3 ways the NY Mets can achieve stability

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The New York Mets have struggled to build their foundation for years now. With instability in the franchise, the mindset of the organization has changed every season. From 2015 to 2019, they were a team built on the backs of great starting pitching. In 2021, they relied on a young core that was dismantled for a veteran squad in 2022. In 2023, they relied on the same team with two 40-year-old aces to pave a path to the postseason. Suffice it to say, these decisions have left the 2024 Mets searching for an identity.

Teams around baseball have a vision for the future and have front offices in place for at least a few years to build toward a championship. Due to both internal and external factors, the Mets have experienced neither. As J.D. Davis stated over the summer, instability at both the general manager and manager positions affected the team and the way they performed. That leaves fans asking, what can be done to fix the culture of instability the Mets currently have?

1. Stabilize the General Manager and Managerial positions

The Mets have gone through constant turnover at the general manager position since the ladder years of Fred and Jeff Wilpon's tenure. This has been abnormal for the franchise as they had stability from 1997-2003 in Steve Phillips, 2005-2010 with Omar Minaya, and 2011-2018 with Sandy Alderson. Since Alderson stepped down in June of 2018 due to his second cancer diagnosis, there has been a revolving door of GM's. The Mets have gone through Brodie Van Wagenen, Jared Porter, Zack Scott, and Billy Eppler, and now settling on David Stearns.

With an ever-changing front office comes a revolving door of managers on the field as well. The Mets had stability with Bobby Valentine from 1996-2002, Willie Randolph from 2005-2008, and Terry Collins from 2011-2017. Since Collins stepped down in 2017, the Mets have gone through Mickey Callaway, Luis Rojas, Buck Showalter, and now Carlos Mendoza. This type of overturn in the organization even left Brandon Nimmo frowning his face at the end of 2023.

Stability in the front office and coaching staff will help the Mets lay out a long-term vision for the franchise. For the past couple of years, the Mets have not had a stable direction, pivoting from trading top prospects for the likes of Edwin Diaz, Francisco Lindor, and Javier Baez, to trading their hall-of-fame talent for Drew Gilbert and Luisangel Acuna. This type of constant change in philosophy leaves the team with just 2 winning seasons since 2016. For this to change, the front office needs to stick with one direction moving forward: build around a young group of talent for sustained success and avoid going for the "quick fix".

2. Build through the farm system

The Mets have attempted the "quick fix" model for years. In 2018, the Mets had a weak offense, no real closer, but a great starting pitching staff. Van Wagenen went all in trading Jarred Kelenic for Robinson Cano and Edwin Diaz. In 2020, Cohen and Porter wanted to make a splash in beginning a new regime change by trading Andres Gimenez for Carlos Carrasco and Lindor. At the trade deadline in 2021, the Mets were barely a .500 team when Scott decided to trade Pete Crow-Armstrong for Baez. To say the Mets blew up their farm system on fringe playoff teams is an understatement.

Players who come through a franchise’s farm system have a sense of loyalty and passion to play for the team. They are developed with other young players to have better team chemistry upon their debuts in the majors. David Wright even alluded to this over the summer in describing his loyalty and passion to be a homegrown Mets player and his chemistry with Jose Reyes. When acquiring too much talent that already had success elsewhere such as Max Scherzer and Lindor, it is hard for these players to develop sustainable chemistry. The Mets from 2021-2023 and the San Diego Padres last season are great examples of this philosophy going wrong.

Furthermore, there is a sentimentality for the fanbase to see their young talent succeed at the major league level. The most popular players for the Mets have always been homegrown talent: Wright, Reyes, Alonso, even going back to Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden. This type of culture in witnessing our own prospects rise through the minors and win a National League East title instead of free-agent "mercenary" players gives the fans a different type of connection with the players on the field. This can also be more sustainable, given the amount of young talent on rookie contracts.

3. Avoid spending “like drunken sailors.”

In Cohen’s opening press conference, he stated the organization would not overspend on free agents and build a sustainable winner. In too many circumstances, the Mets have been burdened by bad contracts that were signed to multi-year contracts. Jason Bay, Yoenis Cespedes, Robinson Cano, just to name a few. Other teams have experienced the lasting effects of bad contracts as well, just ask a Yankees fan their opinion of Giancarlo Stanton.

Having too many long-term contracts will eventually become unsustainable for a franchise even with Cohen’s resources. He has made mistakes in spending on veteran players past their prime like Starling Marte and James McCann. Cohen also approved the Lindor trade and 10-year contract which is not needed on this team given their plethora of shortstop prospects and the fact Gimenez has developed nicely in Cleveland.

In hiring Stearns to be president of baseball operations, the Mets will have their first taste of sustainability since Alderson stepped down the first time. He is not known as an executive who hands out too many long-term contracts. Stearns is known to value his prospects and will make franchise-altering decisions only when necessary. Teams that compete for a championship have built through the farm system first and added once they were built to win. The Atlanta Braves and Houston Astros are great examples of this. The hope as a fan is that Stearns can provide that stability and stay the course of building for the future, not just 2024.

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