Mets Owner Steve Cohen Goes Off On “Player Agent” in Angry Tweet
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is certainly not shy about using the social media platform Twitter.
Just four days after telling reporters that he would tone down his presence on the site, the Mets owner exploded in a rant decrying what turned out to be the player rep for former Mets hurler Steven Matz, who just recently signed a four-year, $44 million deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.
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
According to New York Post reporter Joel Sherman, he contacted Cohen by phone, and Cohen relayed to him why he was so upset on the eve before Thanksgiving. The Tweets by Sherman are an incredible form of journalism in of itself.
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
Steven Matz’s agent, Rob Martin, did not want to comment on Steve Cohen’s tweet.
— Joel Sherman (@Joelsherman1) November 24, 2021
Matz’s agent did get in touch with Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports and left a very stern message for Cohen’s Tweeting theatrics.
Statement from Steven Matz’s agent, Rob Martin. pic.twitter.com/yC4p1FPfaP
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 24, 2021
Matz hadn’t pitched for the Mets since 2020. When he was a member of the Amazin’s, Matz was mostly mediocre, pitching to a 4.35 ERA over six seasons, and was four games under .500. Last season he was dealt to Toronto and had the best year of his career, pitching to a 3.52 ERA and a record of 14-7. As a free agent this winter, many projected the Mets would be a player for Matz’s services, since the team is in dire need of starting pitching.
According to the Post, sources confirmed that Cohen and newly minted General Manager Billy Eppler thought they would get a chance to match whatever offer Matz would receive. They never got that call — not totally surprising since Matz was a free agent anyway. Matz was pursued by as many as eight teams.
This is not the first time Cohen, the Mets and Cohen’s Tweeting have made headlines.
During the summer he challenged the reporting of veteran reporter Mike Puma, questioning who his sources were in an article critical of Cohen’s ownership. Cohen asked fans to find out who the source was, and whoever did would get a chance to sit in the owner’s suite.
“Insightful” source in Mike Puma’s article in the New York Post today .The person who can guess the source correctly will have the opportunity to sit with me in my suite at Citifield.First one right wins.
— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) September 16, 2021
Before that, fans grew upset over Javier Baez’s thumbs down antics that were directed at fans for booing the players after the Mets were coming off a 1-12 stretch against the LA Dodgers and San Francisco Giants. When Baez broke out of his slump with a game winning slide against the Marlins, Cohen took to Twitter again.
Where are the Twitter “experts” complaining about Baez now. They must be away for the weekend
— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) September 5, 2021
Cohen has also used Twitter to critique players on their approach to the plate during that same August swoon.
As for this off-season, it took the Mets seven weeks to find a general manager after failing to hire a President of Baseball Operations. The Mets went looking at many candidates, most ending in rejections, others where teams declined permission for the Mets to interview. The Mets wound up hiring Eppler, the former agent of the LA Angels as GM. Almost the same day Eppler was named Mets GM, former starting pitcher Noah Syndergaard accepted a 1-year, $21 million deal with the LA Angels. Reliever Aaron Loup would follow Syndergaard to Anaheim, inking a two-year deal.
