A complete shift in philosophy over the last two seasons has led the New York Mets toward a future of collecting talent both in the farm and at the big league level. A new, more traditional model, headed by President of Baseball Operations David Stearns, should allow for a more sustainable product at the highest level. It's a model buoyed of course by payroll, but also by the ability to call up big-league-ready prospects; a component to the Mets' equation that couldn't be said in the early Steve Cohen era.
Throughout much of the last half-decade, the Mets routinely ranked toward the back-third of farm system power ranking lists.
Enter Stearns.
The acquisition of names like Luisangel Acuna, Drew Gilbert, and Ryan Clifford in exchange for aging, redundant starting pitchers has helped turn around New York. Coupled with considerable strides on the player development side of things, a sustainable winner in Queens appears more certain than ever.
And a big wave appears poised to arrive in 2025...
