Someone—I think it was JM—said a couple days ago that the real question was whether Steve Cohen and David Stearns could rebuild the Mets.
That’s a very good question, because it seems to me that the Mets never stop rebuilding.
Just look at the Steve Cohen “era.” Cohen is, let’s face it, a crooked financier who should be in jail—something that makes him practically a choirboy amongst the sorts of riff raff who own major-league clubs. A self-made man, he also has a head for business.
After the abominable Wilpon & Katz, erstwhile friends of Bernie Madoff, had run the Mets into the ground, Cohen bought the team in late 2020. Sure, he made have wanted it mostly for the casino-real estate grab he was already envisioning out at Willets Point, but he clearly wanted the team to win.
After looking it over for a year, he let Sandy Alderson bring in Buck Showalter to manage, and shelled out for Max Scherzer to join Jacob deGrom in the rotation. He had already signed up Francisco Lindor, who had an outstanding year, as did such homegrown Mets as Pete Alonso, who led the league in ribbies, Jeff McNeil, who won a batting title, Brandon Nimmo, and closer Edwin Diaz.
The rebuilt 2022 Mets took off like a rocket, going 7 games up by early August, and still holding a 1-game lead with 6 to go.
Then, as they have so often over the past 30 years, the Metsies lost three straight to the Phillies Savannah Bananas Braves, finishing tied for the division title, but only qualifying for the wild card game. Which they lost to the Padres, 2 games to 1, despite playing all 3 games at home.
Still, the future looked bright.
Jacob deGrom chose to sign with Texas, where he did nothing for the next two years, thanks to injury. But Cohen kept spending, bringing in Justin Verlander and Kodai Senga to replace him, and David “Houdini” Robertson as a set-up man. A ground round of catcher, Francesco Alvarez, came up and hit 25 home runs.
But everything went wrong from the start.
Diaz, incredibly, injured himself celebrating a win in the demonic World Baseball Classic, and was lost for the season. Alonso and McNeil’s averages drooped. Age finally caught up to Scherzer and Verlander, who started only 35 games between them. The team finished 12 games under .500.
Did Steve Cohen simply “run it back,” as a certain other owner and GM we know would have done?
No, he did not. Time for the Mets to rebuild. Again
Cohen brought in David Stearns, widely regarded as a boy genius of baseball for rebuilding Milwaukee. Stearns promptly fired poor Buck Showalter, and brought in an unheard-of Yankees dugout coach, Carlos Mendoza, to manage.
Harsh—and undeserved—as it was to give Buck his walking papers, I thought that Mendoza quickly proved to be a terrific manager, just the sort I would have rather had than Ol’ Mushmouth.
And it all seemed to work. After a dreadful, 24-35 start, the un-pressurized, rebuilding 2024 Mets turned on the after burners.
Stearns replaced Scherzer and Verlander with a rebuilt Luis Severino, and Sean Manaea. Along with a revived David Peterson, they pitched splendidly. He sent a message by jettisoning a temperamental reliever after he tossed his glove into the stands.
The team made the postseason by winning a wild, critical game in Atlanta the day before the season ended, then taking a thrilling Wild Card series on a big home run by Pete Alonso off Devin Williams (something that Mr. Cashman rigorously disregarded), thrashing the Philles in the NLDS, and giving the Dodgers much more of a fight than we did, in the Championship Series.
Once again, the future seemed bright.
I thought the Mets were all set. They now had what I was always saying the Yanks needed: a savvy owner willing to spend money and leave the rest to his cunning GM, and an astute manager.
Stearns seemed like a wizard, snatching Juan Soto from us, along with less noticed but highly useful players, such as Clay Holmes and Luis Torrens.
Once again, the Mets took off like a house-afire. They stumbled, but still led the division at the start of August. Then they fell flat on their collective faces, going 20-31 to miss the playoffs altogether.
Stearns immediately went to make adjustments—maybe too many adjustments—letting Alonso and Diaz walk, trading Nimmo and McNeil, bringing in Bo Bichette, Marcus Semien, and Luis Robert, Jr. , talking a lot about “preventing” runs.
You saw what happened. Yet another collapse, thanks to injuries and age. The worthy Mendoza was fired. Kodai Senga’s famous “ghost pitch” was thoroughly exorcised. Alvarez missed yet another half-season with injuries. Stearns brought in his puzzling favorite of a closer, Devin Williams…who also, fortunately for the Mets, missed half the season with injuries.
By the trading deadline, the last-place Mets were…rebuilding. Again. For the third time in six years. While Steve Cohen was talking about “adding” a general manager to help club president Stearns.
So will anything change? Stay tuned!
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment