Steve Cohen and the New York Mets’ perilous pursuit of free agency
By Bill Felber
2012
Approaching the 2012 regular season, the most attractive free agent was Albert Pujols. His long-time team, the St. Louis Cardinals, took a serious look but, considering both his age (32) and his ever-so-slightly decline production, demurred.
The Los Angeles Angels bit, giving Pujols a 10-year, $250 million deal. In exchange, they got a .256 hitter who averaged about 13 home runs and 75 RBI. Pujols made one All-Star team for the Angels, that coming in 2015, and he played in one postseason series. That came in 2014, a three-game sweep at the hands of the Royals, Pujols batting .167.
The second-most sought-after free agent that winter was Prince Fielder, coming off a 2011 season in which he finished third in MVP voting for the Milwaukee Brewers. The Detroit Tigers gave Fielder a nine-year, $214 million deal.
Fielder produced two decent seasons for the Detroit, but as his health began to decline in 2014 they unloaded him to the Texas Rangers, paying $8 million of his annual salary as part of the deal. Fielder managed just parts of three seasons for Texas, breaking down and retiring in 2016.
Fielder did help the Tigers reach two postseasons, including a 2012 World Series defeat at the hands of the Giants. But he was just a .187 hitter in his postseason appearances for the Tigers and Rangers, with just one home run.
That winter’s third-biggest free agent catch was shortstop Jose Reyes, who signed a $106 million deal with the Miami Marlins. But just one year into that deal, the Marlins decided Reyes was too rich for their blood. They unloaded him to Toronto, beginning an odyssey that saw Reyes and his contract passed to the Rockies, then to the Mets, then back to the Rockies. He was released in 2018, having played in a total of one postseason game for the duration of that deal.
That winter’s fourth big free agent prize was pitcher C.J. Wilson. Coming off a succession of postseason appearances in Texas, Wilson signed a $77.5 million contract with the Angels. In Los Angeles, he made one postseason start, a loss to the Royals in 2014 in which he failed to get out of the first inning.