Mets360 - Five initial moves Steve Cohen should make

 

By Chris Flanders November 2, 2020

Funny where inspiration comes from sometimes. After pondering a number of topics worth spending time researching and writing about, my best friend – and consummate life-long Mets fan – asked me what my thoughts were on the top five moves that new owner Steve Cohen has to make in remaking the team. Not even a full day into the job Cohen deserves a lot of credit for making a move I did not see on the horizon, but needs to be lauded for, by restoring full salaries for Mets employees. Few things will garner ground-up enthusiasm than caring for your people. Of course, the talk of hiring Sandy Alderson was on the docket well before closing on the team Friday, and almost certainly was critical in greasing the skids to get buy-in from the “ownership class.” Given these are done, let’s move on from them.

1. Take stock of the team. Cohen just laid out $2.4 billion for this team, so before doing anything significant just because he is wealthy, Cohen and his confidants need to take full stock of all aspects of the team from hospitality to dealing with Robinson Cano. With Alderson as a trusted leader now, he needs to appraise all aspects of the baseball side of the team. How long will it take to do this? I would guess with all the parallel activities that must also go on, probably a month or two to get to situational awareness, but much longer in reality. Having experience running a big outfit, Cohen almost certainly will be able to begin to see the internal business side of the team pretty quickly in order to eliminate the rot, and begin to reshape for his purpose. Alderson should be able to take stock of the big-league team and the pipeline, but much has changed in the two years he has been gone. In all of this, the byline should be “don’t panic.”

2. Begin to manage personnel decisions. After Cohen understands the state of the team he just bought, he and Alderson need to begin addressing personnel moves. Focusing on the baseball side of the team, a critical decision will be dealing with the search for a general manager. Most folks think that it is time to move on from the Brodie Van Wagenen experiment, a decision I am in complete agreement with. Regardless of the status of player and coaching personnel, a general manager that has the full confidence of Cohen and Alderson needs to be in place. The trade for Edwin Diaz and Cano was so bad, along with signing of Jed Lowrie, that there simply is no way Van Wagenen can remain in charge. Add the terrible clubhouse and media relations, and all that remains is burnt embers. With declining the options for Frazier and Ramos and making a qualifying offer to Marcus Stroman, there is no need for panic moves between the lines until the general manager his brought on. A new GM needs to be a baseball master, equally comfortable shifting from advanced scouting to advanced analytics. More than one beat writer has mentioned that the analytics staff will see a major growth with new ownership. Without doubt, this should be done before making a number of player personnel moves. On that front, all doors should be open to improve the team once a plan is in place. Alderson once wanted to build a perennial winner; now is his chance, but it will not happen without a clear plan.

3. Develop a “Mets Way.” In the past, especially with the hiring of Van Wagenen, there was a thought that he would usher in a bottom-to-top overhaul of the team resulting in the consistent messaging across all levels needed to make sure players are being guided by strong principles. 

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