Hey man. For my part, I am certainly disappointed that the Cubs didn’t land Steven Matz, and I’m frustrated that his deal with the Cardinals looks perfectly reasonable. But I’m also not losing my breakfast over it.
The Mets, by contrast, are big mad:
I'm not happy this morning . I've never seen such unprofessional behavior exhibited by a player's agent.I guess words and promises don't matter.
— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) November 24, 2021
One thing I know for sure in this business: it’s great practice to call out agents publicly and pout when things don’t go your way. It works every time. Cohen, the Mets owner for just over a year, is just doing what he’s been doing all year on Twitter, calling out sources, calling out his own players, (accidentally) calling out the anticompetitive nature of the MLB Draft, etc.
Steven Matz's agent, Rob Martin, did not want to comment on Steve Cohen's tweet.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) November 24, 2021
The Mets reportedly had a three-year offer on the table, and obviously believed Matz and his agent would come back to them if they got a better offer:
Mets GM Billy Eppler told Matz's agent Rob Martin he was upset. Mets thought they'd have a final chance and didn't get it. Word from Matz camp is he had a late change of heart,
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) November 24, 2021
Your reminder there? If you think you’re going to get a “last chance” to match or go over the top, think again. Opposing teams are smarter than that, and they know that if they’ve got someone in the door, they can say, “Hey, this offer is X years and Y dollars better than any other you’ve received. You either accept it right here and now, or we’ve gotta move on.” (Cubs fans who go back far enough will remember what happened with Rafael Furcal and the Dodgers.)
So if you had a better offer to make and you didn’t get a chance to make it, well, that’s mostly on you. Not on an agent and a player trying to get the best possible deal in the place where it feels right for them.
UPDATE: Cohen is blaming the agent for creating all of this:
1/Just talked to Steve Cohen on the phone. He was angered that the Mets were pursued by Matz and his agent — not vice versa — and told the NYM were Matz's first choice, that there was unfinished business with the NYM and he wanted to return.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) November 24, 2021
3/I can't imagine what the agent was thinking in the context of how they reached out to us and the reasons they wanted to come back. I have ever had an agent do that before with me."
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) November 24, 2021
The implication (now) is that Cohen and the Mets never even really wanted Matz back to begin with, and they were simply used to drive up the price tag elsewhere. Again, this seems like pretty standard negotiating tactics to me, and also why maybe it shouldn’t be the owner doing the legwork? Perhaps a seasoned, long-term baseball executive who has experience in these situations – and maybe even with this specific agent – would have a better sense of how it works?
Also, to be sure, maybe Matz really DID want to come back to the Mets, but then the Cardinals applied the “sign this four-year deal or that’s that” tactic, and his agent had to make a call in the moment? It really doesn’t have to be quite as underhanded as Cohen suggests.
Also also: if Cohen didn’t have such an ugly track record over the past year, maybe we’d be more inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.
UPDATE 2: I don’t know if you get to call your own response the high road, but Matz’s agent has responded, and it sounds consistent with my guess on how things played out:
1/Statement from Rob Martin, Steven Matz's agent: "We are aware of Mr. Cohen's tweet. It's unfortunate that he chose to take his frustrations to Twitter. I will not do the same, and instead will take the high road which is consistent with both my character and the character of
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) November 24, 2021
3/But ultimately he made the decision he felt was best for him and his family. Steven is and always will be grateful to the Mets and Mets fans, but he now looks forward to his next chapter with the tremendous franchise in St. Louis."
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) November 24, 2021