When word surfaced Tuesday night that the Mets were circling on Carlos Correa, I reached out to team officials who diminished the possibility of such a union.
And, indeed, a few hours later, Correa was in agreement with the Giants on a 13-year, $350 million megadeal.
But the eleventh-hour belief that the Mets were lurking accentuated who the Mets are these days. This is what it was like in George Steinbrenner’s heyday. Yankees officials would state they were not interested in a star. Yet a not-insignificant segment of the game wouldn’t accept that. They needed to see a signed contract or a press conference with another team before they truly believed.
There was a bogeyman element to Steinbrenner’s Yankees. They were out there stalking. Anything felt possible.
