Whatever the next step New York Mets owner Steve Cohen takes, he can do it with a clear conscience and his sense of justice fully intact. Because many of those hired since he was inducted into the owners’ club have made Cohen’s first year at the helm an unprecedented embarrassment.
The guy initially hired to be Mets general manager Jared Porter was put on MLB’s ineligible list earlier this year for sending sexually explicit text messages. And now the guy promoted to replace Porter, Zack Scott, has been arrested for driving while intoxicated after he was found sleeping in his car early Tuesday morning. Scott allegedly refused to submit to an alcohol test. The front office has been disastrous, and that doesn’t even take into account the baseball side of the baseball business, which, for the Mets, has been extraordinarily disappointing.
The team held a 4½ game lead in the NL East by July 31, and by August 31, the Mets had collapsed and dropped to third place, seven games behind the leading Atlanta Braves. When the Mets struggled early with their hitting, team president Sandy Alderson and Scott fired their hitting coaches, and it wasn’t reflected in performance. Francisco Lindor has struggled all year, with a chronically slow bat, and Michael Conforto, Dom smith and Jeff McNeil they have underperformed. Jacob deGrom has been injured frequently; And even after weeks of doctor visits and treatment, no Mets employee can confidently predict whether deGrom could give them 10 innings or 110 next year. DeGrom has been the best pitcher we’ve seen, consistently throwing harder than any starting pitcher, and no one can say for sure if he can continue on that line or if his best chance to be productive is to slow down.
.