COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

 The New York Mets are open for business!  And about time too. The Mets traded reliever A.J. Minter to the Minnesota Twins for two minor league prospects, highlighted by infielder Bruin Agbayani.  Minter was one of the few effective pitchers coming out of the Mets bullpen, despite his litany of injuries during his two year stint in New York. In 23 innings this season, Minter went 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA. He gives the Twins an added boost as they try to make a case in the cluttered AL Central and wild card.  In return the Mets get two prospects: Billy Amick and Agbayani. Agbayani is the son of former Met Benny Agbayani, which is going to excite a lot of fans, since Benny was a very popular player in New York from 1999 - 2001.  Bruin is only 19 and is only just getting started in his minor league career. His starts are limited at this point. He is left-handed hitter who plays infield.  As for Amick, he was a top five pick out of Tennessee, but has issues making c...

 Giants fans have waited a long time for the John Harbaugh era to begin with the New York Giants. And unless folks are making plans to travel to West Virginia this summer, they'll have to wait at least until the preseason starts to see Harbaugh's Giants live and in living color.  Yes, with the Giants training facility going under renovations, Harbaugh has taken the Giants on a team-bonding venture to the mountains of West Viginia some 7-1/2 hours away from their East Rutherford headquarters.  That is just one of many changes that are coming to the Giants this season. Harbaugh, a Super Bowl winning head coach with the Baltimore Ravens, brings 180 wins and a .614 winning percentage to New York.  He is currently the second winningest, active Head Coach in the NFL, with only Andy Reid ahead of him.  After years of mediocrity the Giants finally have a head coach who gives them the best chance to win games. The question is going to be in Year 1, which players fit his ...

 If there is one head coach in the NFL whose seat could be scalding before autumn officially arrives, it might be Jets head Coach Aaron Glenn.  Coming off a 3-14 campaign his first year as HC of the NYJ, Glenn didn't exactly endear himself to Jets fans, with many in the media questioning his leadership ability and coaching acumen. While General Manager Darren Mougey has received nothing but praise for his moves to put the roster in position to acquire young talent for the foreseeable future,  one has to wonder whether the man Mougey was partnered with 18 months ago will be here long term.  The Jets face a daunting opening month to the season starting in earnest in Week 1 when the Jets travel to Tennessee to face ex-Jets coach Robert Saleh and the Titans .  Saleh who was let go by the Jets following a heartbreaking Week 5 loss to the Minnesota in London, England back in 2024, will almost certainly be out for vengeance.  After that the Jets get a heavy dose o...

 Carlos Beltran is officially a member of Baseball's Hall of Fame .  The Puerto Rican native who signed with the Mets in the autumn of 2004, following a monumental postseason run with the Houston Astros that year, went on to solidify himself as one of baseball's best five-tool players and center fielders in New York over seven years in Mets orange and blue.  Now he can call himself a Hall of Famer.  It wasn't always pretty, but it is beyond outstanding to see Beltran come this far, and finally find his place among the best to ever play the game.  Say what you will, and I know Mets fans have made a lot about that strike-three call against Adam Wainwright and the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS for two decades now, but you can't take away the fact that Beltran was a special player when he was here in New York. He deserves this honor.  While many Hall of Famers have worn a Mets cap in their careers, including fellow 2026 Hall of Fame inductee Je...

 LeBron James made the final decision of his playing career last week when he came to terms on a two-year deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, as the NBA's All Time scorer will make his return to the East coast after spending the past eight seasons (hard to believe) in Hollywood with the Lakers.  The 41-year old Superstar, who won championships in Cleveland, Miami and Los Angeles signed with the Sixers saying on his personal Instagram that after considering retirement, he opted to play once more for a team that has a chance to win a championship.    This is my last decision. I’m not going for money. I’m not going for family. What am I really playing for at this point? I still want to sacrifice. I still want to work. I still want to grind. I still want to compete, to win and to have a chance at the feeling of winning another championship. What makes LeBron's latest decision so surprising is the fact he picked the Sixers over the Miami Heat who just added Giannis Antet...

