MLB Exec Defends Mets' Steve Cohen, 'People He's Hired Have Let Him Down' as NY Last in NL Standings

As the New York Mets enter play on Tuesday tied with the Philadelphia Phillies for the worst record in MLB (9-19), owner Steve Cohen is receiving support from another league executive.

An anonymous MLB official told The Athletic's Ian O'Connor explained that "the people he's hired have let him down" when addressing why Cohen isn't the issue in Queens:

"I can't find anyone who says Steve Cohen is a meddler, or someone who isn't a supportive, positive owner. But the people he's hired have let him down. As a businessman, Cohen is one of the best in the world. But baseball is a very different business model with a lot more unpredictability, and even someone as astute as he is will have difficulty navigating things."

Since taking over as Mets owner prior to the start of the 2021 season, Cohen's tenure has been all over the map. They won 101 games in 2022, but lost a tiebreaker to the Atlanta Braves for the NL East and were bounced from the playoffs in the wild-card round by the San Diego Padres.

The 2024 season saw the Mets hover around .500 before getting hot down the stretch and riding that momentum all the way to the NLCS.

In the three full seasons outside of 2022 and 2024, the Mets missed the playoffs altogether and finished under .500 in two of them.

One thing about Cohen that could be cited as a negative is his tendency to make what feel like changes for the sake of change. There are currently rumors about Carlos Mendoza's job status.

If Mendoza does get fired, it will mark the third managerial change for the Mets since Cohen took over as owner.

Luis Rojas' team option wasn't picked up after the 2021 season. Buck Showalter, who won NL Manager of the Year in 2022, publicly announced prior to the final game of the 2023 season he was being fired.

Showalter's dismissal came after the hiring of David Stearns as president of baseball operations.

Stearns has been the subject of criticism among Mets fans, particularly this past offseason after losing Pete Alonso and Edwin Díaz. Even though neither of them has fared well in their new homes, the moves Stearns made to replace their production have largely failed to pan out.

Bo Bichette, Jorge Polanco and Marcus Semien have all produced negative fWAR totals so far this season. Freddy Peralta has been decent, but his 3.90 ERA is on pace to be his worst over a 162-game season since 2019 (5.29).

It doesn't help the lineup that Francisco Lindor and Juan Soto have only played nine games together this season.

There's still a lot of time left for the Mets to turn things around in 2026, but their issues both hitting and pitching except when Nolan McLean is starting don't offer many signs of immediate hope in Queens.