| The circumstances were different when Zack Wheeler bolted the Mets via free agency, due mostly to his injury history.
But the massive contract extension the ace hurler signed Monday with the Phillies is a reminder of what could have been, at a time when homegrown everyday star Pete Alonso is entering his walk year with the Mets.
Wheeler also would have become a free agent again following the 2024 campaign, but the Phils boldly locked him up with a three-year deal beginning in 2025 worth a whopping $126 million — the most lucrative annual outlay for any extension in MLB history.
Wheeler's $42 million average annual value is only slightly less than the mega-deals the Mets lavished upon Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander — $43.3 million apiece — before the multi-time Cy Young winners were dumped at last year's trade deadline.
Steve Cohen was not yet the principal owner of the Mets when Wheeler departed the franchise to sign a five-year deal worth $118 million ($23.6 million AAV) with the Phillies after the 2019 season. Wheeler had posted two strong seasons (3.63 ERA over 60 combined starts) after missing much of the previous three years following Tommy John surgery.
 Zack Wheeler has emerged as a perennial Cy Young candidate since singing with the Phillies before the 2020 season.
AP
With Wheeler rehabbing from his elbow surgery, the Mets had reached the 2015 World Series behind a youthful pitching staff that featured Jacob deGrom, Matt Harvey, Noah Syndergaard and Steven Matz.
While the others have dealt with long-term injuries and ineffectiveness in recent years, the 33-year-old Wheeler has emerged as a workhorse starter since joining the Phillies' rotation, averaging 30 starts and 186.0 innings — with a 3.08 ERA — over the past three seasons.
As Post columnist Mike Vaccaro points out, Wheeler's defection turned out to be among the worst in local baseball history, possibly since Reggie Jackson ditched the pinstripes to sign with the Angels in 1982 or when Darryl Strawberry left Flushing to join his hometown Dodgers in 1991.
Alonso's potential departure absolutely would be in that class if the Mets allow the three-time All-Star first baseman to play out the $20.5 million salary he will earn in 2024 before hitting the open market.
 Steve Cohen made it clear in a recent podcast that he wants Pete Alonso to remain a Met as the first baseman heads into his final year before free agency.
Corey Sipkin for the NY Post
Alonso said last month he has envisioned being "a lifelong Met," but team president David Stearns admitted at the start of spring training the most likely outcome is the Scott Boras client will at least reach free agency in the offseason.
"We want to keep him. He's an important part of our team today and hopefully in the future," Cohen said last week on the "Meet at the Apple" podcast. "We know the fans feel strongly about him, and I'm not tone deaf. I totally understand the fans' love of Pete.
"I hope he hits 55 home runs and makes it so difficult on me in free agency. I would call that a great outcome."
The Yankees, of course, took that approach with Aaron Judge entering the 2022 season.
After No. 99 bet on himself and belted an AL-record 62 home runs, he signed a $360 million deal to remain in pinstripes — nearly $150 million more than they had offered before Opening Day.
Today's back page  New York Post
You gotta fight...for your right... Rangers rookie Matt Rempe appears to be learning on the fly when and when not to drop the gloves.
The 6-foot-8 giant engaged in another heavyweight bout Saturday night in Toronto with veteran enforcer Ryan Reaves, his fourth fighting major over his first seven NHL appearances.
 Matt Rempe declined an offer to trade punches with the Panthers' Jonah Gadjovich Monday night.
Getty Images
It'll be difficult to keep up that pugilistic pace, and Rempe wisely did not add a fifth in Monday's 4-2 loss to the Panthers at the Garden, though he threw a game-high five hits.
Many in the home crowd obviously were looking for their new folk hero to square off again, but as the 21-year-old Rempe admitted earlier Monday to Post beat writer Mollie Walker, he's still learning to pick his spots.
The game has evolved from the "Slap Shot" era of the 1970s, and it no longer is the time of the Flyers' infamous Broad Street Bullies squads.
Rempe avoided challenges from the 37-year-old Reaves earlier in Saturday's game before throwing hands in the waning minutes with the Rangers down by a goal. His fight was followed soon after by the tying score.
 Rempe couldn't avoid eventually tussling with fellow enforcer Ryan Reaves when the Rangers played the Maple Leafs over the weekend.
NHLI via Getty Images
At the very least, he'll need to avoid injuries to become a regular forward in the NHL and not simply known as a brawler.
Rempe also faces a potential demotion to AHL Hartford due to a roster crunch in the coming days, The Post's Larry Brooks writes, as general manager Chris Drury looks to add to the Rangers' top-nine before the March 8 trade deadline.
The Rangers are in trade talks for Seattle rental center Alex Wennberg, and Drury also is targeting a reunion with Anaheim's Frank Vatrano.
Ruff and tumble Sticking with pucks, the Devils joined the Islanders in making a coaching change in 2024, leaving first-year Rangers coach Peter Laviolette as the longest-tenured NHL coach in the metro area.
The youthful Devils appeared primed for a big season after returning to the playoffs last spring for just the second time since their run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2013 — and knocking off the Rangers in the first round.
 With the Devils' playoff chances fading, the club decided to part with coach Lindy Ruff with 21 games left.
NHLI via Getty Images
But Lindy Ruff was canned Monday — and replaced by associate coach Travis Green — amid an inconsistent 30-27-4 campaign, including five losses in the past seven games.
All-Star center Jack Hughes missed 16 games due to injuries, but he's been back since early February. The Devils have gone 5-7-1 over that stretch.
With 21 games remaining and the trade deadline looming Friday, the Devils are eight points out of third place in the Metropolitan Division (and the second wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference) with three teams to leapfrog.
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