NY Mets: 3 major decisions Steve Cohen should make at his press conference
By Mark Powell
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen is holding a press conference on Wednesday. Here are three changes he should make, but likely won’t.
The New York Mets have a lot of work to do. While their struggles technically start from the top, this is a team that is lacking in their on-field product.
New York has the highest payroll in all of baseball. Steve Cohen has given the keys to the Mets front office, but they have failed to deliver in a major way. New York sits 16 games back and counting in the NL East, and the NL Wild Card remains a longshot.
Andy McCullough of The Athletic pointed out that the Mets struggles aren’t necessarily Cohen’s fault, and for good reason:
"“Because he owns the team, and the owner decides both who gets a pass and who gets a bus pass to the next gig. It seems odd to blame Cohen for doing what most fans beg their owners to do every winter: Spend irrational sums of money on free-agent contracts that anyone with access to an actuarial table can tell you is a risky move. If you would like your owner to spend less, I have great news for you. It’s a 30-team league and a lot of stewards operate with far less interest in largesse than Cohen.”"
With that in mind, what could his Wednesday press conference really be about?
NY Mets: Steve Cohen should announce a front office change
Lack of spending is not an issue for the New York Mets, that much is clear. Cohen has put all of his resources behind this team. The front office, for better or worse, has not performed well with these resources. This isn’t necessarily an indictment of Billy Eppler, the general manager, but something has to change.
New York has been linked to former Brewers executive David Stearns in the past, and adding him to the front office roster would be a wise decision by Cohen, as I wrote a few weeks back.
"“There’s no indication that Eppler will be fired — Cohen even said he doesn’t want to clean house just yet. But Cohen is reportedly courting one of baseball’s top executives behind the scenes. David Stearns, currently an advisor for the Milwaukee Brewers and the former general manager, took a year off from his day job due to what some in the MLB community have coined burnout.”"
Stearns needed a break, and he got one. At the time, Cohen said he hadn’t spoken to him. Who knows what’s happened since then, though?