It has been three years (November 2020) since Steve Cohen purchased the New York Mets, and during his introductory press conference he set a goal of winning the World Series within three to five years.
Well, things haven't gone according to plan. In Cohen's first three seasons at the helm, the Mets have made one postseason appearance and failed to advance past the Wild Card round.
Fast forward to present day and Cohen has finally hired his man, David Stearns, to be the team's president of baseball operations. This was the owner's plan since taking over the team in 2020.
“I was really patient, and I think that was the right move,” Cohen said of Stearns at Sportico’s Invest in Sports conference on Wednesday.
Now, Cohen is ready to become a sustainable winner.
“I’ve got to get the Mets right,” Cohen said.
“Once I get the Mets right and get the model down, I can think about doing something else…I’ve got to get this right and I haven’t gotten it right yet.”
Just days after Stearns was introduced as president of baseball operations, general manager Billy Eppler shockingly resigned due to MLB investigating him for misusing the injured list.
Regardless, Cohen believes the Mets will be able to contend in 2024 and beyond, despite a poor season in 2023.
“I’ve had one good season, and this year didn’t pan out the way we hoped. It’s still brick by brick… There’s a lot of good things going on [behind the scenes] that’ll pay off down the road,” Cohen said.
The Mets had the highest payroll in MLB history in 2023, but failed to reach the postseason won just 75 games.
As a result, they traded future Hall of Famers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer at the trade deadline to replenish their farm system with several top prospects such as Luisangel Acuna, Ryan Clifford and Drew Gilbert.
Cohen believes the Mets are now setup for the future and he also has the funds to help bridge the gap in free agency until some of the prospects are major league ready.
This should help the Mets be competitive next season, but for now, Cohen is acknowledging that he needs to "get this right."
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