With the Mets in the process of selling, attention turns to the offseason, where the greatest player on the planet will be a free agent in Shohei Ohtani.
Given Steve Cohen’s deep pockets and his proven willingness to spend big to build a winner, many see the Mets as an obvious candidate to win the Ohtani sweepstakes. But Gio says Cohen has already revealed that he doesn’t want to spend $600 million on one player, but people just weren’t listening.
“When Steve Cohen had that press conference in the middle of the year, everyone said he didn’t say anything and it was useless,” Gio said. “No, he did say stuff, you had to pay attention.
“The biggest thing he said was that losing money at the clip he is losing it is not sustainable. That told me they were out on Shohei Ohtani. And he also talked about rebuilding the farm system. The Scherzer deal, the Robertson deal, it makes me think they’re more concerned about the long-term success, and the farm system, and bringing guys up, than they are about winning right now.”
Cohen has always stressed his priority of replenishing the farm system, so there can come a day when the Mets aren’t setting payroll records to field a competitive team, and Gio believes that mindset coupled with the team’s failures since last September means Cohen won’t break the bank for Ohtani.
“Getting burned with the payroll, and the terrible year they’ve had this year, I don’t think they want to give Shohei Ohtani $55-60 million a year,” Gio said.
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