When Steve Cohen bought the Mets in late 2020, it signaled a fundamental shift in how we viewed the organization. Gone were the days of Wilpon-ian penny pinching, to be replaced by an era of limitless budgets and - eventually - top-tier processes. Things, of course, have not gone to plan, with the team managing one good season in three, coughing up a massive division lead in that one year, and ultimately exiting their lone playoff appearance with a resounding defeat in the wild card round.
Neither arm of the original vision has worked out. Big budget free agents like Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander largely fizzled.