Lennon: The Mets' biggest victory in 2024 was establishing a new culture

LOS ANGELES – Francisco Lindor was the first cornerstone of Steve Cohen's rebuilding efforts in Flushing, a record $341 million investment in what the mega-billionaire envisioned as the Mets' championship future.

Four years later, Lindor stood in the visitors' clubhouse at Dodger Stadium, where the Mets' dream died on the doorstep of the World Series on Sunday night, and spoke confidently about the future of the franchise.

The Mets' MVP and almost certainly the NL's runner-up behind Shohei Ohtani warned against taking this season's success for granted. But Lindor also expressed little doubt that Cohen and David Stearns, president of baseball operations, would make these deep playoff runs an annual event rather than an OMG-fueled comet that burned brightly before fizzling out in late October .

“I'm sure they will invest an extreme amount of energy and effort in the offseason to continue improving the organization, and so should the players,” Lindor said. “The players should continue to work as hard as possible, including myself – I will push myself to be in a much better position next year.

“Still, nothing is promised in this game. I don't care who you are. I don't care how good you are. Nothing is promised. So next year you have to join in and you can't take anything for granted. I know that's one of the things this group has done. We held each other accountable and pushed each other to the limit. If we do that next year, we’ll see where we end up.”

That Lindor — who has proven himself as the Mets' unofficial captain — could lend a voice to this successful concept is encouraging for the future mood in the clubhouse. The Mets enter the winter with 11 free agents, representing more than a quarter of their 40-man roster, including three-fifths of their rotation: Luis Severino, Jose Quintana and Sean Manaea (he will certainly exercise his 2025 option). out of).

That position list includes homegrown slugger Pete Alonso, spiritual leader (and sparkplug) Jose Iglesias, deadline import Jesse Winker, hitter JD Martinez and defensive expert Harrison Bader. From the bullpen, playoff hero Ryne Stanek and left-hander Brooks Raley are the headliners.

It's a significant amount of talent, heart and drive – but expect the Mets to cut ties with some key strands of their winning DNA starting in 2024 as Cohen and Stearns engage in more big-game hunting in the coming months. Keep in mind that Stearns' first year at the helm was supposed to be a transitional season, an opportunity to evaluate the Mets as a whole, from the farm system to Flushing, while also assembling a long-term contender with small additional expenses (Cohen wanted the most expensive payroll in the team). Keeping MLB under control with $350 million).

To Cohen's delight, Stearns was not only able to perform a full diagnostic review of the Mets, but also got them into the NLCS by finding the right complementary pieces to tie into the existing core. That wasn't luck. Stearns did the same thing, on a much tighter budget, turning the lowly Brewers into a consistent playoff threat before moving to Queens. Now armed with Cohen's checkbook and more than $160 million coming off the payroll (thanks to Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander), Stearns can lay out more of his own plan for 2025, with a now-proven manager in Carlos Mendoza and strong pillars like Lindor and Brandon Nimmo have already established themselves in leadership positions.

Nimmo, the longest-tenured Met, is now his sixth manager (counting Carlos Beltran's 10-week tenure) and Stearns is the sixth baseball ops chief during the same tumultuous period. But Nimmo believes this time is different, even after experiencing the 101 team's glimmer of hope in 2022, which turned out to be fool's gold after this year's Wild Card Series loss to the Padres.

“We have everyone we need to get this up and running,” Nimmo said late Sunday night. “We have the right people in place and it will be good to have some stability. I know we have a lot of free agents and players come and go. But having some stability in the front office and from the top down will be very helpful.

“We know the core. We know the front office. We know who's in charge. We know what standards we are setting now.”

When you hear Nimmo explain these things, it sounds pretty simple. But historically, the “stability” he speaks of has been an elusive concept on Seaver Way. And it was Cohen's purchase of the Mets and the long-awaited signing of Stearns that finally put them on that path.

Just attending the NLCS in October doesn't mean it will continue every year. And with Cohen ready to flex his financial muscles again, we probably won't be seeing another Cinderella season like this any time soon. But the Mets' transformation into a perennial NL East powerhouse is now moving faster than planned, and what they've accomplished this season — capped by a memorable October — has only confirmed that timeline.

“We already have a culture here,” Lindor said. “We have set a precedent. And the precedent doesn't go that deep into the postseason. The precedent is that you have to be a good person. You have to take responsibility. You have to respect the decisions of the front office. You have to respect everyone's opinion here. This is the culture we create. We just have to hold on to that.”

The Mets didn't win the NL pennant. Still, they planted their flag on the baseball landscape this year and have even bigger goals ahead of them.

David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a Baseball Hall of Fame voter and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.