Reese Kaplan -- What Kind of Team Should Steve Cohen Build?

It's this time of the year when playoff hopes are dashed, a losing record is guaranteed and year one of Steve Cohen's stewardship did not go as planned.  Right now Mets fans are ill at ease, angry, scared, disgusted and mostly uncertain.  No one knows what direction the team will take nor should they.  

Right now it's difficult to focus on specific players when there are so many needs in the pitching rotation, the bullpen, the infield and the outfield.  For one day I will refrain from analyzing the pros and cons of each and every option for the playing field.

Similarly, circumstances suggest it's a great time to evaluate the best front office management team who can finally give some direction to the franchise.  I've dabbled a bit with names in the POBO and GM roles who might indeed be suitable, but until there is more concrete information coming out of Steve Cohen, it's all just a matter of guesswork.  

Instead, today let's look at the type of team that we would like to see moving forward.  I often think there are a certain number of team types you can build.  The problem the Mets have had is lack of a coherent plan during the Wilpon era and the first year with Cohen was fraught with all kinds of unexpected challenges.  Consequently I'll write off 2021 as an unplanned and unlucky disaster and instead look ahead to 2022 and beyond.

I've often brought up the concept of small ball which runs contrary to the home-run focused offenses that dominate the game today.  Still, it's a combination of nostalgia and probably some long lost Little League lessons that make me long for hitting behind runners, stolen bases, strong defense, defensive shifts and pressuring the pitchers.  

Power hitters are indeed seductive to have on your team.  Every time Pete Alonso or someone else puts one over the wall, you think about how the long ball is the primary way to win games.  No one can argue with the lure of a three-run homer, but at the same time banking on it as the only way to win is betting on a relative miracle given the scare occurrence.  

Some people rave over rosters made up from a group of home-grown players who may be rough around the edges but still capable of exciting fans on both offense and defense.  From a payroll perspective you get a double benefit of knowing your club developed this talent and you get to enjoy six years of it at a rather discounted rate.  Some small market teams operate this way annually, enjoying the fruits of their farm system until they become appealing and expensive enough that they feel they can replenish the minors by trading them away.  It's unlikely fans in a city as large as New York would be patient enough for this approach.  

Then there are the All Star aficionados who want to see the equivalent of the Big Red Machine reinvented in Queens.  There is certainly something to be said for making trades for great players and signing the top free agents, but then, as Mets fans well know, there is no guarantee what a player did elsewhere will repeat at Citifield.  Probably the closest to this model these days is the Los Angeles Dodgers roster where they do not shy away from the best of the best regardless of the cost.  It's hard to argue with success, but Steve Cohen needs to decide how deeply he chooses to invest in his new business.

Finally, there is the pitching-first type of team whose talent can keep a team in nearly every game.  If your hurlers are only allowing 3-4 runs per game then you always have it in your playbook that there's a way to pull out a victory.  The problem is that the Mets have kind of approached this method for many years when scoring runs became a major uphill battle and being this one-sided in the lineup approach isn't usually a truly winning formula.  

Given a choice, I'd opt for a hybrid of the small-ball focus supplemented with some pitcher-intimidating power hitters.  Right now the Mets need to focus just as much on improving the pitching even if they could somehow make the defense and offense better.  Perhaps the right front office and on-the-field management will make a difference but changes had better be coming.