3 moves Steve Cohen would have already made if he was more like George Steinbrenner

Jun 28, 2023; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets owner Steve Cohen speaks to the media
Jun 28, 2023; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets owner Steve Cohen speaks to the media / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
1 of 3
Next

George Steinbrenner set a standard for MLB ownership. Winning was what he demanded most during his time as the face of the New York Yankees. When Steve Cohen took control of the New York Mets, the comparisons were impossible to deny.

As we’ve gotten to know Cohen more, we see there are probably more differences between the two. They come from different generations and as similar as their hobby of owning a baseball team may be, their approach and personalities aren’t mirror images.

Certain Steinbrenner qualities would be nice to have. We can’t say the same about the others. If Cohen did have a little more Steinbrenner in him, we would have already seen him make these three moves.

1) NY Mets owner Steve Cohen would have already fired and rehired Buck Showalter or Billy Eppler if he was more like George Steinbrenner 

Billy Martin was fired five times by Steinbrenner during his managerial tenure. I haven’t even had five jobs in my lifetime. The nuttiness of the Steinbrenner/Martin relationship is one-of-a-kind. Imagine if Cohen was like that with his skipper Buck Showalter and even Billy Eppler.

By now, Cohen would have pulled the trigger on at least one of them. Showalter would have been gone in mid-June and would’ve returned by the end of the month when Eric Chavez didn’t get anything more from the ball club. 

Eppler would have lost his job after the end of the 2022 season. The ferocity of Cohen would have made other general managers timid to take on such an insecure position, especially while knowing David Stearns was eventually going to land an office at Citi Field. Eppler would have been rehired in the offseason with Cohen calling a lot of the shots. It does already seem like this is the working relationship the two have. Cohen says “jump and sign me Justin Verlander” and Eppler asks “how high do you want his salary?”

The Mets were already an unstable franchise and have continued to be so even under the guidance of Uncle Steve. A little more Steinbrenner in him and the Mets might be a whole lot messier.