The New York Mets of Major League Baseball 온라인바카라(MLB) have lost six straight games. Facing the first-place Baltimore Orioles in the American League (AL), the Mets dropped all three games to extend their losing streak to six games.
Coming off a shock sweep of the Kansas City Royals, the last-place team in the AL Central, the Mets were unable to find any momentum in their road series against Baltimore.
This puts the fourth-place Mets in the National League (NL) East at 50-61, 1.5 games behind the last-place Washington Nationals, and at this rate, it looks like it’s only a matter of time before they fall to the bottom of the division.
James McCann ringing in his hometown Mets. Photo = Baltimore Orioles social media
■ McCann, who gets 247 million from the Mets, is ‘No. 1 credit’ for beating the Mets
Notably, Baltimore backup catcher James McCann, 33, played a small role in the Mets’ losses, appearing in two games during the three-game series. McCann went 4-for-6 with a home run and five RBIs, including a 3-for-5 performance in Game 1 of the series, which marked the first time since August 12, 2017 that McCann had five RBIs in a game.
I mention McCann for a reason. It’s because the Mets are paying the bulk of McCann’s salary. McCann’s salary this year is $12 million, of which he receives $11 million from the Mets. Baltimore is paying just $1 million ($1.3 billion).
The situation is similar next year. Of McCann’s $12 million salary next year, $8 million ($10.4 billion) is paid by the Mets and $4 million ($5.2 billion) by Baltimore.
The reason the Mets are paying the bulk of McCann’s salary in Baltimore is because of the terms of the trade: The Mets agreed to a trade late last year that sent McCann, who had two years remaining on his $24 million contract, to Baltimore, with the Mets picking up $19 million and the Orioles taking the rest.
The Mets spent more than $500 million last offseason on player reinforcements, moving to get rid of high-priced players who had outlived their usefulness, even at a loss. McCann was one of them, and they made this deal to save $5 million rather than just release him.
McCann hasn’t been impressive since coming over from Baltimore, batting .218 with 15 RBIs and a .632 OPS in 45 games, but he’s been filling the role of backup catcher. The Mets can’t help but be disappointed in McCann, who has had a wake-up call from his hometown team, the Mets.
McCann in action against the Mets. Photo = AP Yonhap
Justin Verlander after being traded to Houston. Photo = UPI Yonhap
The same thing could happen to Verlander-Schuerzer
Unfortunately, the Mets could find themselves in this situation again.
That’s because they traded veteran one-two punchers Justin Verlander, 40, and Max Scherzer, 39, to the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers, respectively, during the last trade deadline.
At $43.3 million each, the two highest-paid players in the league, no team was going to take them for nothing.
The Mets dealt them in exchange for prospects, with the Mets taking on a significant portion of their salaries, up to $52.5 million ($685 million) for Verlander and $35 million ($456 million) for Scherzer, respectively. Despite the astronomical price tag of up to $87.5 million (KRW 141 billion), the team saw it as a “two birds with one stone” move, as it would have reduced the payroll (total player salary) and received a prospect for the future, rather than letting both players stay with the team.
It’s a realistic trade that makes sense. That’s why I’ve said in this column before that the Mets could clean house and run again in a few years.
Mets could sell players…but SD’s long-term deal with no answers [Kim’s Funny Baseball].
https://sports.news.naver.com/news.nhn?oid=057&aid=0001753108
Regardless, Mets fans will get to watch Verlander and Scherzer, who are getting paid more money by the Mets, be the first line of defense for the Mets this year and next. It’s something they’ll have to live with.
Max Scherzer in a Texas uniform. Photo = AP
■ Can a team with the No. 1 payroll also have the No. 1 overall pick in the draft?
The New York Mets were the dominant payroll team this season with $344 million (KRW449.8 billion). That’s why their decision to turn into sellers during the trade deadline, trading away Verlander and Scherzer, came as a surprise.
But the Mets are likely to make “history,” for better or worse. That’s because their declining fortunes could make them the subject of a lottery for the No. 1 through No. 6 overall picks in next year’s First-Year Player Draft.
MLB has a lottery for teams that don’t make the postseason starting this year, with the bottom three teams in regular-season winning percentage having a 16.5% chance of getting the first overall pick, followed by the next three with 13.2%, 10%, and 7.5% chances, respectively. After the seventh overall pick, the order of finish goes backwards, so it’s important to get the first through sixth overall picks, which is where the odds are in favor of the bottom six.
Currently, there are seven teams behind the Mets, but given their current slide, the Mets have a chance to get into the bottom six, and possibly even the bottom three. Currently in 28th place in the league are the Colorado Rockies (44 wins and 67 losses), six games behind the Mets.
Probabilities of this year’s draft lottery picks. Photo = MLB Social Media
The Mets are just over the luxury tax threshold ($233 million), and were originally slated to be penalized for exceeding the luxury tax by having their first-round pick moved back 10 spots. However, if they win picks 1-6, they’ll keep those picks and the next pick will be moved back 10 spots, meaning they now have a way to “legally” avoid the luxury tax penalty and still get a top prospect.
Maybe this draft is the only way to make up for the Mets spending money and not winning. There’s no telling if the Mets will continue to spiral downward at this rate or rebound, but for the sake of the future, it might be better if they underperform even more. That’s why I’m curious to see where the Mets end up this season.