The Mets had made a very substantial offer to Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who was one of the most coveted free agents in baseball history. They lost out on Yamamoto, but money wasn't the reason.
We mention this because it is one way to take advantage of one’s big-market status, and of owner Steve Cohen’s deep pockets.
But the Mets and president of baseball operations David Stearns were also garnering industry praise on Thursday for another, more subtle flex: The acquisition of pitcher Adrian Houser and outfielder Tyrone Taylor from Milwaukee.
Houser will be due just short of $6 million in salary arbitration this year -- less than half the cost in free agency for depth starters, including the Mets’ own $13 million deal with Luis Severino -- and Taylor just under $2 million.
In order to get them, the Mets surrendered a minor league pitcher, Coleman Crow, who was left unprotected and passed over in this year’s Rule 5 draft. Because Crow underwent Tommy John surgery, he would have been easy for a team to keep -- he would have been on the injured list -- and yet was not chosen.
Houser has a lifetime ERA of 4.00 and FIP (fielding independent pitching) of 4.19. He will not be mistaken for an Opening Day starter. But the Mets have an alarming dearth of competent pitching, and needed at least one Houser before spring training.
Essentially, the Mets swooped in to buy two useful players from a small-market team facing deepening financial difficulties.
The Brewers are among the teams facing a loss of revenue because of the bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, which held the broadcast rights to 14 teams. Those projected losses have caused many teams to tighten their belts (though the Players Association would argue that the belt tightening is unnecessary).
The Brewers, Mariners and Rays are among the teams openly cutting payroll for next season. Knowing that -- and knowing the players themselves from his time running the Brewers -- Stearns swooped in and made a highly favorable baseball trade.
All along, as the Mets waited for Yamamoto to choose a team, they have watched one starting pitcher after another sign elsewhere. Through it all, Stearns has been calmly reassuring those who ask that he is confident about acquiring the pitching depth required to field a competitive team in 2024. As it turns out, he had his eye on a deal like this as an alternative to, say, placing a $45 million bet on Seth Lugo.
He has also been seeking a right-handed hitting, defensively strong outfielder like Michael A. Taylor. The recently acquired Taylor can play all three outfield positions very well, and lessens the pressure on Stearns to spend more than he believes is rational on a free agent (though it’s too soon to rule out Michael A. Taylor and his ilk).
In other words, the Mets tightened up their run prevention in two ways with this trade, and all it took was money. It’s how a big market team should operate.