Mets sign Luke Voit in clear attempt at mental warfare ahead of Yankees series

Billy Ineptler at his finest! The New York Mets, enduring their absolute worst stretch of baseball this season, will take on the New York Yankees this Tuesday and Wednesday for the first Subway Series of the 2023 season. And you better believe it, the Yankees have also looked their worst as injuries have taken a toll.

So it seems Eppler and Steve Cohen are trying to get an edge on the mental aspect of the game, seemingly with an attempt to get under the Yankees' skin by signing Luke Voit to a minor-league contract.

They already tried to do this with Gary Sánchez, and it failed miserably. Now they're going to try it with a player who's been far worse in Voit, who was dumped onto the Nationals in last year's Padres-Juan Soto blockbuster deal (after Eric Hosmer refused to be traded), got non-tendered by Washington, and then designated for assignment by the Brewers after signing an offseason deal with them.

In 22 games with the Brew Crew this year, Voit hit .221 with a .548 OPS and 53 OPS+. He had zero home runs and four RBI in 74 plate appearances. Originally, we thought Voit could maybe compete for first base reps with Rowdy Tellez, but we were indeed wrong.

With Pete Alonso on the injured list now, though, perhaps an opportunity opens up for Voit if he can rediscover his groove in the Big Apple, where he was MLB's home run champ back in 2020 with the Bombers.

Mets sign former Yankees slugger Luke Voit

Some Yankees fans just can't help but be irked at the timing of this, especially when you consider Eric Hosmer is out there. Don't forget how much the Mets love playing Daniel Vogelbach, who will now be required to see more time on defense. Eduardo Escobar can play some first base, too.

Then again, you can draw a parallel between Eppler and the Yankees. He worked closely under Brian Cashman for years before joining the Angels in 2015. So maybe he has some intel on Voit that other GMs don't.

Or, maybe, he's a lot like Cashman in failing to make the proper player acquisitions when you factor in the additions of Vogelbach, Escobar, Darin Ruf, Adam Ottavino, Tommy Hunter, Dominic Leone, and more.

Voit is one injury/roster move away from seeing the Yankees on either Tuesday or Wednesday. And you can't convince us that wasn't part of the Mets' plan.

Get the potential short spurt of production out of the jaded Yankee seeking revenge and then part ways when your All-Star is back. We really can't blame them.