Saying New York Mets ‘Should Set High Goals’, Owner Steve Cohen Kicks Off Team’s Bold New Era

Over 45 perfect minutes Tuesday, the richest owner in baseball history showed up to the New York Mets fan base saying if the team doesn’t win a World Series in the next three to five years, he will consider it a disappointment. He continued with words that Mets fans have waited years to hear. He will not interfere in baseball operations. It will devote resources to earning now and building a farming system simultaneously. He will gladly spend tons of money chasing her. Above all, he will choose the pursuit of greatness over the acceptance of mediocrity.

In other words, said Steve Cohen, he will be everything the Mets weren’t.

Cohen’s arrival as the white knight of the beleaguered franchise became official on Friday, and Cohen’s first press conference on Tuesday afternoon described what should be the first 100 meteoric days. Whether it’s reminiscing about his first game at the Polo Grounds, calling team ownership “civic responsibility” or saying their $ 2.45 billion purchase was a “dream come true”, Cohen hit every note, every beat. He was not the man for the $ 14 billion hedge funds. It was Steve from Great Neck.

“I do it mainly for the fans,” Cohen said. “When I really thought about it I could make millions of people happy and what an incredible opportunity.”

For an untitled World Series franchise since 1986, owned by the Wilpon family over the past decades has been a masterclass of mismanagement, Tuesday was recorded as monumental – as the day the Mets not only became a franchise again. big league, but also exceeded the stages. in the upper echelon of baseball.

It wasn’t just Cohen’s words. During the 45 minutes, Sandy Alderson, the team president, achieved a goal that seems daring for a team with such a turbulent history as the Mets: “To create an iconic major league franchise respected for its success – competitive success and financial – – and how he achieves that success and for his commitment to fans and the community. “

Months ago, as Cohen rethought a failed buy earlier in the year, he received a note from Alderson on what the Mets could and should be. The focus on the iconic franchise was the second paragraph, a vision statement, Alderson said, to take the Mets out of their history and reinvent themselves into a competent, complete and functional franchise – more like the New York Yankees or the New York Dodgers. Los Angeles than to sink. second banana.

This spoke to Cohen, who sees a number of similarities in baseball to the hedge fund industry. While billions in fines were imposed on Cohen and his former company for insider trading, he was clear in his expectations for the Mets under his ownership.

“I want professionalism. I want integrity. I might not stand the kind of things that have happened in other places,” Cohen said, possibly alluding to the theft allegations. signs that trapped the Houston Astros, Boston Red Sox and Yankees. “I want to hire the best and the brightest. I want to create a great farm system, develop our players, and also, let’s not forget the fans. Provide a product, and when they interact with me at the stadium or on our platforms media that their experience is extraordinary. “

“I’m not here to be mediocre,” he later added. “It’s just not my thing. I want something big.”

There is work to be done. The Mets went 26-34, tied for last place in the National League East, in the 2020 season cut short by the pandemic. In the 34 seasons since winning the 1986 World Series, the Mets have made the playoffs only six times. Today they need to get started – in large part. They need to sort out their bats and figure out who is in which position, where defensive butchery is no longer tolerated. Then, Cohen said, MLB will see its new behemoth fully deployed.

“When we need to fill a void, we fill it,” Cohen said. “It could be through a free agent. It could be through an exchange.”

“You build champions,” Cohen added. “You don’t buy them. They’re a major market team. They should have a budget to match that.”

He had an answer for everything. After years of Wilpons annoyance that occasionally derailed the Mets, Cohen barges in as a know-it-all fan that would have been more or less the same. Instead, he said, “I played Little League once. That’s about it. I’m going to let the pros, Sandy and the people we bring in, let them run baseball.”

These other people are the subject of much baseball speculation. Due to plans and resources, the position of president of baseball operations for the Mets has become one of the most coveted in the game. The Mets, according to sources, have indicated that they plan to build a huge infrastructure with some of the best minds in the game’s front office, from the president and general manager to scouting director and farm manager. The Mets, Alderson said, will likely keep Luis Rojas in charge, although that decision rests with the new baseball operations chief.

It’s a plan similar to that undertaken by the Dodgers when Andrew Friedman left the Tampa Bay Rays to become president of baseball operations with veteran team president Stan Kasten. Friedman has assembled a team that includes two others who have left for positions as president of baseball operations: Farhan Zaidi (San Francisco Giants) and Alex Anthopoulos (Atlanta Braves). To build a more robust analytics department and create a player development pipeline after the purge of former GM Brodie Van Wagenen and his consiglieres last week, the Mets will be on a recruiting frenzy that goes beyond of free agency.

In free agency, the Mets won’t be afraid to go after George Springer, the free-agent outfielder who looms as a clear target, or Trevor Bauer, who is expected to win the NL Cy Young this week. Bridesmaids Food from the past is no longer a thing – not when the goal is iconic.

“I’m not competing against the Yankees,” Cohen said. “It’s the Mets. We’re going to create our own excitement. I’m competing against 29 other MLB clubs. It’s up to us to make good decisions, taking advantage of opportunities that present themselves. I’m very motivated, type of proactive guy. I don’t just accept mediocrity. You have to set goals for the team, the fans. We should set ourselves high goals. We shouldn’t agree to make it to the playoffs. is not good enough. “