The Mets spent over $250 million on free agents, including signing pitcher Max Scherzer to a record 3-year $130 million deal, a record $43.3 million a season. There is also talk that the Mets are not done adding free agents to their team.
It was a rough year for Met fans in 2021, and it was clear that the club needed a lot more than initially thought one year ago.
Scherzer was the perfect fit for the Mets. He didn’t get a qualifying offer, which means the Mets, who need to build up their farm system, can hang on to their draft picks. They needed a top of the rotation starter, specifically after Noah Syndergaard left to go to the Angels, and they got the one pitcher on the free-agent market who would be considered an ace, even if he is 38 years old.
While Scherzer’s deal will rightfully get most of the headlines, the Mets added three other players over the weekend. They signed infielder Eduardo Escobar to a 2-year $20 million deal and the inked outfielder Mark Canha to a two-year contract worth $26.5 million. Then, they signed outfielder Starling Marte to a four-year deal worth $78 million. For all four players, the Mets spent over $250 million, and they may not be done.
This is what fans live for. When your team struggles, you want to see the club go out and make improvements. If that means spending a ton of money, then so be it.
Teams charge astronomical prices for tickets, parking, merchandise, and food. If you go to a baseball game in New York City, the prices are ridiculous. You can accept it more if the owners put the money back into the team.
Photo: —All franchises in Major League Baseball make money. Many, if not all, the owners are billionaires and have the wherewithal to spend a huge amount of money to make their teams better. Major League Baseball even has revenue sharing to help the finances of some of the teams in smaller markets. Yet, most of the owners refuse to spend the money that their fans put into their teams.
The Pittsburgh Pirates have a net worth of $1.3 billion. Their payroll will be around $40-45 million in 2022. It is inexcusable to pocket that much revenue each season and not pour it into the team. The Pittsburgh Pirate fans should raise hell that their owner cares more about making a profit than he does about producing a quality Major League Baseball team.
The Baltimore Orioles are another team that makes you scratch your head. They have their own television network in association with the Washington Nationals. The majority of teams in MLB make their money via their television deal. The fact that the Orioles own their own TV network only adds to the profitability of their organization. Yet, their owner refuses to spend the money to make their team competitive year in and year out.
It’s not just me who feels this way. Senior MLB writer Brittany Ghiroli tweeted out this exact thing on Monday night.
People in my mentions complaining that the Mets spending spree now means smaller market teams won't be able to sign anyone.
Repeat after me: There are no poverty franchises. Just ones that act like it.
— Britt Ghiroli (@Britt_Ghiroli) November 29, 2021
The last two lines in her tweet speak volumes – Repeat after me: There are no poverty franchises, just ones that act like it.
Spending money and improving your team is what all owners of baseball teams should do—instead, many look at the bottom line and the profit they make. When you hear people say that teams like the Mets and the Texas Rangers, who have spent over $500 million on free agency so far, are the problems with baseball, just remember the line from Ghiroli and some of the teams who don’t spend money.
They are the problem with baseball. They refuse to spend money even after all the revenue sharing, and the fact that they make hundreds of millions of dollars a year. It’s pathetic.
They’re the problems with baseball.
Not the owners who care.
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