Steve Cohen's tweet a mere precursor to more decisive action
Mets owner Steve Cohen attends a news conference at a COVID-19 vaccination site at Citi Field on Feb. 10. Credit: AP/Mary Altaffer
"We all have to be held accountable."
Thank you, Luis Rojas.
Maybe you don’t agree with Rojas on much. Lineups, bullpen usage, in-game decisions. The second-year manager has become a target for all of that (even if he’s more of a front man for the folks upstairs pulling many of those strings).
But Rojas cut through the hyperventilating over Steve Cohen’s Wednesday morning tweet by stating the obvious, which tends to get lost in the Twittersphere. Everyone under Cohen is an employee — players, coaches, manager, GM, president. And when the team vastly underperforms, the boss has a right to vent his frustration.
For now, it’s only been words (aside from the May firing of hitting coach Chili Davis anyway). And if you’re among the handful of people who somehow missed Cohen’s tweet, here it is:
"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."
Roughly seven hours later, the Mets rallied to beat the Giants in the series finale, using a J.D. Davis sacrifice fly in the ninth to force extra innings before riding Kevin Pillar’s three-run homer in the 12th for a 6-2 victory. The Mets totaled 10 hits, and scored six or more runs for only the second time since July 23.
Game ball for Cohen? Pillar said afterward the owner’s tweet was a big topic of conversation in the clubhouse, but given many of the players’ relationships with Cohen, they weren’t shocked by the words.
"We know he’s a passionate guy, he’s a passionate owner," Pillar said. "He expects more out of us."
And Cohen, being a numbers guy in the hedge-fund biz, isn’t one to overlook a dip in performance stats. Before Wednesday’s win, the Mets’ .380 slugging percentage ranked 26th in MLB (league average .408) and their .693 OPS was 24th (average .724). The Mets’ 4-12 slide since Aug. 1 must have been eating at Cohen for a while.
Consider Wednesday's tweet a shot across the bow of the Mets’ traveling party. And if you’re questioning Cohen’s methods in choosing to make it public, well, that’s the whole point. After seeing the fan base recoil at the verbal bouquets being tossed from the Mets’ clubhouse in the midst of this steep spiral, Cohen came off like an owner wanting to assure the faithful that someone is paying attention, along with feeling their pain. It’s straight from the George Steinbrenner playbook — Boss 101 — and putting the team on blast is usually the precursor to kicking a scapegoat to the curb.
The primary Mets responsible, the group hitting .233 with men on base this season (28th in MLB) and .239 with RISP (29th), can’t be fired at this stage. That’s for the winter makeover. As for Rojas, the Mets plan to stick with him through the end of the season, according to multiple sources. Acting GM Zack Scott and president Sandy Alderson have some explaining to do, but Cohen isn’t prepared to ditch them yet after less than a year on the job.
If anyone should be worried, it’s Hugh Quattlebaum, as the guy in charge of hitting for a team that can’t hit. Is this all his fault? It rarely is for a member of the coaching staff. But there was no hiding the bull's-eye on Q’s back before Wednesday’s game at Oracle Park.
"We gotta get better," Quattlebaum said. "We're always trying to get better. Even if we were doing great on offense, I'd be going to bed at night thinking about what we can do better."
That’s the problem. This has been a yearlong thing. And despite Quattlebaum’s best efforts, it’s not working. Losing Francisco Lindor (oblique strain) for more than a month hurt, as did Javy Baez (back) being sidelined only a week after the deadline trade. But the entire Mets lineup, top to bottom, has vastly underperformed. It’s been a systemic failure and someone usually has to answer for that.
Cohen showed restraint in going to Twitter rather than dialing up Scott for a staffer’s head. And what’s wrong with rattling the Mets’ clubhouse from 3,000 miles away? If a team already is losing every day, with the plate as unreachable as Everest, how could an owner’s tweet make things worse?
"The message was sent," a relieved Rojas said after the victory. "We got it."
It won’t be the last, and if the Mets don’t build on Wednesday’s momentum soon, the next one could come with a pink slip. Tweeting is empty calories for an owner, and accountability means nothing without consequences.
Knowing Cohen, keep doomscrolling for updates.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
