penalties is flawed logic. The CBT penalties should ratably be allocated across all salaries not the just the last one signed
I agree – my comment was meant in jest (if you were replying to me above).
Can the Mets give the Marlins maybe a couple players to keep it fair?
McCann and Ruf are all yours. We’ll even send Ms. Ng a couple signed portraits of Cohen to sweeten the deal.
I still can’t believe he’s a righty. I spent the entire year of him being in Boston thinking he was a lefty for some reason (I listen to games rather than watch them.)
His number is 0. That’s gotta be a lefty, at least mentally.
now we work to get Liam hendricks
Does every Met article have to do the full deep dive on the payroll? Its like whenever we’d read about a shortstop we had to be reminded there were 4 big ones this off-season like it was being written for people who don’t follow the game.
Well said. It’s how I feel any time I watch a vid on quantum computing.
Oh yeah the big O, the Olive Garden is coming back to Flushings
For Otto’s age 37 and 38 seasons—is this the oldest team in MLB history?
This a good thing, especially with Lugo gone.
Literally translated “Ottavino” means “Eighth Inning Wine Drinker.”
@baseballteam That warranted an upvote. And a “salud!”
Good move by Ottavino. By signing in New York, he has access again to his pitching lab in Harlem.
It’s truly Rediculous what Steve Cohen is doing…..
And on top of that…
… it’s ridiculous.