To be the best, you need to first behave like them.
It hasn’t exactly worked out that the New York Mets were supposed to become an East Coast equivalent of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Every year, the Dodgers remain the perennial favorites. They always manage to compete, for some reason.
The Mets haven’t experienced this during the Steve Cohen era. There have been two seasons with a.500 or lower. They’ve failed despite investing money in the roster. Briefly, that is.
An excellent blueprint for what to do is to become the East Coast Dodgers. And these four kinds of actions are the ones they should take if they ever hope to accomplish this aim.
1) The Mets can become more Dodgers East if they steal a fan favorite from another city
A significant deviation from his legendary status as Chipper Jones occurred when Freddie Freeman left the Atlanta Braves. After winning the Freeman sweepstakes, the Dodgers haven’t looked back. Even though the Braves were able to acquire Matt Olson as a fantastic replacement, the Dodgers’ power move to acquire Freeman just months after he assisted the Braves in winning a championship was quite obvious.
We would really like to see the Mets make a move similar to this one. They have been searching for significant free agents. They’ve committed to several brief contracts. The distinction is that there was never any sentiment associated with it. The core of his organization has never been a player the Mets have signed. For a few months, the Houston Astros essentially let Justin Verlander walk away. Max Scherzer had no genuine attachment to the Dodgers when his 2021 season came to an end.
The Mets have avoided the emotional battles but remained competitive in bidding wars. In a way, it’s villainous. A lot of Braves supporters still harbor animosity toward Freeman. Fans of the Los Angeles Angels might harbor animosity toward Ohtani.
2) The Mets need to be unafraid to unload minor league talent at the trade deadline
The way the Dodgers and Mets have conducted themselves during recent trade deadlines is one of their main differences. The Dodgers have always been purchasers. The Mets have demonstrated how differently they approached it in 2021 and 2022 by doing so in both of those years.
The Mets have been extremely cautious. They weren’t nearly good enough in 2021 to even finish at.500 with Javier Baez and Rich Hill. The Mets looked even more timid the next year, even though they were a much better ball club. Despite having the resources to pull off a successful trade deadline move, the 101 ball club failed to execute one.
In the meantime, the Dodgers unloaded a package in 2021 that included a one-and-a-half-year rental of Trea Turner and a few months of Scherzer. They didn’t have to give any of their minor league players too big of hugs because they consistently had one of the best farm systems in baseball.
With the Mets, this has been a reasonable source of annoyance. They hesitate to call any of the prospects up, but they also don’t trade them. Even if some of them make it to the majors, they won’t get much playing time.
The Mets must decide when to make a blockbuster trade in order to move up to the Dodgers East.
3) The Mets need to find consistency in the manager role
It’s difficult to accomplish this one. In this league, managers are not always consistent. It’s best not to stay with a loser for too long. You also shouldn’t carry out your plan too soon.
The Mets have rotated through captains in pairs of two following Terry Collins’ seven years as manager through the 2017 campaign. Buck Showalter, Luis Rojas, and Mickey Callaway all had two opportunities before losing their jobs. This is Carlos Mendoza’s moment. If they hope to feel even remotely like the Dodgers, he has to be the guy.
Even though Dave Roberts’ seat in Los Angeles has occasionally become hot, having his distinct voice is advantageous. Since 2016, he has been a member of the team. Since then, they have never missed the playoffs. With the exception of the shortened 2020 season, when they won the World Series thanks to a strong.717 winning percentage before the playoffs, their lowest total of wins was the 91 they had in that inaugural season.
The Dodgers have been so good for the past ten years that, from 2013 to 2023, they have only once failed to finish in first place. That occurred in 2022, when they finished one win short of the San Francisco Giants with 106 wins.
All regular season dominance is not enough to satisfy Mets fans’ desires, though. Even with all of the success, the Dodgers fans aren’t exactly calling for a statue of Roberts after just one championship. Even so, it’s a prerequisite to succeed to some extent. There will always be new players. The manager doesn’t have to change. Now it’s Mendoza’s turn to establish his suitability.
4) The NY Mets ought to battle the payroll with the Dodgers’ sleaze and inventiveness.
Cohen ought to be fuming over the Dodgers’ decision to postpone Shohei Ohtani’s contract, which is worth $68 million annually. It’s more that he wishes he was the owner of the team that did it first than that he would have done the same thing. Thank goodness, the Dodgers are the target instead of the Mets. From the beginning, Cohen has been keeping a close eye on him. His first move as a sneakerhead would have been to move the Mets to Montreal.
The Dodgers are abusing the system with a cunning and inventive move. They will set an example for others. Cohen will surely try to accomplish something comparable, if not identical.
It’s absurd to believe that the wealthiest owner in the game won’t take a bite out of the opened can of worms. The Mets don’t have that superstar to pay when he’s in his 40s instead of his prime years, so it won’t happen this offseason. How about the Mets try this with younger players’ extensions or even rework Francisco Lindor’s deal so they can just barely avoid paying the luxury tax each season? Undoubtedly, David Stearns has been studying the rule book for the past few days in an attempt to learn how to start manipulating as well.
Bravo to the Dodgers for their rule-bending.