NEWSLETTER
I knew the Bears offense was going to be a problem. I knew the quarterback play would be a mixed bag, at best, and I knew the offensive line could be a disaster. Things have only gotten worse on those fronts since the early part of the season, and yet I am still so damn pissed about last night’s loss. I shouldn’t have expected the Bears to actually win. Yet here I am. Pissed. I could punch a helmet. Twice.
•  Maybe I can make myself feel better with the fourth anniversary highlights of the game to end all games. Game Seven, Cubs win, and everything has been absolutely perfect ever since, with zero exceptions:
•  New Mets owner Steve Cohen is already making his financial might known, and doing some good with it:
As part of Cohen’s statement: All Mets employees, including unionized groundskeepers, security guards and engineers, will receive reinstituted pre-pandemic salaries as of November 1, reversing the 5-30% salary cut implemented in March. The value of this commitment is over $7M
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) October 30, 2020
•  When it comes to baseball spending, just understand that this is the expectation in the game, via Sherman:
But what is certain is the Mets are now heavyweights in every way. J.T. Realmuto and George Springer are in play in free agency. Francisco Lindor in a trade. The Mets will not have to pinch pennies to keep up in front-office personnel or technology. They now become the Steinbrenner Yankees, so their fans can scream about the 50 players they want for 26 spots ….
Cohen walks in at a time when austerity is going to reign through much of the major league landscape. Owners took a huge revenue hit in 2020 and are projecting more of the same for 2021. Most are going to slash payroll. It is why the agent community is so overjoyed that Cohen showed up with his Mets passion and wallet.
It is not just that he can play on elite free agents. It is that he can play on anything. Consider that the relief market is expected to be extremely depressed this offseason because — among other things — it is flooded with options. But if the Mets, for example, decide Liam Hendricks, Brad Hand and Darren O’Day are the best options to upgrade, then Sandy Alderson will not have to just pick one. These are the new Mets. The Mets can have them all.
•  That sound you hear is Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer feverishly dialing the Mets to ascertain whether they’re interested in any Cubs player with a contract or arbitration-eligible …
•  The qualifying offers went out yesterday if you missed it, with six guys getting the offer – not entirely different from what you would have expected with this group in a normal offseason. Good sign? Idiosyncratic to these teams? We’ll know more when these guys make their decisions in a week.
•  Toys, Instant Pot, clothes, and ooh RX Bars are among the Deals of the Day at Amazon today. #ad
