PORT ST. LUCIE – Steve Cohen suggested early on, when he bought the Mets, that he viewed the always-great Dodgers as an Orange model and a model for his own team. But, as things stand, the 2024 Mets have one thing in common with the Los Angeles team: yes, it’s the huge payroll.
The Mets and Dodgers rank first and second in player spending and are two of only three teams, with the crosstown rival Yankees, above the fourth-tier luxury tax threshold. This thin air is commonly referred to as “Steve Cohen’s tax” territory – it’s the very tariff designed by his 29 rivals to keep Cohen’s spending at a reasonable level (obviously, results have been mixed on this point until here).
The Dodgers’ new megastar team, featuring Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Mookie Betts, is being compared to the Beatles in Arizona and costs $321 million, according to Cots Baseball contracts. Despite much lower expectations, the Mets are slightly higher at $329 million.
Cohen is an extremely brilliant man: there is no other way to honestly amass a fortune estimated at $20 billion! – who, to his credit, absolutely wants to win. So it’s frankly shocking that his team is in the position they are in, even if it’s only for a year, which is most likely the case. At least for 2024, they look like a very average team with a very bloated payroll, which would be a record if not for the $350 million he spent last year.
Steve Cohen (left) and David Stearns during the latter’s Mets introductory press conference, October 2, 2024. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
It’s somewhat mysterious – at least to me – that they find themselves in this unenviable position. (More on this below.)
But let’s try to inject some positivity, at least on the first day.
Cohen’s Mets surely have an extremely bright future, with new president of baseball David Stearns and Cohen’s wit and money inevitably leading to better things to come. However, the question today is how they will get through to 2024.
Stearns, in his camp-opening press conference Monday, rightly called it “understandable” why people don’t have the Mets up there with the Braves and Phillies. (And don’t forget they finished far behind the Marlins in 2023). Stearns couldn’t go, but he said something very interesting when he said, “We expect to be a good team.” We hope to compete for a playoff spot and host exciting baseball at Citi Field in September and October.
Stearns is a wordsmith who chooses his wording precisely, but he said October well. The home portion of the regular season ends Sept. 22, so while he didn’t specifically predict the playoffs, that comment seemed to implicate him. It was certainly a nice step up from Fred Wilpon’s old line of playing meaningful games in September.
I liked hearing it.
I’m not sure I share this optimism.
Stearns improved the defense and increased the depth enough to move into the middle of the pack. October baseball cannot be ruled out given the increased postseason performance. But maybe only a few people besides him actually expect it.
If the goal was to be competitive and maintain flexibility through ultra-short trading, they took valid steps. Their defense and depth seem much improved. Overall, they seem solid, maybe even solid at that.
Luis Severino could be outstanding for $13 million if he can stay healthy and stop tipping the scales (with his stuff, that was bound to be an issue).
Luis Severino signed a one-year contract with the Mets for this season. P.A.
Sean Manaea is a good buy at $28 million for two years – if he can replicate his performance from last year with the Giants.
Harrison Bader improves the defense.
Jake Diekman is the second veteran lefty they needed.
The Adrian Houser trade was so one-sided that it appears to be a parting gift from Stearns’ former Brewers team.
Not exactly what Mets fans expected when they acquired MLB’s richest owner, certainly not in year four, which happens to be the penultimate year of the five years of Cohen’s stated hope of winning the World Series. The pressure seems to be strong for 2025.
But we must ask ourselves the following question: how did they arrive at what can be described as a transition year in 2024?
The deals for Max Scherzer ($130 million, three years), Justin Verlander ($86.7 million, two years, plus a vesting option) and James McCann ($42 million, four years) in particular – two future Hall of Famers and a lifelong backup catcher who must be a better negotiator than player — has put the Mets in a tough spot. Cohen ended up paying off most of those deals when he traded all three. The best way to decipher exactly where it went wrong is to follow the money, or in their case, dead money.
During Cohen’s first three years, the Mets made many well-intentioned decisions that seemed wise (or at least they did at the time). However, the financial genius of all time wanted to win so badly that he dug an unprecedented financial hole and, according to some estimates, reached a loss of $200 million in 2023. (Cohen only admitted in interviews precedents that the loss was “bigger than a loaf of bread.”) No one can accept losing that much money, no matter how rich they are. I can’t blame him for this one year delay.
2024-02-13 01:57:25
#Mets #expectations
