Fred and Jeff Wilpon love baseball the way a 14-year-old loves video games, the way some folks are obsessed with cars and LeBron James cherishes basketball.
Their ownership of the Mets is not a case of really wealthy people buying a sports yacht so they can show off for friends in a private-box party on summer nights. Rather, their passion for the game and all of its intricacies is real, and relentless. On any given afternoon, you can find Fred and/or Jeff hanging out behind a batting cage, leaning against the frame and chatting up coaches and players. And late at night after a game, a Wilpon might stick around to talk with the manager about what worked and what didn't. In my time covering baseball, I'm not sure I've met anyone who cherishes the game more than Fred Wilpon.
That deep affection has proven to be problematic, because there have been a lot of moments when what the Mets' franchise and their fans have really needed was not Wilpon input on the hiring of a strength coach, or a hands-on discussion about minor-league development, but greater financial investment. With Steve Cohen's impending purchase of the team, announced Wednesday, there will be more money. Probably a lot more money. Because Cohen's got money in a way the Wilpons do not, and for the first time in the past 45 years, we could see the full potential of New York's National League franchise.
If you need evidence of this, consider what has happened to the Dodgers following the disastrous ownership of Frank McCourt. That team was sold to the Guggenheim partners in the spring of 2012, and starting in 2013 the Dodgers have made the playoffs seven straight years. They have won the NL West seven straight years. They've averaged 100 wins the past three seasons, and played in the World Series twice.
With Andrew Friedman at the top of baseball operations, the Dodgers have created what is considered by other teams to be the model for a big-money, big-market operation, with their financial clout manifesting beyond one of the highest payrolls in baseball. They have drafted as well or better than any other team in the past five years, developed talent like Cody Bellinger, Walker Buehler and Will Smith, and found hidden gems like Max Muncy and Chris Taylor. And just about every night, Dodger Stadium is filled.
This is what could happen with Cohen. The team announced Wednesday a five-year transition plan from the Wilpons to Team Cohen, but the Cohen cash could show up well before then. The Mets' current trajectory has them at risk of falling into an abyss in 2022, with the recent win-now decisions -- the trade for Robinson Cano that cost the team a chunk of its minor-league talent, and the odd July decision to retain assets like Zack Wheeler rather than flip them for prospects, at a time when the club's chances of making the playoffs were at about 5%.
But now that the Wilpons have agreed to hand over the steering wheel to Cohen eventually, they'll presumably accede to any suggestions from the backseat-driver billionaire. This is standard operating procedure when baseball teams change hands -- the incoming ownership driving decisions even before formal approval.
Cohen will want the Mets in the best possible shape when he officially takes charge, so if he wants an alteration to the roster, to the way they handle the farm system, to the front office, he'll be in position to make that happen. (Total speculation: Nobody should be shocked if the Cohen-led Mets work to pry New York native David Stearns -- a Mets fan growing up, before he became one of baseball's most respected executives -- out of Milwaukee).
Any long-term deal signed now -- for Pete Alonso, for a big-time free agent -- can be on Cohen's tab. The Wilpons retain their titles, for now. Cohen controls the long-term bill, willingly.
Mookie Betts will be a free agent next fall. Cohen can say: Try to make that happen. Francisco Lindor will be a free agent after the 2021 season. Cohen can say: Try to make that happen. Aaron Judge, Matt Chapman? The Mets fans can dream of that caliber of player in a way they never expected.
Mets fans should always know this: Fred and Jeff Wilpon have always wanted to win as much as -- or more than -- they did. But they've run the team like a neighborhood mom-and-pop hardware store, sometimes micromanaging down to the nuts and bolts and aisle displays, and while they've had some successes, they never really exploited the full power of their perfectly positioned franchise.
Soon enough, we might know just how potent the Mets can be.