The Mets Have Reached the “Apologetic Letter From the Proprietor” Stage of Frustration

For the New York Mets, issues weren’t imagined to work out like this this season. The Mets started the season with a large payroll, with numerous huge names anticipated to make the group a contender for the NL East — and past. Presently, the Mets are fourth within the five-team division; they’ve additionally parted methods with Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer  and 5 different gamers. As InsideHook’s Evan Bleier wrote earlier this week, buying and selling away Verlander “primarily ended New York’s season two months early.”

And whereas observers of the group have pointed to encouraging indicators for the Mets in the long run, it’s not troublesome to see why many Mets followers are unamused by this flip of occasions. Cue the group’s proprietor, Steve Cohen, who wrote a letter to Mets season ticket holders urging endurance.

As ESPN stories, that additionally features a sense that followers shouldn’t get their hopes up an excessive amount of for subsequent season, both — partly due to the record-setting amount of cash the Mets spent on gamers for this 12 months’s group. “We will likely be aggressive in ’24 however I feel 25-26 is when our younger expertise makes an affect. Plenty of pitching in free company in ’24. Extra payroll flexibility in ’25. Acquired numerous lifeless cash in ’24,” he wrote.

“You’re rightfully disenchanted and so are we,” Cohen added.

It’s by no means a very good signal when a group’s proprietor goes into full damage-control mode. Cohen’s not the one sports activities govt to make such a maneuver in current months — throughout the Atlantic, Tottenham Hotspur chairman Daniel Levy additionally penned a letter to the membership’s supporters after a disappointing (or rage-inducing, relying in your perspective) stretch of video games.

Cohen reaching out to season ticket holders is an comprehensible choice, given how the Mets have underperformed relative to expectations. And there’s one thing to be mentioned for his candor in relation to managing expectations for subsequent season. Mets followers have had numerous endurance lately — and we’re about to see simply how way more of it they’ve left to present.