New York Mets’ Francisco Alvarez (4) celebrates with Pete Alonso (20), Ronny Mauricio (10), and Francisco Lindor (12) after they scored off of Alvarez’s grand slam during the third inning of the second game of a baseball doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies, Saturday, Sept. 30, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
QUEENS — Steve Cohen and Billy Eppler’s tune changed around the trade deadline upon the realization that the Mets’ 2023 season could not be salvaged. Instead of being a true “win-now” team after dealing away numerous veterans including Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander, Eppler teased that a truly contending window won’t come until 2025 or 2026, meaning the team would take a step back next season.
But new president of baseball operations David Stearns wants to toe that playoff line a bit more than what other members of Mets brass led on.
“I think we should be in the playoff race and a true playoff contender,” Stearns said at his introductory press conference on Monday. “That should be our goal… Our goal is to begin that now.
“We’re going to do our best to put together a team in 2024 that is competitive and we’re going to do it in a way that does not detract from our competitiveness in the future. That is the needle to thread, but that’s our goal.”
There is still an undeniable focus on the farm system — a pipeline that received a major boost at the deadline when the team acquired their top two prospects in Luisangel Acuna and Drew Gilbert along with other Top-15 talents like Ryan Clifford, Marco Vargas, and Justin Jarvis.
“It’s better both through some maturation of current players here and a very aggressive trade deadline,” Stearns said. “I think it’s a whole lot better this year. There are some very promising players at the upper levels of the system and I’m eager to get to know them better.”
In a perfect world, at least according to Stearns and Cohen, those young talents…
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