Rockies owner is the anti-Steve Cohen

Watch out, National League West teams. The Colorado Rockies have the ability to play .500 baseball, according to their owner Dick Monfort. The antithesis of New York Mets owner Steve Cohen, Monfort has already enraged Rockies fans who consistently fill up Coors Field and remain loyal to the team despite misgivings from the front office.

From the Denver Post: “We have a lot of talent, a lot of good things are going to happen, and I think they are going to start happening this year, and I think we can play .500 ball,” Monfort told the crowd at the annual Northern Colorado Friends of Baseball breakfast at the Island Grove Event Center.

This was not a case of misspeaking. In certain situations, .500 baseball would be acceptable. In this instance, it’s an unacceptable acceptance of mediocrity.

Dick Monfort is a good reminder of why Mets owner Steve Cohen is great for the game

Here’s a little more from Monfort courtesy of the Denver Post:

“What the Padres are doing, I don’t 100% agree with, though I know that our fans probably agree with it. We’ll see how it works out.

“I look at the Padres and they have a really talented team, but they have some holes, too. They’ve got three, maybe four starting pitchers, and then they’re sort of like us. They have (Joe) Musgrove, (Blake) Snell and (Yu) Darvish, so I don’t know. They have spent a lot of money and they will have to spend a lot more if they want to keep (outfielder) Juan Soto. But it does put a lot of pressure on you. Yes, it does.”

Imagine Cohen coming out and having any sort of a take like this. Cohen’s fan-first mentality is what has made him untouchable in the eyes of Mets followers. Monfort is a businessman first, second, and third. He doesn’t seem to grasp the concept of fans having the desire to pay for a winning product.

As silly as it may seem to have an owner tweeting when he’s unhappy with the team’s performance, moments like those are what has connected Cohen to the fans better than many front office people ever could. His attendance at a New York Islanders game over the weekend further solidified his standing in the community.

If there was ever a Create-an-Owner option in a video game for the ultimate dweebs, we’d all have to create Mr. Steve Cohen. He says the right things. He lives up to them. He’s out there, having fun, and not making excuses.

The Pandora’s Box opened by Cohen becoming such a beloved owner has put people like Monfort on high alert. They can no longer hide away without being compared to those who actually care about the performance on the field.

The greatest misconception about Cohen is how free-spending the Mets have been while he has been the majority owner. Yes, their payroll has set new records and so have individual contracts. It won’t stop anytime soon either. However, the Mets continue to focus on balancing between the present and the future. This offseason alone, the team has added win-now players on short-term deals without giving up any notable prospects. They’ve also reached an agreement with Edwin Diaz before he hit free agency, re-signed Brandon Nimmo to an 8-year deal, and most recently extended Jeff McNeil.

The Mets’ way of doing this is ideal for the paying customer. People like Monfort who settle for a subpar product and have more control than anyone else serves as a reminder as to why the Amazins are in good hands.