Steve Cohen, the New York Mets owner, is a lifelong fan and a successful billionaire; and that’s why fans were extremely excited about him taking over the team from the Wilpons before the 2021 season.
He had enough time to plan for the season, he brought successful executives and while their offseason wasn’t perfect, they brought in several good players and a star in Francisco Lindor.
Everything was set up for the Mets to have a successful, fruitful season this year, one that would of course include a spot in the postseason.
And while the Mets led their division for months, they started slumping in July and slowly ceded ground to the Atlanta Braves and Philadelphia Phillies.
The Mets lost the top spot in the National League East a few weeks ago and are now out of the postseason, with a 61-65 record and 7.5 games behind the current leaders, the Braves.
Did He Get Carried Away Or Did He Do It On Purpose?
The Mets still have reasons to celebrate with Cohen at the helm: they have the wealthiest owner in MLB, and being a fan since his childhood days, he cares about the team.
But sometimes, that emotion, or passion, results in negative outcomes, such as Cohen publicly blasting his team via Twitter.
On August 18, Cohen tweeted the following message:
It’s hard to understand how professional hitters can be this unproductive.The best teams have a more disciplined approach.The slugging and OPS numbers don’t lie.
— Steven Cohen (@StevenACohen2) August 18, 2021
While Cohen does have a point, speaking out makes matters worse for the Mets.
The public image of an owner criticizing his own players is not good for the league, and you have to think the players didn’t like it even if they won’t say it publicly.
The Mets certainly have enough problems on the field – a very lackluster offense being the main one – to worry about what their owner has to say next.
@StevenACohen2 calling out his players on Twitter? Probably not a good move. What type of free agent would sign there knowing the owner will criticize you on Twitter.
— CPT (@cpt1234567) August 19, 2021
We don’t know if he will mention specific names next, and that would be an even worse outcome that we hope doesn’t take place.
Everybody Is Frustrated
It’s understandable that Cohen is frustrated about the Mets’ lack of offense: he brought in a starting catcher (James McCann) and star shortstop (Lindor) and kept the whole offensive nucleus intact, with players such as Pete Alonso, Dom Smith, Michael Conforto, Brandon Nimmo, Jeff McNeil, and others.
But going to Twitter and criticizing the players is definitely a bad look.
Perhaps he was venting his frustration, or perhaps he did it on purpose to try and ignite a fire in his players.
Either way, he received a lot of heat for his comments.
Additionally, he talks about the best teams having a more disciplined approach, yet his only major addition for the offense before the trade deadline was a shortstop with a sub-.300 OBP, one of the most undisciplined batters in the league: Javier Baez.
Cohen and the front office could have brought Trevor Story or Kris Bryant, but no: they went with Baez, and it was an odd fit from the beginning.
Mets fans usually have a hard enough time on social media, but now that their owner is speaking out, they have another thing to deal with.
I generally do not like the majority of Steve’s Cohen tweets which tend toward the silly and seems childish for someone his age and stature, but I say bravo to Cohen’s tweet on the state of the Mets offense.
It was a truthful and critical message in counter to the enabling and excuse-making of Luis Rojas and Pete Alonso on performance and results. Cohen’s tweet was a very needed public lashing. a wake up call to the players, Rojas, hitting coaches and the executive leadership, that the owner is really unhappy with the state of play and the results. If Cohen opted only to state this message behind closed doors, it’s far less powerful. The public nature of it was key, was perfect in its message without being overbearing or dis-resepcting.
I strongly doubt Cohen’s public lashing dissuades free agents from signing. If anything, they should embrace the expectation of performance and accountability playing in New York and being a big league ballplayer.
I think what would absolutely dissuades free agents from signing here is if Cohen wimpers out and doesn’t change the failed and broken leadership that is directly responsible for the failed processes that have taken the real game of baseball out of Mets baseball. Which great pitcher wants to come here to be pulled after 74 pitches on a team that doesn’t support anything close to a true days work of satisfaction on the mound? And which great position player want to be surrounded by inept hitting processes and all-in data approach that has no old school in it, one that stifle success?
If the players on the team can’t take criticism then I don’t think I would want them on my team anyway. All he did was to state the obvious. If they didn’t know this already then they needed someone in charge to break up their little feel-good party. I applaud him for letting the fans know that he sees,s and feels the same things and way that we do. Bravo Mr. Cohen and please keep it up.