NEW YORK – Steve Cohen is still new around here.
That much was evident when the third year Mets owner announced his own press conference on Twitter, only to later find out that his words – “You will get it from me straight” – caused a media frenzy at Citi Field. Once Cohen walked into the Mets’ news conference room Wednesday to discover more than a dozen rows of seats filled with reporters and photographers, he tried to dilute the excitement.
“I didn’t realize it was going to be an event,” he quipped. “It may not be as big of an event as people were hoping for, but we’ll see.”
While the hysteria surrounding Cohen’s conference was anything but casual, because more reporters showed up in Flushing than they would on a regular Wednesday night Mets game against the Brewers, it turned out his Twitter announcement was more headline-grabbing than any news he shared.
Cohen’s Mets entered Wednesday, on the cusp of the 80th game of their season, 16.5 games back of the Braves in the NL East and 8.5 games back in the wild card standings. Typically, a New York team owner with a season that gloomy announcing his own news conference would trigger immediate changes. But this is Steve Cohen the hedge fund billionaire and lifelong Mets fan we’re talking about. He wants to run things his way, he said, and that features being tolerant rather than impulsive.
“If I’m in this position, I’m not adding,” said Cohen, indicating the Mets will be sellers at the Aug. 1 trade deadline if their downward spiral continues. “I think that would be pretty silly. I would probably do very little.”
So, manager Buck Showalter and general manager Billy Eppler will “absolutely” remain in their jobs through the season no matter what, Cohen said. He’s not going to fire a staff member midseason in part because he’s focused on improving the image of the Mets. If he fires someone, no one will want to work for him, he said. And he can’t have executives uninterested in joining the organization, because he’s still looking for his dream president of baseball operations. In other words, his white whale.
“I’m a patient guy,” Cohen said. “Everybody wants a headline, everybody says fire this person, fire that person. But I don’t see that as a way to operate. If you want to attract good people to this organization, the worst thing you can do is be impulsive and win the headlines for the day. Overall, over time, you’re not going to attract the best talent. Because they’re not going to want to work for somebody who has a short fuse.
“Listen. I know fans, they want something to happen. I get it. But sometimes you can’t do it. Because you have long-term objectives. That’s the way it is.”
Cohen’s long-term goal has always involved building a sustainable franchise with a robust farm system to supplement a talented major-league roster. He has envisioned reaching that goal with the help of a president of baseball operations leading his front office, and he’s still striking out on that end. In the meantime, Cohen has been pleased with the job Eppler has done, even though the GM was Cohen’s ninth or tenth choice.
“The type of person I want doesn’t grow on trees,” Cohen said of his ideal choice for a president of baseball ops. “I was lucky enough to find Billy two years ago. I mean, it was really difficult to find anybody to run this team. Which is kind of remarkable to a New York team. And because of the nature of trying to find people in baseball, it’s not easy.”
The Mets owner previously made failed investments in his hirings of GMs Jared Porter (accused of sexual harassment) and Zack Scott (arrested for driving while intoxicated). A long, drawn-out search for another front office leader in the 2021 offseason ended with Eppler, who at the time was “universally praised,” according to Cohen, even though he was still largely unproven. Eppler was brought up through the Yankees system as the director of professional scouting, became an assistant GM under Brian Cashman, then was fired as the GM of the Angels after five straight losing seasons.
In Eppler’s first season with the Mets, the Amazins enjoyed a 101-win season before a way-too-early exit from the playoffs in the wild card series against the Padres. So far this year, the Mets are collapsing in all-too-familiar fashion to a 36-43 record, entering Wednesday. Eppler is operating under the expectation that Cohen will hire a president of baseball ops above him, which sounds like it could be awkward, at the very least. But Cohen added Wednesday that he still wants Eppler to be a part of the front office whenever that position is filled. So Eppler, to an extent, will also be involved in picking out his own boss.
“I’ve been clear from day one that I’m still looking for a president of baseball ops. Billy knows,” Cohen said. “I’ve had that conversation with him. He’s supportive. My view is this is a very complex job and there’s a lot to do. It’s a lot on one person. Obviously, we have people under Billy, but from a leadership standpoint, that’s still out there. At some point, we will fill that position. My view is Billy will be a part of that.”
At the moment, Cohen appears interested in maintaining a shiny image of the Mets so that he can attract the brightest minds to Queens. He is not interested in reactionary moves or impulsive personnel changes that could possibly help the club’s current roster, because those same moves could possibly hurt the team, too. It was evident the Mets owner is just as confused as the fan base as to why the roster has regressed this much just a year later. He is frustrated with the results, but he’s still willing to be patient.
How long will that patience last? When asked if a fourth-place finish and not making the playoffs would bring about major changes at the end of the season, Cohen mostly deflected. It’s possible he doesn’t yet know what he will do if that scenario were to become his reality.
What we do know is the Mets are an incomplete product, both on the field and in the front office. There is still time for the club to turn it around, but with nearly half the season over, there isn’t much opportunity left. In the meantime, Cohen is remaining optimistic in part because offseason acquisition Jose Quintana is just over a week away from making his season debut. The Mets are 22-3 when their starting pitcher goes at least six innings, and 14-40 when he does not. If Quintana can help stabilize the rotation, and fast, the Mets owner is hopeful things can change.
Cohen also noted that hope is not a strategy.
“You can make a case that things are about to turn, but, you know, who knows? It’s pretty hard to predict the future. Really hard,” Cohen said. “So I’m hopeful. And I think there’s reason to be hopeful. But it’s on the players at this point.”
Deesha Thosar is an MLB writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets for three-and-a-half seasons as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. She never misses a Rafael Nadal match, no matter what country or time zone he’s playing in. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.
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