NY Mets Monday Morning GM: The Steve Cohen financial flex we’re still waiting to see

Through multiple GMs and other front office executives and advisors, Steve Cohen has been guided to approve a variety of different philosophies for the New York Mets. Consistent has been the idea of spending big on players. This comes as no surprise. It was the financial flex of Cohen’s we all agreed was a must in order to make owning the Mets worth it.

A trade and extension popped up with Francisco Lindor. The team has taken on dead weight in salary albeit not a significant amount when they acquired Trevor Gott and Chris Flexen from the Seattle Mariners only to immediately DFA the latter. They’ve only lightly touched on the full body of what Cohen can possibly do with his wallet.

One we have yet to see is the kind of move maybe a little more reserved for a team trying to save cash down the line. When are we going to see the Mets hand out an early extension to one of their young, budding stars?

The Mets have had candidates for an early extension, but no deal has been signed

It’s not as if the Mets have been void of homegrown talent. Francisco Alvarez was as much the best prospect in the game at one point. Brett Baty wasn’t so far behind. After the year he had in 2024, the thought must’ve crossed the mind to award Mark Vientos with some sort of a longer deal.

In part because of the positions they play—it seems like shortstops, outfielders, and pitchers get those early deals most—the Mets haven’t come to an agreement on any buyout of pre-arbitration years and more with members of their youth movement. To rationalize it equally, many of the young guys haven’t exactly grabbed the opportunity by the horns. Baty might not be in the majors next year. Alvarez has shown promise, but can’t dig his way out of being a bottom-of-the-order hitter. Vientos only now has garnered some faith from the franchise. It’s probably too late to start talking about any sort of long-term commitment.

An extension for a young player might seem like a perfect move for Cohen to make. However, it’s not such an important thing for a Mets team that now seems to take things with a year-to-year approach. On top of that, the greatest financial flex of all would be to blow away a young player closer to his free agency than to overpay him a little bit early on. If Alvarez takes until he’s 26 to start hitting close to .300 with 25+ home run power, the Mets will gladly make him the best offer possible once he has indeed arrived in his truest form.

What incentive is there for an owner to pay a player immediately when money isn’t an issue down the road? It’s a much better feeling to get what you pay for in the future than to buy into the idea that a player will develop into becoming a bargain. Teams with financial constraints or hunting for a bargain seem to prefer this when they can.

Meanwhile, the Mets have a very “what can you do for me now?” kind of thinking. Far from frugal, the conservative approach more matches the true kinds of flexes this organization prefers: paying the best players what they’re worth when they’re worth it.