The heavy rumors late Saturday night that Kodai Senga was in heavy conversations with the Red Sox to sign with them were in direct conflict with Kodai’s desire to sign with a team that was ready to “win now.” A team that wasn’t in direct conflict with that desire … a team that won 101 games last year … a team that has a vision? The Mets checked all those boxes.
And they checked one more late Saturday night.
Right-hander Kodai Senga and the New York Mets are in agreement on a five-year, $75 million contract, sources familiar with the agreement tell ESPN. There were a few last-minute questions about the deal being finalized, but they got worked out and Senga is a Met pending physical.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 11, 2022
The Mets, more specifically Billy Eppler with Steve Cohen’s money, have certainly responded to losing Jacob deGrom and Taijuan Walker (and now most likely, Chris Bassitt.) Senga was 87-44 for the SoftBank Hawks of the NPB with a 2.59 ERA in 1,089 innings. He had a K rate of 10.3/9, but walked 3.4/9. But the good news is that he has a split fingered fastball that many scouts say is a legitimate major league out pitch and would translate well across the pond.
So the Mets go from:
- Scherzer
- deGrom
- Bassitt
- Walker
- Carrasco
to …
- Scherzer
- Verlander
- Senga
- Quintana
- Carrasco
The 2023 version of the rotation compares to the previous season favorably, depending on how much of a sure thing you feel Senga is, or how much you feel deGrom will bounce back for the Rangers this season. But if you feel 2023 is a notch below or a notch above (I think they’re right there), the 2023 version will be good now while giving them flexibility to make a run at Juan Soto in 2025. (I’m going to beat that drum until the sticks are through the skin, but go look at how much money comes off the books after 2024 … enough to get Soto AND lock up guys like Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil.) I’d call that … vision.
Moral of the story: Don’t make Steve Cohen mad. (And don’t let Xander Bogaerts go to the Padres.)
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