This week Mets owner Steve Cohen made an appearance on The Show with Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman, a baseball podcast sponsored by the New York Post. Over the years the multi-billionaire has formed a close relationship with Heyman, appearing once or twice a season on his podcast to chime in about what he thinks about the state of the Mets. This appearance was done somewhat out of necessity, as the Mets are in a tailspin, losers of 12 of their last 14, and fired their manager last week.
Cohen, as he has been known to do, provided a number of soundbites that were frank (perhaps too much so) and gave insight to the fanbase on a number of things they were certainly questioning. The most pressing issue that prompted the appearance for a “State of the Mets” was the firing of manager Carlos Mendoza. Cohen’s word choice when asked why now was the time for Mendoza to be let go was noteworthy.
Popular Mets podcasters James Schiano and Marc Luino (aka GiraffeNeckMarc) were taken aback by the phrasing “mercy shot,” insinuating that you’re not killing the guy, you just want to move forward. These two share the sentiment of most Met fans in that Mendoza is a nice guy who is not to blame for the organization’s struggles, but nevertheless it was time for the two sides to part ways.
The overwhelming target catching the heat for this $365 million payroll’s disaster season is President of Baseball Operations David Stearns. Stearns grew up in New York as a diehard Mets fan and attended Harvard. While at Harvard, he knew he wanted to go into baseball ops and interned for a number of teams and even ended up working in the commissioner’s office for Major League Baseball itself. He worked his way up through the Milwaukee Brewers organization and made lemonade out of lemons, turning a team with a bottom half payroll into a perennial winner by finding and developing talent continuously. His work became noticed across the league and he was widely considered to be one of the sport’s great young minds. It was also no small secret what his dream job was – his childhood team. The marriage of an executive forged in a small market that is an expert at developing cheap talent combined with the richest owner in baseball seemed to be one that simply could not fail. Despite the Mets being currently one of the worst teams in the sport and on their way to their second straight year without playoff baseball, Cohen ardently backed his POBO.
The Reddit post and comments included above is just the opinion of a couple dozen Met fans, but it represents the sentiments of the fanbase as a whole. There seems to be a clear disconnect with Cohen and the fanbase on the validity of Stearns essentially not being on the hot seat. While “Uncle Steve” is taking a measured approach that the man he hired to run his team is simply undergoing a blip that he should soon recover from, the fans are not as rational. While from the outside perspective David Stearns would immediately be the biggest name on the market should he be relieved by the Mets, it’s important to note that fandom is not rational. A New Yorker does not care the amount of success you had in Milwaukee if you are then unable to recreate similar levels in Queens. Perhaps rightfully so.
Perhaps the biggest bombshell of this podcast appearance, however, was the owner lending credence to a narrative that has been reported in the media the better part of the past year. Juan Soto was the prize of the 2024-2025 offseason and he eventually signed for the largest contract in the history of sports – 15 years and $765 million later, the Mets had a franchise cornerstone. Soto and Francisco Lindor became the superstar combo making up over $1 billion in contracts (Lindor signed for 10 years, $341 million in 2021) that Cohen and Stearns planned to stake their reputation on. The only problem was, apparently the two didn’t get along. This was excused by fans as just rumblings and a potential false narrative, until the owner himself actually acknowledged it on The Show.
Cohen said that the two were “getting along much better” and he didn’t “see that as an issue anymore.” This infuriated the fanbase as it simply felt unnecessary to even acknowledge. If the problem is actually resolved, why would you even want to validate speculations from the past? The Mets are already a laughingstock of a franchise, why add fodder to that narrative as the owner?
This tweet is just one fan’s feedback on the matter, but as a fan myself I share the same sentiment. The only escape now seems to be the end of the season in October as the Mets have continued to lose even after the appointment of new manager Andy Green. Lets just hope that between now and then we can limit the number of national storylines about our manager being taken out back like a lame horse or our two star players hating each other!
Jack Bennett's Mets Blog 
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