ESPN Jun 11, 2023 10:18 am ET4 Minute Read
Mad Dog is furious with the Mets’ start to the season
Chris “Mad Dog” Russo announces his struggles with the Mets’ early-season difficulties.
New York Mets owner Steve Cohen said he “won’t explode” over his team’s poor start to the season, stressing that neither manager Buck Showalter nor general manager Billy Eppler are in danger of being fired.
Cohen admitted in a lengthy interview with the New York Post that he was frustrated with the Mets’ struggles and said that, in his opinion, the team’s biggest problem was their inconsistent pitching team.
But when asked if Showalter’s or Eppler’s jobs were at risk, Cohen said he would remain patient.
“If it gets really bad, I’m not going to blow up,” Cohen told the Post, which published the interview ahead of the Mets’ win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday. “I don’t think that’s the right reaction. I don’t think it solves anything other than giving people a one day story. But it doesn’t really solve anything.”
“From a performance perspective, there’s a lot of finger pointing. So I’m not sure if blowing it up will solve anything. It would be like, ‘Oh, he really cares. He’s one of us.’ But the reality is it’s not going to solve our problems, and I think it can be demotivating in some ways.”
The Mets start Sunday fourth in the National League East with a 31-34 record, 9½ games behind the first-placed Atlanta Braves. Saturday’s win in Pittsburgh ended the Mets’ seven-game losing streak, which included a three-game win in Atlanta over rival Braves.
Despite an estimated record wage bill of over $340 million, the Mets will have a hard time matching their record set in 2022, when they went 101-61 in their first season under Showalter and Eppler.
Eppler told the Post Saturday that he has faith in Showalter, a four-time manager of the year who is in his 22nd season as a major league manager. Cohen echoed these views, saying the Mets’ problems were “organizational” and that he wanted to avoid being “reactionary.”
“I think the worst thing you can do is be overly reactionary,” Cohen told the Post. “The general reaction from fans is usually, ‘I can’t believe Steve isn’t going nuts and firing someone.’ My answer to that is, “OK, let’s say I’ve gone insane. Let’s say I fired someone. Then what?” What’s the point? Who will you replace her with? This is mid-season. And if you actually ask people [who are the replacements]They don’t have any answers other than just being angry and I get that.
“I’m frustrated too. The players are frustrated. The front office is frustrated. We are frustrated. Nobody expected it. That’s really surprising. That doesn’t mean things aren’t getting better. If we find something.” We will try to find ways to fix our weaknesses.
The Mets’ most glaring weakness is arguably their pitching team, which entered Sunday with a 4.73 ERA — the fifth-worst in the majors. Cohen specifically cited the struggles of veterans Justin Verlander (4.85 ERA) and Max Scherzer (3.71), both of whom have struggled with injuries and inconsistencies this season.
“I think we have experienced pitchers who have done well in the past,” Cohen said. “I think they will do better. I think we’re seeing signs of that. Verlander went out the other night [Thursday against the Braves] and pitched three innings. At the beginning he threw 120 throws. Is one related to the other? Could be, I don’t know, it’s way above my pay grade.
“Generally speaking, he’s the pitcher type and Max is the pitcher type – I think they’ll be fine. There’s reason for optimism at a moment when it looks like the wheels just fell off.”
Cohen, a New York-based hedge fund manager, bought the franchise in November 2020 for a record $2.4 billion and has made the Mets one of Major League Baseball’s top-spending franchises over the past three years.
While he has repeatedly stated that he loves and appreciates the passion of Mets fans, Cohen also reiterated that he will not shake up the organization to appease “currentness bias.”
“That’s not how I’m going to run this team,” he said. “That’s not how I treat my people. And if people don’t like it, what can I tell them? I’ll do it the way I do it. I don’t know who they thought they were getting.” .
“Just because I’ve spent money doesn’t mean I’ll change – I’ll do it my way: thoughtful, committed. And sometimes there are no easy answers. And you have to accept that.”