LA Angels Thursday News Crash: Manfreud

From an ESPN article this morning on the Subway Series. I know how fond everyone is of Arte, but geez, maybe he is the problem and we just need a new owner? Surely you will read this, and Grimace 😬

THOSE FIVE YEARS have been a crash course in MLB ownership for Cohen, who has reformed his public image from ruthless billionaire whose hedge fund agreed to pay a record $1.8 billion in fines for insider trading to beloved ballclub proprietor.
It started in 2021, when, in his first season as owner, he wondered aloud if he should be an owner like the famously passionate and hands-on George Steinbrenner, according to a source who heard Cohen pose the question.
He learned he was more emotional than he expected and tweeted aggressively, occasionally calling out the team, which peeved front office members, according to sources. He eventually took a step back, though he still periodically shares his thoughts on social media. On Monday, after the Pittsburgh Pirates dominated the Mets in a three-game sweep that featured a mid-series players-only meeting and concluded a league-worst 3-13 stretch, Cohen tweeted he was “as frustrated as everybody else.”
The Cohens became a consistent presence at Citi Field, occasionally working out of the stadium and regularly on hand for batting practice before watching games in their suite. Cohen peppered front office executives with questions about player performance and potential acquisitions. He was relentlessly curious and competitive, but not overbearing as he learned the game and found his style.
“He was, I wouldn’t say hands-on, but he was interested and he was involved as much as he thought he needed to be,” Showalter said. “He kind of let you do your job and asked good questions.”
Early in that first season, Cohen invited players, their significant others and their agents to his home for private dinners, soliciting suggestions for the post-Wilpon era.

Nimmo recalled having dinner with his wife Chelsea and the Cohens after a Sunday day game at Citi Field. They ate for two hours before Cohen hopped on a work call for Point72, his hedge fund, while Alex showed them around the house. Nimmo emphasized three areas needing improvement: sports science, analytics and accommodations for families. Players found the owners genuinely receptive.
“They listen,” Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor said. “They don’t make decisions based on the moment. They make decisions based on educating themselves. They talk to a lot of people and they make a decision. That’s important.”
Cohen was swift with changes. He quickly doubled the full-time analytics staff from 13 to 26. He tapped into his Point72 resources in data analytics, including bringing over the company’s head of data solutions, Sameer Gupta, to assume the same role with the Mets, and incorporating a team of data engineers and analysts based in the United States and Poland. Gupta left Point72 and the Mets last year.
“Bob Dylan, ‘The Times They Are A-Changin”,” a source said, “you go through the lyrics in that song and that’s how it felt.”
Among its tasks, the group of engineers and analysts migrated the organization from a standard server on premises to a cloud-based, scalable solution to store files from new data sources. At one point in 2021, according to sources with knowledge of the situation, Cohen asked employees if he should just buy Driveline Baseball, the data-driven company at the forefront of pitching development over the past decade.
“The way I look at it is the Mets are playing catch-up big time, and they’ve already covered a lot of ground,” Ottavino said. “You could really feel this sense that nothing was going to stop the Cohens from making the Mets one of the top franchises in the game. They were improving every department.”
Cohen implemented pay raises across the board after sensing a toxic environment in which employees constantly pushed for promotions because they felt it was the only way to receive more compensation under the previous ownership. In 2022, after employees raised security concerns following a fight on the 7-train subway platform outside Citi Field, the team began offering money for rideshares to employees who stayed at the ballpark late into the night. This year, the team, at the behest of Alex Cohen, who has championed hospitality for player families, opened an expanded family room and day care center, which players have gushed over.
“He’s the type of owner everybody wants his team to have,” a source said. “He puts his money where his mouth is.”
Cohen also renovated Citi Field from the outside in, and emphasized better incorporating the team’s history into its present. Five players have had their numbers retired since Cohen bought the team, including Dwight Gooden’s No. 16 and Darryl Strawberry’s No. 18 last season. David Wright will join the list later this month. In September, the organization will host its inaugural alumni game.
Game production underwent an overhaul, with an emphasis on presenting Mets games as a party in direct response to the “corporate, buttoned-up” Yankees, according to sources. The Mets unveiled a 17,400-square-foot video board in 2023. They’ve added a dance troupe and a hype man to the in-game entertainment.

Last season, the team embraced an organic identity — from finding a new good luck charm in Grimace to rallying around infielder José Iglesias’ pop-reggaeton track “OMG” — during an unexpected run to the National League Championship Series. This year, the Mets introduced a mascot race for every home game with each of New York City’s five boroughs represented. The Bronx Giraffe, dressed in a dirty white T-shirt, has yet to win.
“There’s no way the Wilpons would’ve done any of the Grimace-type stuff,” a source said. “They were much more like, classic, put a baseball game in front of everybody instead of, like, turn this place into a nightclub.”