Mets will make substantial investments in tech resources to facilitate player development

New York Mets’ owner Steve Cohen has made fan interaction a priority ever since he took over the club. He has used his Twitter account to engage with fans in a fun and clever way, earning thousands of followers in the process.

This week, Cohen answered fans’ questions in a Q&A organized by the Mets and hosted by radio voice Howie Rose (link to SNY article here.) In the sesseion, Cohen talked about various subjects, but one of the most relevant ones was how he wants to implement more tech resources and apply them to player development.

“I’m going to have to approve a capital expenditure budget. It’s going to be for buying technology, improving back-end databases. I know they’re talking about putting in those pitching cameras that can measure a pitcher’s bio-mechanical — how they pitch, how their arm throws the ball. So there’s a lot of new stuff out there — cameras and technology out there — that people are using. …They’re going to have everything they’re going to need.”

The Mets are doing the right moves

So far, the new Mets’ owner has made all the right moves. He knows his stuff about the organization, and when he does not know something, he makes sure he surrounds himself with qualified people.

As of now, the Mets have added several upside starters and relievers hoping to strike gold with one or two of them, but the highest-profile additions have been Trevor May, a bullpen piece, and James McCann, the starting catcher. The team also named Jared Porter, a rising young executive, as the general manager.

He made it clear what he would view as a successful Mets season in 2021. “That we have a playoff caliber team and that we’ve improved our performance in a significant way this year,” he said.

He is also focused on improving the Mets’ minor league talent. “Right now our farm system isn’t where — at least the upper levels — we want it to be. We don’t have as much depth as we would like in the farm system to support the team. So we have to bridge that gap and that’s the art and I leave that to the baseball people.”