Steven Matz isn’t coming back to the Mets — and Steve Cohen isn’t happy about it.
The Mets owner took to Twitter Wednesday morning, hours after Matz agreed to a four-year deal with the Cardinals late Tuesday night, saying, “I’m not happy this morning. I’ve never seen such unprofessional behavior exhibited by a player’s agent. I guess words and promises don’t matter.”
According to sources, Cohen, as well as new general manager Billy Eppler, believed they would get a chance to match any deal before Matz signed elsewhere. However, they were not given a final call by Matz’s agent Rob Martin after he agreed to the four-year, $44 million deal — which could grow to $48 million with incentives — to go to St. Louis after a strong season with Toronto.
The deal was pending a physical as of Wednesday morning.
The Mets had extended an offer to Matz, who spent the first six seasons of his major league career with the organization. The 30-year-old lefty is said to have received offers from at least eight teams.
He went 14-7 with a 3.82 ERA in 29 starts for the Blue Jays last season, bouncing back from a rough 2020. The Mets traded the Long Island native to Toronto last winter in a deal that netted minor leaguers Sean Reid-Foley, Yennsy Diaz and Josh Winckowski.