3 giant NY Mets decisions for Steve Cohen becoming easier with each loss

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Each time the New York Mets take a loss, it’s a little easier for Steve Cohen to make a rash decision. He has stayed away from being a George Steinbrenner since purchasing the Mets. Other than sending out the occasional tweet about the OPS numbers not lying, he has been supportive of many of the coaches, players, and other personnel.

As the losses continue to pile up, the now 35-42 Mets are giving Cohen even more reason to come to a couple of conclusions. Underachievement doesn’t do this year’s Mets justice. They’re underachievers if they’re finishing at .500. This year’s club is well below that margin.

Some brutal recent Mets losses have made a few giant decisions Cohen will have to decide on much easier. They’re not all about doing a roundhouse kick to the coaching staff either.

1) The NY Mets coaching staff could be cleared out from Buck Showalter down to the bottom

But we do begin with going Jean-Claude Van Damme on every Mets coach. From Buck Showalter to whoever the lowest ranking coach getting a paycheck from Cohen happens to be, they all need to be gone.

The Mets overhauled the coaching staff prior to bringing in Showalter. One of the few holdovers, Jeremy Hefner, seems to have lost the ability to connect with players like he did before. Is it on him or are the Mets pitchers struggling through the season most to blame? If you want to blame the players, it raises a secondary question of why have Hefner around at all if he’s not making a difference for anyone.

Similar statements could be said about hitting coach Jeremy Barnes who doesn’t seem to have made much of a difference with anyone. Has there been a single Mets player who hasn’t slumped at one point this year at the plate?

Firing Showalter would be a huge step for the Mets to make after this season or even before it’s over. It seemed like the 2022 campaign was a step in the right direction with Showalter captaining the ship in perpetuity. It turns out he might not stay around as long as it once seemed.

Every loss, especially the ones the Mets are experiencing over the last week-plus, seem to have Showalter eating at least a part of the blame.

2) NY Mets GM Billy Eppler has proven he doesn’t have the magic touch

Does Cohen start completely from scratch next year? Let’s say the Mets win about 75 games. Is it enough for him to keep the manager or general manager next season? Starting over is something he’d probably like to avoid. The club went through a litany of GMs in 2021. Some stability could do the franchise good.

What won’t do them any good is having a guy like Billy Eppler spoil the year by ignoring major weaknesses and spending Cohen’s money in unwise ways. Yes, the struggles from some of the big ticket free agents isn’t so much on him when it’s clear the owner had as much, if not more, of the input.

Eppler has yet to make a stunningly positive move during his time with the Mets. The transactions that have worked or done well are ones any could’ve made. Worse is how many of his failures were obviously doomed from the start. Nobody could’ve possibly believed the ill-fated Darin Ruf trade was a good move to make.

There have been times when Eppler decisions looked savvy and successful. Jeff Brigham had a stretch for the Mets earlier this year where he looked solid. Even John Curtiss, mostly in the spring, was headed toward becoming one of those relievers the Mets stole off the scrapheap.

Eppler has yet to prove himself as anything more than someone who throws money at free agents. His trades are almost all universally stinkers with the Chris Bassitt deal as the lone acceptable one in his tenure. The more the Mets slide in the standings, the easier it’ll be for Cohen to get rid of Eppler.

3) NY Mets won’t win by pouring all of their money into Shohei Ohtani in free agency

Cohen is learning the hard way how you can’t buy a championship. The thought of buying Shohei Ohtani in the offseason to help put the Mets over the top might not be such a wise move to make with all things considered. Ohtani is a sensational player. However, as many of the big free agent signings or extensions on the Mets books, there is too much evidence to suggest it would be a wasted move on a team in need of much more.

Imagine the 2023 Mets with Carlos Correa at third base struggling so mightily and putting up such ridiculously poor numbers on a team already exhausted with overpaid players slumping through the year. If not for poor medicals, the Mets would’ve been there.

Cohen has proven he is willing to go as far as he believes is required to build a winner. The 2023 payroll exemplifies it. Next year, with Ohtani on the roster, we’d have to expect even more money loaded into the back of the pickup truck as the Mets look to buy a parade.

Where do the Mets draw the line with this imperfect strategy? They spent more than any other team in MLB history on the club this year and they’re middling. The same thing has happened to the San Diego Padres while the Baltimore Orioles and Tampa Bay Rays have done the exact opposite.

Does Cohen go after what will most assuredly become the largest contract in MLB history? If so, it seems like a lot of flash and sizzle without the savior taste of success.

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