Ranking the 5 most important people within the Mets franchise

It's a new era of New York Mets baseball. A franchise whose fans just a couple of years ago were told that guys like Rick Porcello and Michael Wacha would change the fortunes of the franchise now get to celebrate the signing of Max Scherzer. Yes, the future Hall of Famer, and three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer.

In just two years since Steve Cohen purchased the Mets, he has turned a team that acted like a mid-market team into a team that just blew completely past the luxury tax and currently has the highest payroll in the game. The Mets are finally acting like the big market team they should be as they're in New York.

The Mets are set up to win now and win in the future. They have talent on the roster currently and in the farm, and have an owner who seems intent on spending every possible penny to win as many games as possible. In terms of the most important people in the franchise, a young guy comes in at number five.

5. Pete Alonso

It's hard to believe that someone who has only played for three seasons is the fifth most important person in a franchise but Pete Alonso is that good.

The 27 year old is already 14th in franchise history with his 104 home runs and assuming health, he will shatter Darryl Strawberry's franchise home run record. He already broke the Mets single season home run record.

Alonso took New York by storm in his rookie year hitting 53 home runs, driving in 120 runs and winning the Rookie of the Year Award. After the shortened 2020 season he hit another 37 home runs this past season which was third in the National League.

Alonso has taken on a bit of a leadership role as well. He always says the right things in front of the media and seems to be beloved in that Mets clubhouse and by Mets fans.

Alonso is already one of the best first basemen in the game and is only getting better. He has improved dramatically in the field. At one point he appeared to be headed towards a full-time DH role but went from posting a -5 DRS to a 5 DRS. He went from very below average to above average. He was in the second percentile in Outs Above Average in 2020 according to baseball savant. He was in the 63rd percentile in 2021.

Alonso also improved his plate discipline, lowering his strikeout rate from 25.5% to just 19.9%. He didn't chase as much and looked like a more complete hitter. The sky is the limit for the Polar Bear and he's going to be here for a very long time.

4. Max Scherzer

I did not expect to put a 37 year old on this list but Max Scherzer is undoubtedly one of the most important people to this franchise. Going into this offseason I knew the Mets would need to upgrade their rotation, especially after they lost Noah Syndergaard in free agency.

I never expected the Mets to get Max Scherzer, it was just a dream. My dream became reality when they signed Scherzer to a three-year $130 million-dollar deal. He is the second part of the most dominant one-two punch in a rotation in the game, maybe ever alongside Jacob deGrom.

He will likely only be here for three years but a lot is riding on Scherzer and his success. He's coming off a season which saw him go 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA split between the Nationals and Dodgers. He's still striking out the world and going deep into games.

How long can that last? At the price they're paying the Mets need Scherzer to be that second ace. The guy who will step up in big games and help lead the Mets back to the Postseason and hopefully win the World Series.

With Jacob deGrom's health a major question mark the Mets will be relying heavily on Scherzer to give them 30+ regular season starts in edition to whatever workload he'd have in the Postseason.

It's a lot to ask, but I think he's up for the task. He's shown no signs of slowing down. If he does slow down, it becomes a lot harder for the Mets to win.

3. Francisco Lindor

Francisco Lindor's first year in Flushing was a little underwhelming. He got off to a brutal start and also ended up missing over a month with an oblique injury. However, he did turn it on after May 29th, posting an .833 OPS and hitting 17 home runs. He also played an elite shortstop all year, posting 20 outs above average according to baseball savant which led the major leagues.

When the Mets traded for Lindor, they thought they were getting their new face of the franchise, but he didn't play like it. The .833 OPS with the elite defense is what they thought they'd be getting, but that doesn't take away the brutal April and most of May. The Mets need a consistent Lindor in 2022 and beyond.

He ranks third on this list because of the extension he signed. The Mets committed ten years and $341 million dollars to Lindor, preventing him from entering free agency after the 2021 season and locking him up likely for the rest of his career in Flushing.

The length of the contract and the price tag on it makes it vital that Lindor plays like a $30 million dollar a year player. He should be going to all-star games and winning Gold Gloves. He should be a key reason the Mets make it back to the postseason and win a World Series.

Year one was about getting acclimated, now the extension has kicked in. It's time for Lindor to produce like the player we all know he can be.

1. Steve Cohen

The person giving Mets fans hope that they will win the World Series in the near future is Steve Cohen. In his two years at the helm as the owner of the franchise he's brought in a ton of big names, most notably Francisco Lindor and Max Scherzer. He's brought them from a team that was middle of the pack in payroll to the top. There are even rumors going around saying that he might bring the Mets payroll to an unheard of $300 million dollars for the 2022 season. He is all in.

We're used to the Wilpon's who tried to sell Mets fans on aging veterans on cheap deals who would all of a sudden turn back time and be stars again. In order to get rid of bad contracts they'd attach prospects to deals. Steve Cohen is valuing the farm and spending money on players who are still performing at an extremely high level.

The Jared Kelenic trade looked like it was going to set the Mets back for a long time. It was a brutal trade and the Mets still missed out on a gem in Kelenic but signed a really good center fielder in Starling Marte to a four-year deal. For the short term, the Mets are settled in center field, a position they've lacked since Carlos Beltran was traded.

The Mets are finally investing in analytics. They went from having a virtually non existent analytics department to one of the biggest in the game and it's only getting bigger.

Steve Cohen has turned the franchise in just two seasons into one that is a force to be reckoned with. They are going to be an aggressive player in free agency, make smart moves backed up by analytics, and invest in the farm system and player development.

It's a new day in Flushing and it feels like eventually the Mets will win a World Series title with the most important person in the franchise, Steve Cohen, in charge.