New York Mets owner Steve Cohen remains the optimist despite his team’s down start — pulling from his financial background to try and find a light at the end of the tunnel.
“I’m starting to see green shoots,” Cohen told reporters on Sunday across the pond ahead of his team’s London Series finale against the Philadelphia Phillies.
Green shoots is a term used to describe positive data or signs of life after an economic downturn.
“We’re nine games under .500 and that’s certainly not what we expected and what we hoped for,” Cohen continued. “I do think the team is starting to play better, starting to hit… We’ve got a long way to go, and a lot can happen over a relatively short period of time. We’re going to keep plugging and I think our schedule gets a little easier so there are opportunities to gain ground. So we’ll see what happens.”
After going 9-19 in May, the Mets lost their first two games of June before sweeping the Washington Nationals. In their previous six games prior to the London Series, they scored 42 runs — seven per game. Cohen was also spot on about the Mets’ remaining schedule, which is tied for the fifth-easiest in Major League Baseball for the remainder of the season, per Tankathon.
Add that with the star power that they still have on the roster and the fact they entered Sunday only four games back of a Wild Card spot, Cohen is bullish enough to stave off talks of the trade deadline, at least for now.
“Frankly, we haven’t really put it all together for a consistent period of time. I still think that can happen,” he said. “There are a lot of good ballplayers on this club, and it’s just a question of getting a little confidence, getting on a run… I think that’s possible… We’ll see what it looks like four to six weeks from now, but I still feel this team has got a good run in them, a lot of good players.”
The current roster, however, is running out of time even with their owner’s patience. The trade deadline is in six weeks, and numerous assets would allow president of baseball operations David Stearns to refresh a roster looking to build long-term sustainability.
“I’m focused on winning games right now. We can worry about the trade deadline [in seven weeks],” Cohen said. “That’s 45, maybe 50 games and a lot can happen, so I’m focused right now on the season, winning games, and we’ll worry about that when the time comes.”
