Top to bottom, Mets have embraced the team concept on way to magical NLCS run
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor (hugs owner Steve Cohen after the Mets defeated the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 4 of the NLDS on Wednesday at Citi Field. Credit: AP/Adam Hunger
The Mets have taken the concept of team bonding to a different level during this unexpected dash to the NLCS, and it’s not just a clubhouse thing.
Owner Steve Cohen is an on-field regular during batting practice, and when the game starts, he’s positioned in a front-row seat, the one closest to the Mets’ dugout. His wife, Alex, who is the president of the team’s charitable organization, often can be seen hugging everyone pregame, from players right down the line.
These aren’t measurable stats. You won’t find them on FanGraphs. But the Mets have replaced their trademark discord with a top-down synergy since Cohen hired David Stearns last October to run the baseball operations and he in turn tabbed Carlos Mendoza as manager.
Winning helps, of course. Flushing wasn’t exactly a hardball utopia when the Mets opened 0-5 or sat 11 games under .500 in early June. But there’s a reason Cohen always targeted Stearns as the executive to get his franchise on track, just as Mendoza was universally praised before getting his shot in the big chair.
And after so many years of trying to get it right, the Mets dialed up the correct combination again this season — really from Cohen through the 26th man on the roster — for their first trip to the NLCS in nine years and only the third in 24 years.
In March, Cohen and Stearns told us the playoffs would be within reach at a time when we figured an 83-win transition year was the more likely scenario (especially after losing ace Kodai Senga before Opening Day). But when you pair two type-A personalities with winning resumes, it’s probably best not to bet against them, and adding Mendoza’s dugout-level skill set has helped this year’s group pull off a series of incredible comebacks, starting from Memorial Day on.
With the parity across baseball, a slight edge in any department can make a major impact, and the Mets have capitalized on those margins to become a serious World Series threat.
Stearns found two starters angling for big contracts in Sean Manaea and Luis Severino when he rebuilt the rotation, spackled the bullpen under Edwin Diaz and got lucky when Mark Vientos made the most of his long-awaited opportunity. The rest of the roster just had to perform near its potential, and the Mets got the added bonus of an MVP-caliber season from Francisco Lindor.
“The goal to get to the playoffs is because you never know what happens when you get in the playoffs,” Stearns said after Wednesday night’s clincher. “It’s a tournament. You get in, you play your [butt] off when you’re in, and you see how far you can go. This group certainly believes in itself right now. And they deserve to believe in themselves.”
Think about it. Cohen set up Lindor ($341M) and Brandon Nimmo ($162M) for life, so there’s Mets brand loyalty there. If Pete Alonso’s desire to remain in Flushing indeed is sincere, it wouldn’t be surprising if the owner found the right price there, too.
Beyond the core, Stearns already has shown an ability to come up with smart complimentary pieces — Jose Iglesias, Tyrone Taylor, Jesse Winker, Harrison Bader, Luis Torrens — along with having Cohen’s checkbook for a late splurge or two ($12M on J.D. Martinez).
Still, what the Mets have done this October seems greater than merely the sum of their parts. The clubhouse chemistry thing is real — with the Iglesias-inspired “OMG” phenomenon serving as a catalyst — but the Mets’ success exists at a macro level, running from the front office to the dugout to between the foul lines.
“I think communication is a huge aspect of that,” Nimmo said Friday. “That’s something that David and Steve are really big on, and I think that’s part of the reason they picked Carlos as well. Because they communicated really easily and well with him, and then he communicates well with the players. I think that’s a huge part in building a successful team.”
Nimmo described the blend of Cohen’s business acumen, Stearns’ roster-construction expertise and Mendoza’s clubhouse feel as a “successful recipe” for what the Mets have cooked up this October.
By no means is harmony a requirement for winning titles. Plenty of dysfunctional teams have squabbled their way to championship rings. But the 2024 Mets have risen above their recent Flushing predecessors in part because of everyone being on the same page. And Mendoza has been a great messenger at field level, from the 0-5 start to now being four wins from the World Series.
“He’s been fantastic,” Alonso said. “And not just with Carlos, but the amount of support that we’ve had internally. Just having that unwavering support — even through the rough times during the season, he’s always had trust in his guys. Now that we’re here in this position, why change? He’s done a great job so far.”
Citi Field, and Shea Stadium before it, had always been a tricky place to navigate, a perilous place for executives and players, where the Flushing Bay landfill always seemed to be shifting underneath them. No longer is Mr. Smile an ironic term. These happy times are real.
“I’ve never said so many ‘I love yous’ to that many guys,” Lindor said after Wednesday’s clubhouse celebration. “I’ve said it to them the whole year. I think I probably said I think 26 ‘I love yous’ so far.”
In other words, there’s plenty of hugs to go around.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.