“It’s hard to understand how professional hitters can be this unproductive. The best teams have a more disciplined approach. The slugging and OPS numbers don’t lie.”

Steve Cohen’s first tweet as a first year owner of the New York Mets made a few weeks after his team fell out of first place in the National League East. His team had struggled badly, falling one game below .500 and trailed the first-place Atlanta Braves. It was then that the 65-year old took to the airwaves (2021 style anyway) to voice his displeasure. Cohen, as it turned out, didn’t tweet out a nightly or even weekly, but the first one was sufficient to begin to learn the make-up of this man from Great Neck, N.Y.

On September 14, 2020, Cohen finalized a deal to buy New York’s National League franchise, a team he roots for, putting an end to an era with the Wilpon family that is generally looked at as glum. The Mets began their 60th season and 13th at Citi Field strong and held first place at the All-Star break. But the second half turned out to be unkind to the Mets as they dropped out of first in early August, and were eliminated from playoff contention on September 25. When they lost their 82nd game, it ensured their fourth losing season in five years. New York would finish in third place with a 77-85 record after holding the division lead for 103 days. On October 4, the Mets did not renew the contract of manager Luis Rojas.

Along the way, the Mets also had some front office issues. General Manager Jared Porter was released following revelations he sent sexually explicit text messages and images to a female reporter in 2016 while working for the Chicago Cubs. Porters replacement, Zack Scott,  was let go on November 1 after a DUI charge. In any grading system, points must be deducted for this behavior by such trusted men.

Then, after the season ended, the Mets lost both Steven Matz and Noah Syndergaard. Cohen was none too pleased at some of the antics surrounding these departures and tweeted out his displeasure:

Snickers and laughter no doubt arose from owners’ offices across the land as the ‘same old Mets’ reared their ugly head. The laughter and snickering soon died out to a whimper as starting on Black Friday 2021, the Mets spent $254.5 million on four players to bolster the team. The centerpiece of which was the signing of eight-time All-Star Max Scherzer. Scherzer is a three-time Cy Young award winner and is coming off a season were many felt he should have won his fourth. He posted a career-low 2.46 ERA over 30 starts, and led all of baseball with a terrific 0.864 WHIP. The laughter has died down to a whimper.

The Mets are now 6-1 odds to win the pennant in 2022 and 13-1 to capture their third World Series crown.

So if a so-so regular season is paired with a terrific offseason (so far) what grade do you give Steven Cohen? I give him an A- ( somewhat generously) for the season and a resounding A+ for the off-season giving him an aggregate A. He has clearly shown his fans and fellow owners that he is no one to be trifled with whether as an aesthete, hedge fund manager, baseball owner or the like. Other owners must now respect his wealth and nimble dealings with agents and others going forward and realize that any, and I mean any, free agent that comes to the market may have to be passed on by the Mets first.

Heretofore, the Mets will be run as a business, a successful business with top-flight personnel in every department. It may take years to accomplish such a lofty goal, but if patience is shown, the Mets could become a major force for years to come. Some missteps have already occurred with Porter and Scott, but growing pains are to be expected in the early stages of running a $2 billion enterprise. It’s just nice to know that the Mets will be playing in the big leagues not only during the season, but in the offseason as well.

Cohen’s late November shopping spree netted the Mets with efficient, star players that could help the Mets day one and his no nonsense attitude solidified him (and the Mets franchise) as entities not to be taken for granted, or minimized in any way. The Mets are in the incipiency of potential great things, and I think Mr.Cohen’s investment will pay off handsomely in the years to come.