Mets could reportedly interrupt Yankees’ pursuit of Japanese ace

The Mets, who were supposed to spend a ton of money, are bargain shopping and screwing the Yankees.

We know, we know. We just ripped the New York Mets for being free agent frauds after Sandy Alderson let some comments slip in regards to Trevor Bauer. But now that they could be affecting the New York Yankees offseason plans, they’re going to get a double dose of the criticism.

Steve Cohen was supposed to take Major League Baseball by storm and throw money around during a global pandemic while every other franchise remained stuck in the mud. But in classic Mets fashion, they’ve made two bargain additions in Trevor May and James McCann while passing on stars like Brad Hand, Liam Hendriks and JT Realmuto.

Now, instead of paying the big bucks for Trevor Bauer, the Mets are exploring the possibility of getting involved in the Tomoyuki Sugano sweepstakes. The Japanese ace was posted by the Yomiuri Giants and the Yankees have been reportedly linked to the right-hander for weeks now.

But here come the Mets, who could interrupt those plans since they’re all of a sudden scared of going after the high-profile options.

Here’s the latest from Joel Sherman of the New York Post:

"“The Mets are, at minimum, looking into Tomoyuki Sugano, and one outside executive said, ‘Watch the Mets on this. I think they have as good a chance as anyone.'”“If the Mets were to land Sugano, it would provide another symbol of a shifting dynamic in New York baseball with Steve Cohen now owning the Mets. The Yankees have been the New York team that has landed mega-stars from Japan in Hideki Irabu, Hideki Matsui and Masahiro Tanaka. The Mets’ biggest foray was an ill-fated, three-year, $23 million accord with Kazuo Matsui, who was a star in Japan, but not to the same level as those the Yankees secured.”"

So about buying that championship…

Initially, we thought the Yankees would be duking it out with the Boston Red Sox for Sugano, but now the Mets have entered the fray and they’re dangerous because they have the luxury (it would seem) to overspend a bit to get rid of the others interested. And if we have any inclination in regards to what the Yankees will do, they certainly will not be investing a penny more than they have to (or feel comfortable with).

Leave it to the Mets and their fanbase to drum up endless hype about how they were going to flex their financial muscle and leave every other team in the dust. Now they’re making additions at the margins, which isn’t what you do with a roster that isn’t a playoff contender.

$14 billion never felt so little.

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