“You want to win. Nobody remembers when you finish second or third place,” said Steve Cohen. Mets fans have been waiting for years to hear that from the Wilpons. Tuesday they got their long and awaited response.
Their Messiah has arrived. And Steve Cohen brings along the “Master” Sandy Alderson who presented a stark contrast from his first stint as GM under the Wilpons.
The message from Cohen and Alderson is very simple. They will work together. Alderson, though, will use his technique as a master to have more leverage this time. It will require the money from Cohen and filling in the pieces.
Pieces and strategy that have never evolved from a team that has always been the second fiddle in town to the cross-town Yankees. But Cohen, who knows something about spending and doing it wisely, will not focus on the Yankees.
“I’m not competing against the Yankees,” Cohen said. “This is the Mets. We’re going to create our own excitement. I’m competing against 29 0ther clubs in MLB. It comes down to us making good decisions, taking advantage of opportunities that arise.”
And “The Master,” will have full autonomy. Sandy Alderson has that opportunity. And the autonomy is a responsibility that has been bestowed upon him from the “Messiah” Steve Cohen.
The baseball world will be watching. The fans will be watching. The owner and team president provided the message Tuesday. They are in this to win, to spend, fill the gaps. They will hold on to the draft picks and prospects because Alderson compared them to being husbands that are in the Mets system. He did not point to the mistakes that Brodie Van Wagenen caused with dealing prospects and draft picks.
And “The Master” is pretty darn good at restructuring the baseball operations, so expect a completely different look at the revamped minor league affiliates of Syracuse, Binghamton, Brooklyn, and St. Lucie
Oh, back to what baseball people are saying about Cohen and Alderson. With baseball economics as they are, and teams reportedly losing a combined $1.3 billion in revenue from a shortened and pandemic season, the Mets will have the resources.
Steve Cohen is the richest owner in the sport and got a majority of the votes from his new colleagues.
“In Sandy they trust,” said a longtime NL executive. “ I’ve known Sandy for a long time. He has the resources to make this work. The resources from Cohen and Sandy has that respect in the game.”
He said, “Yes Sandy is a Master at what he does. He now has that ability to make things work.”
Cohen mentioned analytics and building the farm system. Obvious, the Messiah and Master are on the same page. These Two aspects of the game are instrumental in building a winner.
“It’s the route baseball has become,” said the executive. “Take a look at the Dodgers, the Rays, so many teams that are successful and sending for that one ot two players that make a difference.”
And all of this will eventually be the game plan. Expertise from “ Master” Sandy does provide an incentive for Mets fans. There is optimism from that Zoom conference call with the media.
“The Messiah” Steve Cohen is still a fan. He wants the Mets to win. He has felt the pain and fans can relate to that.
And Mets fans saw a different side from Sandy Alderson. The chemistry from the owner and team president was their word of the day. You heard the words of building championships and not buying them. You heard the word iconic as it related to the Mets franchise.
Yet, the Mets will buy. George Springer, Trevor Bauer, J.T. Relamuto? Perhaps one or another from the wide array of free agents that have hit the market.
They will fill in the pieces. The “Messiah” and “Master” are here and the message was set in stone.
Rich Mancuso: Twitter@Ring786 Facebook.com/Rich Mancuso Watch Sports With Rich on You-Tube. Like, comment, subscribe.
Photo by Rich Graessle/Icon Sportswire