The Issue With Steve Cohen
Hearing some Mets fans suggest that signing Juan Soto and Corbin Burnes will solve all the team's problems is reminiscent of that Seinfeld moment when George Costanza pitched a plan to get Barry Bonds and Ken Griffey Jr. on the Yankees without giving up anything significant.
These kinds of fan fantasies rarely materialize, even with a billionaire owner who once seemed willing to spend whatever it took to field a winner. It’s unrealistic to assume Steve Cohen will commit the billion (or billion and a half) dollars needed to make the Mets contenders again, at least not in the upcoming offseason.
Why have we always assumed the Mets would unleash their financial power in 2025 after sitting out 2024? Has Stearns or Cohen explicitly stated that, or is it just an expectation that became fact? The only consistent message has been about patience, hints at playing at the top of the market sometimes, and the need to create a development pipeline. They also mentioned no reset years, but the Mets' plans often seem to invite divine laughter followed by a few smacks upside the head.
The Mets are struggling this year despite a payroll north of $300 million. Yes, a lot of money will come off the books next year, but the Mets paid about $100 million in luxury taxes for the underwhelming 2023 team on top of $320 million in payroll. The bill will be similar for this year’s underperforming squad. Cutting payroll drastically allows them to reset the luxury tax rate and pay less for future splurges in 2026 and beyond. It’s good business, even if it means bad baseball and worse optics for those who were promised perennial playoff contention. But it seems there’s no other choice with this core, these assets, and the management’s behavior over the last 12 months.
In short, save your money on that Juan Soto jersey for something more useful.
This part is a bit speculative, but it’s worth noting: The Mets aren’t just messy; they seem chaotic. Someone will write an amazing book about the 2020s Mets, which could be the inverse of Moneyball.
Since Cohen took over in 2021, the Mets have gone through six baseball ops heads (counting the brief tenure of Brodie Van Wagenen), three managers, and (probably) a second mid-season teardown in a row.
Why does this matter? Pair the churn in the dugout and front office with on-field dysfunction, public ultimatums, occasional stray tweets, and a lack of a strong core or overflowing farm system. These factors won’t necessarily scare off players if the Mets are the only team offering a massive contract. But compared to the situations in the Bronx, LA, or Philadelphia, how do the Mets win at the bargaining table without grossly overpaying for stars like Soto and Burnes? Even then, there are no guarantees.
If you think this isn’t a concern, consider Cohen’s own words from a June 2023 press conference before the sell-off: “If you want to attract good people to this organization, the worst thing you can do is be impulsive and win the headline for the day. Overall, over time, you’re not going to attract the best talent.”
He’s also not Fred Wilpon, seemingly refusing to field a competitive team. Cohen wants to win. He has tried to win. But he has failed, and under his watch, the Mets don’t seem like a calm or enticing destination, despite their financial strength and the stabilizing presence of David Stearns.
To change that, the Mets need to stick to a plan (and a management team) and then need a lot of luck, more humility, and more time than anyone imagined when Cohen bought the team in 2020, when everything seemed to be coming together quickly in 2022, and on Opening Day this year when it was easy to feel hopeful.
The delusions about shocking the world, the value of unicorns, and fantasies and half-measures aren’t helping anyone. It’s time for the Mets to accept reality, reset, rebuild, reimagine—whatever you want to call it—just get it over with already.
This post by Jason Tabrys appeared first on Just Baseball.
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