COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

It may not look it outside, but the 2021 baseball season is underway in Florida and Arizona as Spring Training has begun. No team, outside the San Diego Padres, garnered more headlines this winter than the New York Mets. Both good, bad and indifferent, the Mets were a consistent headline maker this year. The question that a lot of Mets fans have, did the team do enough to compete for the NL East crown! Let the debate begin! 

 Ever since the Mets lost out on George Springer, who signed a $125 million deal with the Toronto Blue Jays, they have been trying to go bargin bin shopping to fill their holes in the outfielder.  Last week they signed former Chicago Cub Albert Almora Jr. to a deal, and now have inked former Blue Jay Kevin Pillar to a one-year deal with options for 2022.  Both Pillar and Almora are natural center fielders, creating an obvious platooning situation in the outfield with mainstays Brandon Nimmo and Dom Smith.  Most know that neither Smith nor Nimmo are skilled defensive outfielders. Pillar was once a solid defensive outfielder, however his glove set has declined in recent seasons. If the Mets had to choose between Pillar and Almora, Pillar would get the first crack as the teams fourth outfielder.  This is not to say that Pillar is not a good addition, he is. Two years ago he hits 21 homers and drove in 87 for the San Francisco Giants. Last season he hit ...

 The Yankees bolstered their bullpen, while delivering a blow to their crosstown rivals. On Monday, the Yankees signed lefty reliever Justin Wilson to a one-year deal with a player option for 2022.  The deal re-unites Wilson with the Yankees for whom he pitched back in 2015. Wilson was 5-0 with a 3.10 ERA in 74 appearances as a Yankee back in 2015 before he was dealt to the Detroit Tigers for Luis Cesa.  Wilson spent the last two seasons in Flushing, pitching well as a lefty-specialist for the Mets. In those two seasons, Wilson was a combined 6-3 with four saves in 68 games and a 2.91 ERA. He is going to be missed by the Mets, who desperately need pitching depth out of the bullpen after losing Seth Lugo to elbow surgery. Wilson was one of the few signings that ex-Mets GM Brodie Van Wagenen got right during his tortured two year stint.  Now Wilson joins a loaded bullpen in The Bronx that features Aroldis Chapman and Zach Britton, as well as recent free ag...

 Maybe its the distraction that Sandy Alderson and Steve Cohen believe the Mets need after several weeks of bad PR? Maybe it's just flat out hubris? Maybe a combination of both? Whatever the reason, the Mets are still very much in the mix to land free agent starting pitcher Trevor Bauer, and according to his agent, Rachel Luba, it's down to two teams.  Those two teams, many expect are the Mets and the LA Dodgers .  According to John Heyman, the Mets and Bauer have been engaged in talks, and expect to hear an answer within 24-hours.  CBS is also reporting that Mark Feinsand of MLB.com that the Mets are involved in the process along with the Dodgers.  Bauer is coming off the best season of his career, albiet a shortened 60 game season, where he went 5-4 with a 1.73 ERA and a WHIP of 0.795. He recorded 100 strikeouts, two shutouts and two complete games. He is a bulldog both on and off the field -- we'll get to the off-field part in a moment.  The question is ...

 Former Mets manager and current Anaheim Angels pitching coach Mickey Callaway has been suspended by the Angles as both they and Major League Baseball conduct a full investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct.  It was reported Monday night by The Athletic and later picked upby ESPN and SNY that Callaway had sent lewd messages and nude photos of himself to five women who worked in the sports media industry. This was behavior that goes back to his days as pitching coach in Cleveland, and included his days as Mets Manager.  In a very bizarre statement Callaway said of the allegations, "Any relationship in which I was engaged has been consensual, and my conduct was in no way intended to be disrespectful to any women involved. I am married and my wife has been made aware of these general allegations."  The Athletic obtained text messages allegedly from Callaway to one of the five women where he describes to the woman about sleeping naked.  One woman using th...

 Another day, another Mets-related scandal. It's becoming all too common lately.  First it was Jared Porter's sexual misconduct scandal that cost the 39-year old his job as General Manager, then it was owner Steve Cohen's involvement in the GameStop controversy that led to a Twitter war with David Portnoy of Barstool Sports.  Now former manager Mickey Callaway is in hot water over sexual harassment allegations by five women.  The women were interviewed by The Athletic on a condition on anonymity, all had worked in sports media when they had confrontations with Callaway, dating as far back to his time as pitching coach of the Cleveland Indians. Callaway, allegedly, would comment on their appearance, send lewd pictures  -- including photos of himself shirtless, and apparently asked for nude photos of them in return.  There is even an allegation Callaway thrust his crotch into the face of one woman.  This is now the second time the Mets have been caught w...