The Mets are heating up after a three-game sweep of the Nationals, winners of five of their last seven games since holding a players-only meeting to try and get the team back on track.
That meeting, at least so far, seems to have worked, but Sal is worried that the wins that have followed will tempt Steve Cohen into going all in on a playoff push for a team that Sal simply doesn’t believe in.
“I don’t trust the owner in that regard. I’m sorry, I don’t,” Sal said. “We didn’t talk playoffs with this team. They did. The owner has said playoffs repeatedly. Before the season, in season, even when things were going wrong.”
Cohen, along with David Stearns, has been vocal publicly about his belief that these Mets should be competing for the playoffs in 2024. Sal would like to see the core shaken up as the rebuild under Stearns continues, and believes the trade deadline could provide an opportunity to do that. But if the Mets are hovering near the final Wild Card spot, he is worried that Cohen’s determination to be right about his playoff objective could set the organization back in the long run.
“I just get the feeling…the owner wants to prove himself to be correct, and wants to make the playoffs,” Sal said. “I believe that is the case. It’s also been reported…they’ve said it. Everyone has said it.
“I think, if there’s any chance, he’s gonna try to triple down or quadruple down and try to make this a playoff team, and I think that could be a big mistake.”