Everyone Wants an Uncle Steve

Image courtesy ESPN

Not a single pitch has been thrown in the 2023 baseball season, but that's not to say people aren't already keeping score. As impressive as the New York Mets have already been this off-season -- adding free agents Justin Verlander, Jose Quintana, Kodai Senga and David Robertson, plus re-signing Brandon Nimmo -- deep-pocketed owner Steve Cohen wasn't quite finished. The baseball world awoke this morning to the shocking news that Carlos Correa would add another $315 million to the Mets' league-leading payroll. The San Francisco Giants had hesitated too long, and Uncle Steve swooped in.

For as long as anyone can remember, or at least as long as George Steinbrenner had been throwing money around in the Bronx, fans have complained about the Yankees buying the pennant. (In recent years, though, no amount of Yankees' largesse has brought home a title.) It's ironic, then, that the Mets' fan base is so loudly cheering their own good fortune in the form of the fortunes of Steve Cohen. And the Mets are not making any apologies about spending whatever it takes to win.

While no roster is perfect, I can't recall a team in recent memory with such an abundance of top-level performers throughout:

• A starting rotation that features Max Scherzer, Verlander, Quintana, Senga and Carlos Carrasco
• A lineup of Correa, All-Stars Pete Alonso, Jeff McNeil, Starling Marte, plus SS Francisco Lindor
• A bullpen with Reliever of the Year Edwin Diaz and newly-signed set-up man Robertson

As the cliché goes, the games aren't played on paper. The Mets, for all the star power they have amassed, haven't won anything yet. Even regular season success will not define the 2023 Mets, as this team is built to win the World Series, right now. (Just ask the Dodgers how they feel about winning 111 games in the regular season, only to fall in the NLDS.)

But since it's only December, the most "winning" team in baseball thus far makes its home in Flushing, Queens. Uncle Steve has made this a Christmas season to remember for Mets' fans everywhere.