Mets owner Steve Cohen was prickly in his opening press conference of the year, sounding more like George Steinbrenner in his prime as he sounded off on the Mets 2025/26 off-season, losing out on top flight talents, the financial rivalry with the Dodgers, missing the playoffs, and naming a captain.
Let's just say the Mets boss left plenty of missives that feel he's calling on his team to figure things out and get back to the playoffs this year.
"It's hard to know when to make those changes, but the other side is we have a sharp management and they were prepared and had alternatives. Saying good bye is tough, but saying hello is kinda fun.
"I get frustrated. I am committed to this team. I know how much the fans care. I know we are celebrating the 40th anniversary of 1986, but that is far too long. I want to put myself in a position to be in the playoffs and have a really good team."
As if there isn't enough pressure on the Mets after a hugely disappointing 2025 campaign that saw the Amazin's miss the postseason entirely.
The off-season had its share of ups and downs, with plenty of downs early. The Mets traded away Brandon Nimmo and Jeff McNeil, then lost both Pete Alonso and Edwin Diaz to free agency via Baltimore and Los Angeles respectively. Cohen called out Diaz the other day in an interview with play-by-play man Howie Rose, calling his former closer's decision "perplexing."
“I’m not sure exactly how Edwin arrived at that decision. Obviously, it’s a personal decision on his part and I thought we made a pretty respectable bid.”
The Mets bid was $3 million less. It's not hard to figure out why Diaz went to the two-time defending champion Dodgers.
While Cohen tried to backtrack a bit on Diaz at Monday's presser, he praised President of Baseball Ops David Stearns for finding ways to improve the team. The Mets added former White Sox outfielder Luis Robert Jr., former Blue Jays infielder Bo Bichette, and Brewers ace Freddy Peralta via trade.
"I feel like there is a different energy than last year," Cohen said taking a slight swipe at the 2025 club. "A lot of new faces. I am excited about this team, I am excited about the energy so we will see what happens.
"David kept cautioning me to stay patient. It's a long off-season. It ends even past today for teams. We stayed patient and I feel good about what we accomplished."
When asked about losing some key players like Alonso, Cohen said: "These are players that grew up in my ownership, so from a personal standpoint it's tough to say goodbye. One door closes another one opens. I am excited about the quality of the players we have brought in."
Cohen also gave Manager Carlos Mendoza the dreaded vote of confidence calling him a "great manager and motivator. "The managers main job is culture, and I think he does that really well."
On the Dodgers: "They are formidable. They can spend, so do I by the way. They built a great team, and we built a great team. We expect to meet them somewhere down the line in the playoffs."
On naming a Team Captain:
"As long as I am owning the team, there will never be a team captain. That was my decision. the locker room is unique, let it sort it out year-in and year-out. I felt that way all along."
"My view is every year the team is different, let the team figure that out. Having a captain doesn't happen often in baseball."
The comments are interesting since its the first time Cohen has really addressed this issue in public. During the off-season there were rumblings about communication issues between Francisco Lindor and Nimmo, as well as issues between Lindor and McNeil and Lindor and Juan Soto. Many have viewed Lindor as that "leadership" guy, but it clearly hasn't happened. So this was Cohen's way of nipping this in the bud and announcing that nobody will hold that title.
Bottom line is there is pressure on the Mets to win and to win immediately in 2026.
"Table stakes is make the playoffs. Gotta make the playoffs. I missed the playoffs last year; missing two years in a row is not good. You want to go deep. You can't control what goes on in a short series, but you got to get there. We got to do better."
Comments