The New York Jets introduced a "new" alternate white helmet on Tuesday, because, well, why not?  In a move out of sheer gluttony more than anything else, the Jets whipped out their white helmets, took off their classic decals, and replaced them with a thin green stripe over the top of the helmet, and the current Jets logo in green across each side. The face-mask is white.  The Jets White Out. Instagram New York will adorn their new alternate helmets in Week 2 against the Green Bay Packers in a "White Out" Game. Why the Jets couldn't have just stuck with their traditional white throwbacks for the game is a legitimate question, but the answer is pretty simple: Merchandising. Just ask Mel Brooks!   Who doesn't want to now run out and pay $35 for a white Jets mini helmet? Who doesn't want to run out and pay between $190 to $390 on replica and on field helmets for your mantel?  Gotta add to that helmet collection.  Now that Jets have their traditional green s...

Whether he intended to or not, President Donald Trump has managed to throw some serious mud all over the World Cup Tournament after USA Striker Folarin Balogun had his red card reversed by FIFA, a day after the President spoke with FIFA Presidnet Gianni Infantino to review the red card ruling.  On Sunday the ruling, which levied a one-game suspension of Balogun for stomping on the ankle of an opponent for the Bosnia-Herzgovina team was lifted and delayed f or up to a year after the tournament.  As one can imagine all hell has broken loose since. USA plays Belgium tonight, and Balogun is eligible to play in the Round of 16 game in Seattle.  Both Trump and Infantino t ried to put out the conspiracy theory flames to no avail.  Instead the controversy has only gotten bigger as fans, pundits, politicians, and even people who don't follow soccer ... er ... football throw their collective two cents in.  Said President Trump on Monday, "All I did was ask for a review. I...

 The New York Mets nearly authored one of the most revolting losses in a lost season one can imagine, as they almost blew a seven-run, ninth inning lead in a 10-9 squeaker down in Atlanta, Sunday afternoon.  The Mets held a 10-3 lead going into the bottom of the ninth. Interim manager Andy Green had Huascar Brazoban open the inning in what should have been a routine finish to a rare 'W' for the Metropolitans.  Instead it almost turned into another Metsie nightmare.  First there was the pick-off error by Brazoban that allowed Mauricio Dubon to score to make it 10-4. Then Brazoban proceeded to load the bases with singles by Austin Riley and a walk to Eli White. (ex-Met Dom Smith was already on base).  Then Drake Baldwin got into one, and launched a Brazoban fastball over the left field wall for a grand slam to cut the Mets lead to 10-8.  That was it for Brazoban as Green had no choice but to bring in embattled closer Devin Williams. And Williams nearly blew i...

 Talk about turning up the heat.  About the only good news for the New York Yankees right now is the fact that they hit the road tonight for Tampa Bay, therefore they will be sparred from having to hear the litany of screaming Yankees fans on the talk radio and podcast circuit.  Then again, Florida is like New York South ...  The Yankees dropped another series, this time to the Minnesota Twins by the score of 6-1. That's right, I said the Minnesota Twins; the same franchise the Yankees have dominated routinely over the past quarter century plus.  The Twins enjoy a day in the Bronx. Getty Images.  The last time New York lost a regular season series to Minnesota, you'd have to go back to 2023, the year the Yankees didn't make the playoffs.  If that was an omen of things to come in '23, one would hate to see what's in the cards now.   The Twins simply dominated the Yankees behind a stellar outing by Joe Ryan.  The 30-year old veteran pitche...

 There is no doubt that Steve Cohen loves the New York Mets, and wants to see the team succeed. His frustration over the Mets miserable 2026 season was on display in a very open and honest interview with the New York Post's Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman.  However as honest as Cohen tried to be, and as careful as he tried to be at the same time in what he could say, it felt like a 40-minute diatribe where Cohen consistently contradicted himself, and even backed himself into a corner by endorsing embattled President of Baseball Operations, David Stearns.  "David is a thoughtful man, he's incredibly thorough," Cohen said. " There aren't answers where I walk away and say I don't agree with that. He knows what's he's talking about. Does he get any credit for 2024? Does that not count, we almost made it to the World Series. It's a mixed record. I won't say it's going great, but it's too early to make evaluations.   "If we burn and chu...