Mets owner buys — some time
The most interesting news from the trade deadline wasn’t a name. It was a number.
Mets owner Steve Cohen agreed to pay $78,915,591 to the teams that took Mark Canha (Brewers), Eduardo Escobar (Angels), Tommy Pham (Diamondbacks), Max Scherzer (Rangers), and Justin Verlander (Astros) off his hands.
If Verlander gets to 140 innings and decides to pick up his $35 million option for 2024, Cohen will kick in an additional $17.5 million to the Astros.
The Rays, Orioles, Pirates, and Athletics all have smaller payrolls than the money Cohen paid to get better prospects in those trades.
That Cohen assembled a team last winter with a record $366 million payroll was the talk of baseball. Now Cohen has used the trade deadline to put his team in a rebuilding phase aimed at contention in 2025.
The Mets went from all-in to bailing out in a few days.
“It’s a moment in time when other clubs were thinking very short term and I was thinking more intermediate, long term. And so, I was able to take advantage of that,” Cohen said.
Now that the Mets see next season as a transition, the next step will be to determine if GM Billy Eppler remains in charge of baseball operations or Cohen hires somebody — former Brewers president of baseball operations David Stearns? — above him. Manager Buck Showalter, 67, also will have to decide if he sticks around.
Three-time All-Star Pete Alonso is set for free agency after the 2024 season. He could be traded this winter unless he agrees to an extension. Cohen has said he does not blame Showalter for the team underachieving this season.
A few other thoughts on the deadline:
■ Aug. 1 may be too early for the deadline. With the 12-team playoff format, so many teams are borderline contenders. Another 7-10 days may be needed to create more teams that are sellers.
■ As Cohen bailed, Padres owner Peter Seidler decided to keep trying and perhaps go down with the ship.
San Diego acquired first basemen JiMan Choi (Pirates) and Garrett Cooper (Marlins), lefty Rich Hill (Pirates), and righthander Scott Barlow (Royals).
The Padres are four games out in the National League wild-card race and would have to hop over four teams to get there.
“They’d be dangerous if they can get in, like the Phillies last season,” an executive said.
Hill is now on his 13th team. The pride of Milton says he plans to play next season. He needs one more team on his résumé to match the record of 14 set by Edwin Jackson from 2003-19.
■ Eduardo Rodriguez made an interesting decision, invoking his contractual rights to void a trade to the Dodgers, citing his desire to keep his family in Detroit where they are comfortable.
But the sides revisited the deal with Rodriguez’s agent seeking a sweetener from the Dodgers. No deal was made.
Now he has the right to void his contract after this season and re-enter free agency. Rodriguez has a 3.50 ERA over 33 starts with the Tigers since leaving the Red Sox after the 2021 season. Free agency certainly will be tempting.
But his unwillingness to get into a pennant race without first getting a contract boost could hurt him in the eyes of some teams.
■ Somebody has to win the AL Central. But no team expressed much of a desire to do that based on their actions at the deadline.
The Guardians damaged their immediate prospects by trading Aaron Civale to the Rays for injured Triple A first base prospect Kyle Manzardo.
They also sent first baseman Josh Bell to Miami for an infield prospect. Bell was not having a particularly good season but had hit in the middle of the lineup.
The first-place Twins sent Jorge López to Miami for slightly better righthanded setup man Dylan Floro. That was it.
The Twins or Guardians could well win the division with a losing record.
Extra bases
MLB Network’s research determined that 573 prospects were traded from 2013-22 around the trade deadline. Only 17 of those players became what the network labeled as “impact players” with an additional 45 becoming regular contributors. Baseball fans have benefited from the increased media attention paid to minor leaguers. But that also has created a false sense of expectation in many cases and a misplaced desire to hoard players who in many cases will ultimately be fringe big leaguers if they get that far . . . The Dodgers now have twice as many members of the 2018 Red Sox (Mookie Betts, Ryan Brasier, Joe Kelly, and J.D. Martinez) as the Red Sox (Rafael Devers and Chris Sale )... Jason Varitek
retired having caught a record four nohitters. He was matched by Carlos Ruiz
in 2015. Now Houston’s Martin Maldonado has three after catching Framber Valdez’s no-hitter against Cleveland on Tuesday. Houston’s Dusty Baker has managed four no-hitters. Walter Alston of the Dodgers has the record with seven. It helped that he had Sandy Koufax, who threw four of them . . . Former UConn righthander Devin Kirby, who throws a knuckleball, was signed by the Twins out of the California Collegiate League. Kirby also throws a slider and a low-90s fastball, according to the Hartford Courant. Twins pitching coach Pete Maki, a former University of New Haven coach, helped make the signing happen. The only knuckleballer to pitch in the majors this season is Matt Waldron, who made a spot start for the Padres on June 24 and threw 13 knuckleballs among his 62 pitches . . . José Cuas,
winner of the 2022 Tony Conigliaro Award, was supposed to receive the award this week when the Royals come to Fenway Park. But Cuas was traded to the Cubs and the award presentation will have to wait. Cuas was honored for his determination in making it to the majors after working as a FedEx driver. He started his career as an infielder, converted to the mound in 2018 and made his major league debut in 2022
. . . All the best to Jim Davis, who is retiring from the Globe after a 44-year career as a photojournalist. Jim was a great teammate covering the Red Sox and one of the best sports photographers in the business . . . Happy birthday to Ray Culp, who is 82. The righthander from Texas was 71-58 with a 3.50 ERA for the Red Sox from 1968-73 and was an All-Star in 1969. Culp was obtained from the Cubs to boost the rotation after Jim Lonborg injured his left knee in a skiing accident in 1968. Culp was 16-6 with a 2.91 ERA in 1968. Arm troubles led to his retirement at 32 after the 1973 season and Culp went into real estate.