The Mets have shown plenty of heart, guts, and resilience throughout their magical and entertaining October run.
That's all great. But today, they seem no match for Shohei Ohtani (whose skill combination is perhaps unparalleled in baseball history) or, frankly, the Dodgers.
When this National League Championship Series began, it was being claimed that Ohtani was in a slump here and elsewhere. But if he was really struggling, it's clearly over now.
The 50/50 man in baseball seems too good for the Mets or any other team. Really, he's very likely better than anyone who's tried to play this game since Alexander Cartwright or Abner Doubleday or whoever started this whole thing. No one would be surprised if he goes 50-50-20 (50 home runs, 50 stolen bases, 20 wins) next year.
Ohtani has been limited to hitting for now, and that's enough. He's hitting home runs like “golf balls” (as teammate Tommy Edman calls them) into little-visited areas of Citi Field. The one-time comparison between Emmanuel Classe and Mariano Rivera was always ridiculous, but thankfully it's over now. But the combination of Ohtani and Babe Ruth remains a good fit.
In Game 3, he contributed to the Dodgers' victory by hitting a bomb that went over the right-field foul pole, and in Game 4, he set off a bad mood by hitting a blistering 117.8 mph home run under the Citi Field bridge in right-center field. It exuded. The Dodgers won 10-2, giving them the upper hand in the NLCS matchup in this huge market.
If the Mets are in an unenviable position, at least it's a familiar one. This team truly needs the comeback to end all comebacks.
Of course, no one should assume these Mets are officially dead until the coroner confirms. This is a team that has grown like few others. They went from 0-5 at the start of the season to 22-33 by late May. They overcame this late-September-October activity many times, energizing all the wards.
These Mets are comeback specialists and will need to plan their biggest and best game yet against the best competition they have ever faced. This organization is an organization that has grown from players (Ohtani had four runs and Mookie Betts had four hits and four RBIs on Thursday night), to part-owner (Magic Johnson), to legendary pitcher and fan (Sandy Koufax), to last but not least. It's an organization filled with superstars, right down to the two. Hall of Fame inductees among participants over the past few days.
But who can predict a Mets game now? They should have been home a long time ago.
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They made a decent showing for Dodgers starting pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto, who signed the largest pitching contract in MLB history this winter after rejecting a similar offer from the Mets. The Mets probably would have been higher, but they knew they would lose once the Dodgers matched their $325 million bid and added a $50 million signing bonus.
The Mets made a huge effort there, meeting with Yamamoto in Japan and inviting him to Steve Cohen's facility in Connecticut. Yamamoto politely called it a “difficult decision” at a press conference here Wednesday. However, there were actually rumors that the Mets would prefer to throw West before their courtship, and the Mets now know that.
No big loss. Yamamoto is vital to the Dodgers' current need for innings, but he had an up-and-down rookie season, missing several weeks with shoulder concerns and not always being dominant upon his return.
But while the jury is looking to spend that $375.6 million investment ($325 million for Yamamoto and $50.6 million in publication fees), Ohtani's $700 million is an all-time high. One estimate suggests that the hefty deferred contracts will actually cost the Dodgers $437.4 million, but if the Guggenheim partners who own the team wisely invest the $680 million in deferred funds, they could break even. Some people think they can (and they are professional investors).
Realistically, the highest-paid player in baseball history is also the biggest bargain. And the Mets have nothing to regret.
The Mets knew from the beginning that Ohtani had no interest in New York (exactly what he flatly told the Yankees on a team trip seven years ago) and had no intention of leaving L.A., even if he stayed. Very likely. Head to Angeles, Anaheim, or the real LA.
The Mets had no chance there. And if they aren't the comeback champions, you'd think they wouldn't have a chance in this NLCS.
It looks like they're finally ripe for turning into pumpkins (not the pumpkins Pete Alonso carried around). If they hadn't made a number of magical comebacks in recent weeks, there wouldn't have been any hope at all. They need three straight wins against the league's best team with one properly functioning bullpen this postseason.
The situation looks dire, but with rotations, improved health (always tough guy Freddie Freeman had to miss Game 4 with a bum ankle), and a recent happy history, they have have an advantage.
But they will have to find a way to solve Ohtani's problem. The Mets have big hearts and great All-Star players. But this is a guy who comps to Ruth, and a guy who is currently playing like Ruth in October.
