Mets Reportedly Never Made Offer To Superstar Despite Extensive Speculation

It sounds like the Mets never ended up making an offer to one of the best players in baseball

The New York Mets have the most money in baseball but didn't offer a massive deal to one of the brightest stars in the game.

Former Los Angeles Angels star Shohei Ohtani entered the offseason as one of the most intriguing free agents in baseball history. The sweepstakes to land him largely were kept under wraps without many people knowing where his head was at. 

The only thing that was known was that he was going to land the largest deal in baseball history. Over the last year, the Mets were mentioned as a fit for Ohtani on numerous occasions. The biggest reason for this is that Mets owner Steve Cohen is the richest owner in baseball and seemingly would shell out whatever it cost to land him.

Although this was the case, New York never seemed to be in the running to land his services. It's unclear exactly what Ohtani looked for in free agency, but it seemed like he didn't want to be a part of either New York organization and instead stayed on the West Coast. Ohtani did end up landing the largest deal in baseball history and reportedly signed a mammoth 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

While the Mets did have interest in Ohtani, they never actually made a formal offer, according to the New York Post's Mike Puma. 

"The Mets, I am told, never made a formal offer to Ohtani after it became clear the numbers would be higher than the team was comfortable going," Puma said. 

It's surprising the Mets didn't make an offer, but when you see what the final contract number looked like, it isn't too shocking. New York is looking to rebuild the organization and committing $700 million to one player -- even if they are the best player in baseball -- is a lot. 

Now the club can turn its focus back to improving the starting rotation and its pursuit of Orix Buffaloes phenom Yoshinobu Yamamoto.