Mets Owner 'Excited' About Their 'Stacked' Farm System

When Steve Cohen took over as owner of the New York Mets in September 2020, he wanted to use his vast financial superiority to immediately build a contending roster.

Payroll that year was wonky because of the COVID-shortened season, but they still ranked sixth in the MLB prior to Cohen taking over.

Since then, the Mets have ranked third, second, and first after signing marquee free agent after marquee free agent to lucrative deals.

But they really only had one good year to show for it when they won 101 games in 2022 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

The other two seasons they finished under .500.

New York took a different approach this winter when they hired analytically forward David Stearns to become their new president of baseball operations.

Instead of just buying the great players on the market, the Mets took a step back and are planning for the future, while also getting a look at what some of their MLB-ready prospects can do this year.

This has put much more attention on their farm system and Cohen is a major fan of what they've been able to within the New York pipeline.

"For the first time I am excited about what we're building in this farm system. We haven't developed pitching in a long time and for the first time it looks like we have depth down there," he told reporters according to Mike Puma of The New York Post.

Christian Scott and Blake Tidwell rank inside their Top-10.

Mike Vasil, Brandon Sproat (who was eye catching at Spring Breakout), and Dominic Hamel are Top-15 as well.

Two others are within their Top-20.

None of these pitchers are older than 25 years old, suggesting there will be a good crop of young arms reaching the Majors soon.

"To me, that is exciting because pitching is so freakin' expensive in baseball today. So if we can start building a team where we have some young, fresh blood and then surround it with veteran talent, that's a winning combination," Cohen said.

If anyone knows the price of acquiring pitching on the open market it's him.

Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander were handed monster contracts and neither brought overall results that the Mets were looking for.

Outside of the exciting pitching prospects, New York also has potential future position player stars.

"For the first time we're starting to look stacked [on the farm] and I don't think I ever would have used that term before, and that is a good feeling," the owner added.

Combining the strong minor leaguers with some savvy moves from Stearns could have this organization sitting in a position to be competitive for years to come.