The New York Mets went into the MLB season with baseball’s highest payroll, and at the All-Star break, they’re at a disappointing fourth place in the National League East standings. But even if this season ends up being a wash for the Mets, they’ll still have plenty of money to spend as long as owner Steve Cohen is around.
So with that in mind, we should expect the Mets to make a push for baseball’s biggest free-agent prize ever: Shohei Ohtani.
Mets pitcher Kodai Senga might even be working on a recruiting pitch already.
Speaking to reporters in Seattle ahead of the MLB All-Star Game, the Japanese pitcher was asked about any possible recruiting efforts to bring Ohtani to the Mets. Senga laughed about the question but had an excellent response.
"I'm going to put this hat on him right now"
– Kodai Senga on recruiting Shohei Ohtani to the Mets pic.twitter.com/NfWHrdzwH1
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) July 10, 2023
“I’m going to put this hat on him right now,” he joked through an interpreter.
Of course, if Senga actually put a Mets hat on Ohtani’s head, he’d immediately become a legend over in Queens.
While we don’t know exactly where Ohtani will go next season (likely a West Coast team), the Mets should be somewhere in the race on deep pockets alone. Mets fans loved that Senga seemed willing to help even as a joke.