New York Mets owner Steve Cohen stands on the field before a ceremony to honor first baseman Pete Alonso (not pictured) for breaking the Mets all time home run record before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field
Brad Penner-Imagn Images
Mark Walter, the owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers, has been in the news plenty this month. He recently sold the Los Angeles Lakers and is also in talks to sell his stake in Chelsea. There is speculation that Walter could sell the Dodgers as well. If Walter does sell the Dodgers, it could be good news for Steve Cohen of the New York Mets.
Now, Craig Carton of WFAN is explaining how Cohen could make a splash with Shohei Ohtani if Walter sells.
“All right, it is written into Shohei Ohtani's contract. It's something that in contract law is referred to as a keyman clause. The keyman clause means that you can put into your contract that if so and so is no longer employed by the company, it gives you an out from your contract. Okay. Yeah. Shohei Otani has a keyman clause in his contract that if Mark Walter is not the owner of the LA Dodgers, Shohei Otani can opt out of that contract and become a free agent,” Carton started.
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“Okay, so here's the flex. If you're Steve Cohen and things have not gone the way you wanted them to go in the first five years of your New York Mets ownership, and you've got more money than everybody else, which he does, and he's having another terrific year on Wall Street. He's the number one hedge fund in America, and it's not very close right now, right? Why wouldn't you reach out to his agent, off to the side, and say, “Look, if he opts out, you've got the money. I'll make you the same exact offer he's got. You want deferred money, I'll defer it. You want the money up front, I'll give it to you up front. However you want it, I got it. That would be the greatest flex of all time, where Steve Cohen steals Shohei Ohtani from the Los Angeles Dodgers. Who says no?”
Cohen has the money to steal Ohtani, depending on what goes on with the new MLB collective bargaining agreement and the possibility of a salary cap. It is also a move Cohen has made in the past. When Juan Soto was a free agent, Cohen swooped in with a massive contract to keep him from other teams. Regardless, if the Mets can make the move for Ohtani, they should.