After finding out about the Mets’ rebuilding plan via Max Scherzer’s comments to reporters, Evan was even more shaky when it came to his support of the team’s deadline strategy.
“Are we OK with this?” Evan said. “As much as Cohen spent on eating Scherzer and Verlander’s deals to get premium prospects back, which I appreciate, are we OK with Billy Eppler telling Max Scherzer that they’re not pursuing top-level free agents for the next two years, and it’s a transition period?
“If Cohen, and I hate to question how much he’s spending, but if you go out and buy high-level free agents in the offseason, you can compete. If their plan is not to, then they’re not going anywhere.
“We had that vision until about seven minutes ago. Unless you think Scherzer is lying or they lied to him, the Mets are rebuilding, and Billy Eppler lied to all of us on Sunday when he said they were just repurposing.”
Scherzer says he was told the Mets were looking ahead to 2025, or more likely 2026, meaning players signed or under team control through next year, even Pete Alonso, could be trade bait. If that happens, Evan would explode.
“They have to keep Pete Alonso,” Evan said. “You think I was crazy about Jacob deGrom…moving on from Pete Alonso is lunacy. It is lunacy from a baseball sense - he’s just the best, most reliable slugger in baseball, guy goers out and plays every single day - and then, you’re taking our guy, a guy they developed, a guy who should spend 15 years here and break every record in their history books.”
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