Mets fans! Kodai Senga is coming to New York! The Mets signed the Japanese super star early this morning to a 5-year $75 million deal. We will talk about that and we will tackle two big things on every Mets fans mind, their payroll and if the Mets improved their rotation. All of this is coming up on Curveball.
Hello everybody! I am Caden Philip and we are back at it today.
It was one crazy night for the Mets as they agreed to a deal with Kodai Senga. Senga was masterful last year pitching for the Softbank Hawks last year in Japan. He pitched in 22 games throwing 144.0 innings. Along with that he had a 1.94 ERA and an outstanding 0.50 WHIP! He also had 156 strikeouts. The only risk with this guy is he has never pitched in the big leagues before. We have no idea how these stats will translate in the MLB. It will be interesting to see how Senga will do in 2023.
So the Mets have added multiple pieces to this pitching staff. The question is, did they get better. Last year, the Mets had a staff ERA of 3.57. That ranked 7th in the MLB. The ERA’s of the starting rotation is listed below
1. Jacob deGrom: 3.08 ERA
2. Max Scherzer: 2.29 ERA
3. Chris Bassitt: 3.42 ERA
4. Carlos Carrasco: 3.97 ERA
5. Taijuan Walker: 3.49 ERA
The Mets primary rotation last year was pretty good. This is without the likes of David Peterson and Tylor Megill ( Peterson: 3.83 ERA, Megill: 5.13 ERA). Not one pitcher with an ERA above 4.00. However, take a look at the ERA’s of the rotation now.
1. Justin Verlander: 1.75 ERA
2. Max Scherzer: 2.29 ERA
3. Kodai Senga: 1.94 ERA (In Japan)
4. Jose Quintana: 2.93 ERA
5. Carlos Carrasco: 3.97 ERA
The answer to this question is, the Mets got a massive upgrade. They have 4 guys with an ERA below 3.00, and one above 3, Carrasco.
With all of the signings the Mets now have a payroll of $350 million. This shatters the previous record $291 set back in 2015 by the Los Angeles Dodgers. With this payroll, the Mets have surpassed the Tier 4 “Cohen Tax” threshold. They now have to pay a 90% tax on all payroll over $290 million. In total they are scheduled to pay over $420 million in payroll and taxes.
Does the Mets multi billionaire owner, Steve Cohen, really care? I hope not! He has been a Mets fan all his life and like me all he wants is a winning Mets team. I am hoping he makes one or two more splashes this off season for the bullpen.
If there is a little belt tightening needed the team can always pay to have someone take James McCann and/or Darin Ruf. By paying another team to take on those contracts, the Mets would save 90% of their salary in tax savings and maybe get a piece or two for the farm system, just food for thought.
That will do it for this extra long blog. I hope you enjoyed. Please be on the lookout for any future blogs. LET’S GO METS.
2 special risks inherent with Japanese Pitchers transitioning to MLB- While over the years there have been several pitchers from the Japanese leagues who were good to excellent pitchers in MLB there are at least 2 significant differences between the Japanese leagues and MLB. A- the pitchers in Japan only pitch once a week vs every 5th day in MLB. B- the Japanese baseball itself is smaller and lighter than the one used in MLB . As it applies to Senga his previous season comprised only 22 starts which is considerably fewer than a typical pitcher here who will normally start 30-34 games a season. Let’s hope he can be successfully stretched out by the Mets. On paper this is a great pickup for them.
What do you think about the age of the #1 and #2 pitchers? Is their durability a concern?