Steve Cohen talks Mets' deadline deals, offers 2024 outlook - ESPN

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Although the New York Mets are planning for 2025 and beyond, owner Steve Cohen doesn't want to get «embarrassed» next season.

Cohen met with players, coaches and reporters Wednesday before the struggling Mets played in Kansas City, one day after the team capped a stunning selloff of veteran players leading up to baseball's trade deadline.

After acquiring a bevy of minor league prospects in return, New York is clearly focused on the future. Cohen, however, said he still thinks the Mets will be «highly competitive» in 2024.

«I think the expectations were really high this year and my guess is next year they'll be a lot lower,» he explained. «I can't speak to what's going to happen in the offseason. I'm opportunistic. I don't want to roll a team out that we're going to be embarrassed about. But, we also know that spending a fortune doesn't guarantee a trip to the playoffs. I think we've got to look and see what we need. Obviously we need starting pitching, and that's the key thing.»

Cohen discussed the decision to trade star pitchers Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and others.

«When you look at the probabilities,» he said, «what we were at, 15% (to make the postseason)? And other teams were getting better, so you have to take the odds down from that. So, if you're going to have a 12% chance of just getting into the playoffs, those are pretty crummy odds. I've said before — hope is not a strategy. I wanted sustainability.»

The opportunity for a solid return in trades was enticing.

«We thought we got a great return for the people we ended up trading,» he said. «We weren't sure that was going to happen. We weren't just going to do deals for the sake of doing deals. I would have kept the players if it turned