When Steve Cohen became the primary owner New York Mets after the 2020 season, it was the dawn of a new day in Queens. The Mets went into the hands of the wealthiest owner in Major League Baseball, one who made clear his desire to deliver a championship in the near term (he said within three to five years). Cohen has the money to bring prime talent to Flushing, evidenced by the team’s acquisition of Francisco Lindor and Max Scherzer. However, the Mets owner’s investment in the team is not limited to financial resources.

In an article in The Wall Street Journal by Juliet Chung and Jared Diamond, the authors discuss how Cohen is bringing talent from his hedge fund, Point72, to help build the Mets into a powerhouse off the field. As baseball becomes more driven by analytics, the need for usable information has grown exponentially. In response to this need, Cohen has Mark Brubaker, chief technology officer at Point72, working for the Mets. As is the case with all personnel working for both the hedge fund and the baseball team, Brubaker is paid by Cohen separately, not as part of Point72 employment.

Other key people from Point72 filling roles on the Mets include Steve Canna, who is head of tax at the hedge fund and chief financial officer of the Mets. Point72’s heads of human resources, data solutions and data engineering also work for the Mets, and other employees have been temporarily loaned out to the team for specific projects.

As has been widely reported, the Mets have significantly expanded their data and analytics team. The article cited puts numbers to it. The department has grown from eight when Cohen assumed control of the Mets to 35 currently. (Mets director of baseball development Brian Hayes told Metsmerized the number is over 40.) The Mets are being run more like modern-day business. There is an understanding within the organization that the best decisions are based on data and facts, and the infrastructure has been put in place to enable that type of decision-making process. Chung and Diamond summarize it nicely:

But much of what Cohen has changed is largely out of public view and not measured by the size of the budget allocated for the Mets’ roster. Though the Point72 employees aren’t the ones deciding which players the Mets should acquire or how they should deploy their bullpen—general manager Billy Eppler and manager Buck Showalter do that—they are helping to create systems designed to assist in the decision-making process.

The “Cohen Effect” is being seen in the office and on the field. Starting next year, it will also be noticeable in the ballpark. In March, the Mets announced several 2023 enhancements to the fan experience at Citi Field, including 4K video boards throughout the stadium so fans could see replays and in-game entertainment, as well as face recognition for entry to the ballpark.

It has been just over 18 months since Steve Cohen officially became principle owner of the Mets. In that time, the Mets have re-shaped their roster, doling out record-setting contracts in the process. They’ve hired a veteran manager, and invested in their front-office operations to vault themselves into the Information Age. And as an aside, they’re in first place.

It almost feels like one of those “I must be dreaming” scenarios. The good news is that it’s all real, and the transformation of the New York Mets is not over. It won’t be when Cohen gets the championship he desires. The New York Mets mean business, and the plan is to be perpetually competitive.

It’s only been a year and a half. It’s exciting (and refreshing) to think about the good things that may be in store for this franchise.