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Los Angeles Angels starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani throws to the plate during the second inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023, in Anaheim, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
Steve Cohen tempered expectations of the Mets in free agency this upcoming winter after pivoting the organizational focus for the 2024 season
Admitting that he told Max Scherzer that they wouldn’t be going “all in” on free agents in the offseason before trading him to the Texas Rangers, it suggested that the Mets’ long-anticipated pursuit of Los Angeles Angels superstar Shohei Ohtani was grounded before it even began.
Whether or not that was a ploy used by Cohen just to get Scherzer and Justin Verlander’s money off the books ultimately remains to be seen, but the Mets have no other choice but to hit the free agency market to address a thin pitching staff and to potentially plug in the considerable void at designated hitter in a lineup that had received little production from the spot over the last two years.
Ohtani, naturally considered the holy grail of this upcoming free-agent class, would have addressed both of those issues. His MLB-leading 44-home-run bat would seamlessly fit into a Mets lineup that already has one of the premier sluggers in the game with Pete Alonso.
But it was his arm that made him the greatest two-way talent in the game since Babe Ruth (he was 10-5 with a 3.14 ERA and 1.061 WHIP this year) that was going to earn him the richest player contract in MLB history — one that could have soared over $500 million.
Then Wednesday happened — and it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility to suggest that the Angels are cursed.
Shortly after they announced that fellow superstar Mike Trout would go back to the IL 48 hours after being activated, it was revealed that Ohtani suffered a torn UCL after…
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