The New York Mets are about to have an offseason to remember, as we witness the changing of the guard from the Wilpon era of Mets baseball to Steve Cohen’s ownership of the team. After a strong campaign in 2019, the Mets finished last in the NL East and are in need of some big additions if they want to compete next season. Here are some of the biggest storylines to watch this offseason.
1. The Introduction of Steve Cohen
We have all been reading about hedge fund billionaire Steve Cohen dating back to last December, when we first learned of his intent to buy the New York Mets. Here we are almost a full calendar year later and the sale is not yet complete. All the terms have been agreed to, we now just await approval from 22 of the other 29 owners in Major League Baseball.
Once he is officially approved, there will be an introductory press conference where Cohen will finally speak to Mets fans. While it will be interesting to see the first impression that Cohen leaves, what is more important is how he begins to operate as the team’s majority owner. The early reports of making Sandy Alderson the President of Baseball Operations is a good first step, but there will be a lot of decisions that need to be made over the coming months.
2. What Happens with Brodie Van Wagenen?
Speaking of decisions that need to be made, the first and most important one is whether it is time to move on to a new general manger. Brodie Van Wagenen has drawn plenty of ire from Mets fans, as his win-now trades have sent many prospects out the door without the payoff of making the playoffs. Usually two years is not enough time to evaluate the performance of a GM, but it may be time to move in another direction.
If Steve Cohen and Sandy Alderson do decide to let BVW go, they will need to move quickly in hiring a new general manger as to not fall behind on other offseason tasks.
3. Big Fishing in Free Agency?
When Mets fans learned that the new owner had a net worth excess of $14 billion, they began salivating at the potential to spend like a big market team again in free agency. J.T. Realmuto, George Springer, Trevor Bauer and Marcus Stroman are just a few of the big names that will be available to sign when free agency opens. It will be very interesting to see how this team approaches free agency, as it is the quickest way to improve. At the same time, mistakes made in free agency could affect the Mets for years to come.
4. Rebuilding a Starting Rotation
The most glaring issue that prevented the 2020 Mets from making the playoffs was their lack of starting pitching. New York’s depth took massive hits early with the loss of Noah Syndergaard to Tommy John surgery and Marcus Stroman’s opting out of the season. Unfortunately the free agent acquisitions of Michael Wacha and Rick Porcello did not pan out for the Mets, and Steven Matz had the worst season of his career.
Now the Mets are left with Jacob deGrom, David Peterson and a lot of question marks in the rotation heading into 2021.
Can Matz rebound after a disastrous year?
Is Seth Lugo going start or come out of the bullpen?
When will Syndergaard’s rehab from Tommy John be complete?
These are all questions the Mets will have to answer and there are not many solutions to solve these problems in-house.
5. Will COVID-19 Continue to Impact Baseball in 2021?
By the time we get to Opening Day it will have been over a year since the Coronavirus first came to the United States, yet we still have no real knowledge of when it will be safe to get back to our everyday lives.
Major League Baseball would obviously like to welcome their fans back into the ballparks for a 162-game schedule next season, but there is no guarantee that will be the case. We could so limited fans at games or the return of the cardboard cutouts.
There is also likely to be more negotiating between the owners and the MLBPA as to how to proceed with the 2021 season, with rule changes, travel and schedule all sure to be topics of dispute. At least there is far more time to plan out the upcoming season than there was with the shutdown this March.
