How the Mets can become the Gold Standard of Major League Baseball

Reward players with extensions

The relationship between the front office and the players is sometimes overlooked. We’re seeing it a little more this winter as players can finally express some positivity toward Cohen and Company.

One way to build a positive relationship is to reward players with extensions. They shouldn’t be handed out haphazardly without much thought. However, if you go through any MLB roster, there are surely at least one or two players worthy of a long-term deal.

This does a few things. It builds trust with players. Not only will the ones you have under team control have a little more respect, but so will those free agents you may target in the future. Unfortunately, we sometimes get caught up in thinking of players as salaries and statistics. In actuality, they are human beings with souls, emotions, and grudges.

The Mets can start this process with an extension for Michael Conforto. It might not happen this offseason. What’s important is that it does happen before he reaches free agency.

I do believe extending Conforto is on Cohen’s to-do list. Whether it’s one of the first major moves the organization makes or something that takes until spring doesn’t matter. As long as Conforto feels the love at some point before the season begins, all should be well.

The Mets have several extension candidates coming up in the next few years. Conforto is the most pressing, but let’s also not forget about Noah Syndergaard. He also reaches free agency after the 2021 season.

For a Gold Standard franchise, the expectation should be that the team at least has a willingness to negotiate honestly and fairly. Keeping your top players in town is important for the fans and the team’s chemistry. It’s one thing we will hopefully see a lot more of in the coming years.

Develop and nurture minor league talent

Finally, there’s one of the most impactful and difficult challenges any team can undertake. Developing and nurturing minor league talent sounds a lot easier than it is. Hundreds of players with varying futures all need to be put in the best position to succeed. Unfortunately, many never will reach their potential.

The Mets haven’t been the greatest at handling their minor leaguers in recent years. This needs to change under the new regime as they correctly scout their own future stars and hold onto the ones that can be big league difference-makers.

The current Mets have several players who came up through the minor league system and are now core members of the franchise. The successes they have had must continue. It also needs to translate with others, specifically their pitchers.

The Mets have developed some very good position players in recent years, but haven’t been as lucky with pitchers. David Peterson might be an exception. How they handle him will say a lot about the direction this franchise is going when it comes to their young stars.

It will take a while for the Mets to undo any of the negative effects the minor league system has experienced in recent years. Fortunately, it’s not as big of a mess as it could be. They have drafted well and should be able to have some notable prospects on the farm soon enough.

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Until then, the Mets need to stop trading away so many young players. They need to have top prospects ready to emerge each year and become true MLB stars. We may need to have a little more patience in this regard.