Mets' Steven Cohen Rips Steven Matz's 'Unprofessional' Agent After Cardinals Contract

New York Mets owner Steven Cohen took aim at Icon Sports Management, the agents who represented starting pitcher Steven Matz in free agency.

ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Tuesday that Matz agreed to a four-year, $44 million contract with the St. Louis Cardinals. Cohen reacted to the deal on social media:

Jon Heyman of the MLB Network provided further details about the Mets owner's unhappiness:

After Cohen's tweet, Rob Martin, Matz's agent released a statement in response:

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic noted that Martin added he reached out to Cohen personally after the tweet.

Matz was a second-round pick of New York in the 2009 draft. He made his big league debut in 2015 and played his first six MLB seasons with the club before getting traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in January.

The 30-year-old left-hander put together a strong season for the Jays. He compiled a 3.82 ERA and 1.33 WHIP with 144 strikeouts in 150.2 innings across 29 starts. It marked his lowest ERA since 2016 (3.40) and represented a nice bounce back after posting a 9.68 ERA in nine appearances in 2020.

Since the Mets are projected to have a right-hand-heavy rotation next year—Jacob deGrom, Taijuan Walker, Carlos Carrasco and Tylor Megill—adding a lefty like Matz would have been ideal to provide a little bit of balance to the starting staff.

New York does have David Peterson as an internal option to fill that role, but he's coming off a 2021 season in which he finished with a 5.54 ERA in 15 starts.

So the Mets may want a more proven starter from the free-agent market as they look to rebound from a disappointing campaign.

Meanwhile, it's unclear whether Cohen's use of social media is helping or hurting his cause to build a championship contender in New York.

He hasn't been afraid to throw around criticism, even some directed at his own players, since buying the team last November:

The 65-year-old businessman providing his transparent view of the team may endear him to fans because of the honesty, but making those type of comments in public may not have the same effect on players and their agents.

Regardless, the Mets' search for a left-handed starter continues as Matz heads to St. Louis.