.jpg)
4 hours ago
1
•
The New York Mets appear to be the best team in baseball after another high-spending offseason from owner Steve Cohen.
The Mets sit atop the National League East division with an 18-7 record after handing out a record-breaking $765 million contract to Juan Soto, adding Clay Holmes and Frankie Montas to the rotation and re-signing Pete Alonso and Sean Manaea.
The team’s entire identity has seemed to transform since Cohen took the helm, shifting from a little brother to the New York Yankees to a contender for virtually every talented free agent with a consistently top-tier payroll.
But directly after the Mets completed a series sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday, Cohen fired off a message that cast some doubt on the team’s seven-game win streak.
“There will be a mean reversion at some point but there is something special happening at Citifield,” Cohen posted on X. “So much fun!”
Follow The Sporting News On WhatsApp
Obviously, the Mets won’t be able to keep up their win streak going forever, but who’s to say what the real “mean” is for a team that enjoyed a run to the National League Championship Series in 2024 and then reinforced its roster in blockbuster fashion?
The Mets sit at a .720 win percentage after sweeping the Phillies. Maintaining that would mean they’d finish with the fourth-best percentage in baseball history, behind the 1906 Chicago Cubs (116-63), 1909 Pittsburgh Pirates (110-42) and 1954 Cleveland Indians (111-43).
Maintaining that win percentage seems virtually impossible in modern baseball. The 2024 Los Angeles Dodgers, one of the most talented contemporary teams that the sport has seen, finished with a 98-64 record and .605 winning percentage en route to a World Series championship.
The Mets will regress to the mean at some point, though announcing that amid a celebration of this hot start seemed to be an unnecessary reality check. Cohen and the Mets should enjoy the early success, even though how they finish the season is what will matter.
More MLB: Dodgers Mookie Betts sends 2-word Shohei Ohtani message as concerns mount
Peter Chawaga is a veteran journalist covering Major League Baseball for The Sporting News. His MLB reporting has included feature interviews with commissioner Rob Manfred and Hall of Fame slugger David Ortiz, salary analysis, player rankings and more. He has covered baseball for Forbes, Yardbarker, Pitcher List, Athlon and other outlets.
With over ten years of newsroom experience, he has previously covered finance, technology, arts, and culture for newspapers, magazines, and websites nationwide. He graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in English and journalism.
English (US)