PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Since the Mets weren’t willing to go to five years with Pete Alonso in free agency, it wasn’t hard for owner Steve Cohen to digest the slugger’s departure a few months ago.
Alonso got what Cohen referred to as a “great” offer from the Orioles, a five-year deal worth $155 million.
With Edwin Díaz, however, Cohen admitted that he was surprised by the closer’s decision to sign with the Dodgers.
“I did find that one perplexing,” Cohen said in an interview with Mets radio broadcaster Howie Rose. “I’m not sure exactly how Edwin arrived at that decision. Obviously it’s a personal decision on his part and I thought we made a pretty respectable bid.”
Díaz agreed to a three-year deal worth $69 million with Los Angeles. The Mets’ offer was for less money over three years, but not by much. They also indicated to Díaz that they’d be willing to go higher to keep him in Queens, but the closer had made up his mind.
“When it was getting hot and heavy when this was coming down,” Cohen said, “I felt pretty good about the fact that we had signed Devin Williams. I described it to David [Stearns], that was pretty clever because it was a really good hedge in case it was an unfavorable outcome with Edwin.”
Williams is one of the many players the Mets imported this winter, part of a roster overhaul. The coaching staff under manager Carlos Mendoza is completely different as well.
Cohen said he totally understands how hard it was for Mets fans to suddenly have to say goodbye to long-tenured Mets like Alonso and Díaz as well as Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil who were both traded this past winter.
“I felt it too by the way,” Cohen said. “The players that left were the players that I started with in my ownership, Day 1. And so I had developed pretty close relationships with some of these players. From a personal standpoint, I really felt it. First time I’ve ever been through something like that. That creates anxiety when people leave.”
But those changes to the roster opened the door to moves like the signing of Bo Bichette, an acquisition the Mets finalized right after they fell short in the Kyle Tucker sweepstakes. Asked if he believes this team is better now than it was this time last year, Cohen let his excitement about this new-look roster flow.
“I’m excited by this team,” Cohen said. “It’s different than the team we had last year, but a lot of these players that we got are playoff tested. Gamers. They performed in high pressure situations. I expect this team to be a playoff team so having players like this that have performed in those situations really gets me excited.”