As the Mets reach a new low point with Wednesday’s loss to the Dodgers, Sal says the worst thing to happen to the organization was the lone successful season that has happened since Steve Cohen bought the team.
“The worst thing to happen to this franchise during the Steve Cohen era was the success of 2022,” Sal said. “If they did not win 101 games in the regular season, which has proved to be the aberration, they would not have given Diaz the money they did. The would not have given Brandon Nimmo the money that he got. they would not have believed in this core and chased with Verlander.”
The Mets signed Edwin Diaz to a record contract for a reliever after his dominant 2022 season, and he wound up missing all of 2023 with a knee injury, and is back on the IL after struggling badly so far in 2024. Nimmo signed an eight-year extension worth $162 million after that 2022 campaign, while Jeff McNeil inked a four-year extension a month later. It solidified a core that Sal says needs to be changed, and it wouldn’t have happened had they not won 101 games in 2022.
“Because of the success of 2022, they believed in this core group…the success of 2022 made Cohen think that they were closer than they really were,” Sal said. “If you had a bad year like last year or this year in 2022, there’s no way they would justify spending that money on those players to keep them here.
“Now they’re trying to rebuild while having bad contracts on hand, with players that are just not it.”