SantaFeToday.com Santa Fe’s Hometown News
By Arnie Leshin
The way you look at it, the New York Mets have just begun, although what has transpired the last few days is what their owner Steve Cohen had in mind when he went to bat for the franchise he grew up with while being a die-hard fan in Long Island.
Yup, that much was what he made clear when he came aboard in 2020 as the wealthiest owner of all professional franchises. He was slow getting started, but once he got together with his staff, he settled in. What the blue and orange was looking for after last season’s run through the National League’s Eastern Division, he went right after. He was thumbs up right at the start, heading right to San Diego to throw his first pitch as the Major League Baseball winter meetings began.
But first things first, and that meant Cohen didn’t take long to wish 2-time Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom good luck in signing a five-year deal with the Texas Rangers. Then he rolled up his sleeves, went right after the Mets and majors super righthanded reliever Edwin Diaz in a two-year deal that quickly made the Citi Field fans relieved. Then came the signing of 3-time Cy Young winner Justin Verlander to bring the Mets a new one-two punch with Max Scherezer.
Then he quickly made it a one-two-three special and the Mets even more overjoyed when he kept free agent Mets centerfielder Brandon Nimmo on a 6-year contract that totaled $138 million, and then added two more years two days later as Cohen slipped in a few more bucks.
There was plenty more goodies coming from the Mets’ front office, and if Cohen was still on the West Coast, the fans were well tuned in. There was St. Lous Cardinals’ free agent righthanded starter Jose Quintana signing on for two years, and on the same day, it acquired southpaw reliever Brooks Raley from the Tampa Bay Bucs in exchange for a pair of bullpen relievers, and that same day he got 28-year-old quality veteran bullpen right-hander Dave Roberson to sign on the dotted line for one season, and Robertson has had some dandy Yankee outings.
Just to remind you, Nimmo had never played high school baseball while growing up in Wyoming, and the reasons were there weren’t any prep school baseball programs there, and there still aren’t, so his best was playing recreational night ball.
And lo and behold, Cohen and company also found a No. 3 starting pitcher from Japan, that being 29-year-old righthander Kodsi Senga. When he signed the 5-year contract estimated at $75 million in Toyko Saturday, it was reported that he, Senga, happily told the Mets’ representatives through an interpreter he had been trying to land with a major league team that was going to win. The way it looks, he found one.
According to reports, he’s been the best hurler in Japan in most of the seven years he’s been playing for the Fukouka Softbake Hawks of the Nippon League. They say he has a variety of pitchers that drive batters dizzy. He mixes in a nifty fastball that can come low, high, to both corners, and can travel in triple-digit speed. He also is a master with the nasty curve, nasty change-up, a forkball and any other of his specials that he just provides names for.
HIs teammates love it, but opponents despise it. While he has been an unproven talent, he has been regarded as one of the better free agents on the market. He has a career record of 104-51, has an ERA of 1.89, usually strikeouts 7-8 a game, and comes off a 11-6 campaign that included a 1.24 ERA.
Jeff Jones Jr., who did some pitching in the majors with the Baltimore Orioles and Cincinnati Reds, spent the last two years pitching and playing other positions in Japan, and had lots to say regarding Senga.
“He’s nasty, has some real nasty stuff,” Jones says. “He has batters swinging late and shaking their heads after striking out. He has stuff he mixes up, has very good control and any one of his pitches serve as strikeouts. He is also a very good fielder and turns in good plays from the mound. His English isn’t much, but he’s a friendly person with a neat personality, and the fans in the USA will take to him, especially those that root for the Mets. And being in New York, he will love it.”
Now that the Mets have a third starter after he successfully passed the physical, they reported that former starter Taijuan Walker had signed a 2-year pact with the Philadelphia Phillies, but Chris Bassitt, a free agent, remains while Carlos Carasco has resigned with the Mets for another year, and that leaves 6-foot-6 left-hander David Peterson and righty Tylor Megill, who did well as a starter before a shoulder injury sent him to the injury list.
Said Mets’ general manager Billy Eppler: “We are thankful that we have Steve Cohen as our owner. He loves being here, he loves the fans, is often seen walking through the stands greeting them, has been part of every ceremony we have here, as in our Old Timers Day, and is very easy to get along with, especially if you also like the Mets.”
Eppler also added that the Mets have spoken about getting another power hitter or two, but Buck (Showalter) says it’s not a must, and even though (Pete) Alonso is the only true power hitter we have, we are not checking out more power hitters because we already have a pretty good lineup, and defensively we are also good.
There you go, Cohen is eager to do the spending, Eppler is right up there liking the way things are going, Showalter is stamping his approval, Diaz and Nimmo are happy to be back, Verlander and his wife Kate Upton, the supermodel wife, both provide the thumbs up for now being New Yorkers, and Mets fans have nothing but good to say about the way things are going their way.
How about a few choruses of “Let’s go Mets,” “Let’s go Mets”, “Let’s go Mets.” from an old Mets fan here who said bye, bye to the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers when they left for the West Coast in 1957, and in 1962 watched the new orange (Giants) and blue (Dodgers) play at the ancient Polo Grounds in Upper Manhattan across the bridge from the New York Yankees who were playing in the Bronx.
In Flushing, there’s the elevated train that separates the ramp of the annual U.S. Open Tennis Championships. SheaStadium first became the ballpark on the site until it was replaced by Citi Field, and thus it became happy days in the borough of Queens.
