God, I hate condo community leadership.
Well, you know, listen, I always say I got to live in a world I don't create. This is the way it is. These are hard decisions and I respect my owners. We all got to work together so we can get to where we think the league needs to get to.
That's right, Joel. I like that. It was a good effort.
That was a good effort. It's not only an effort, but it's actually what I would have gone with, but I don't agree with the premise, but okay.
It's actually what I believe.
Okay.
I'll say it again. If you buy your own house, you can do what you want. If you buy a house in a community where there are rules and regulations that you don't control, then you got to work with people.
Okay, David made clear that Andy Green is going back to the front office. He seems to be enjoying the job. Do we really think he's going back to the front office? Is that for sure? And looking at who might be hired to be manager, do you think major league managing experience is vital at this point?
Yeah, I take people at their face value. If they say they're going to do something, I believe them. I don't know why they would tell me otherwise.
Well, that's his choice. Okay.
Yeah, so I think we're going to do a search at the end of the year, a proper search. I'm sure there are plenty of qualified people. There won't be a shortage of people who want this job. So we'll go about our normal process, interview people, and try to make the best choice we can.
Steve, you had a bit of a dust-up with some fans on social media a few days ago. And I think even you within your post said, now I know why I don't do this.
Yeah, well, people start throwing out the anti-Semitic card. That's the problem.
I think John could tell you also like we have this discussion every once in a while. I just don't even look at mentions and I certainly won't have exchanges with anyone because I feel like if you go through the door and you're going to get punched in the face, you might as well not walk through the door. But I just wonder, it was about a bigger issue which was fan behavior at your ballpark. Especially I think there was a suggestion someone was holding a sign that said fire David Stearns or something of that sentiment. What is your feeling about what can or can't be done by your fans for what will probably be a tough rest of the season at Citi Field?
Listen, people want to express themselves. I don't have a problem with that. I support that. When they get to the point where there are people around them complaining that they're ruining their day at the ballpark, well, you have a right to express yourself, but not to the point where you're ruining other people's experiences. That's what I was told. If people want to carry signs, as long as they're not ruining other people's experience. And supposedly the person was belligerent. They were told to be more respectful. I don't know what fully happened. I'm only responding to what I was told. To sit there and say you're thwarting people's ability to express themselves is nonsense. Express yourself as much as you want, chant anything you want. But when you won't sit down and you're ruining the experience of people behind you, that's unacceptable. And if people want to make a big deal on social media that he's not fan friendly, that's just trying to get clicks and take things out of context.
A lot of changes were made in the winter, and one of the changes was basically most of the coaching staff was changed. Are there any regrets about that? My looking at it is the new coaching staff is very young, not terrifically experienced, and some of the younger players still have not really developed as expected. Baez, Alvarez, Vientos, Mauricio. Is there any thought about that? Does New York affect them? I don't know. Or is it just do we need more experience in that coaching staff?
Yeah, listen, I think there's a lot to unpack. Trying to connect different things when they can be totally separate issues. We've had a lot of change this year - coaching staff, new players, rookies. It hasn't come together the way we thought it would. That amount of change is difficult to come together in a short period. There was the WBC, players were playing in different places, so the team didn't gel until the season started, then injuries. It's a confluence of things. Trying to pin it on one thing is hard to do.
You mentioned earlier that everything's going great except for that one thing, and we know what that one thing is. How is this affecting you? Do you still go to a lot of the games? Do you watch all the games? How are you handling this? Alex, your wife obviously was an enormous Mets fan. Her father Ralph as well. How is everybody handling the losing?
I'm getting ripped around the dinner table.
All right, but my father... No, I'm kidding. He's a great guy. We watch every game together. It's one of our things. When you're watching the team loses, just like any fan. I'm a fan too, okay?
We're feeling the same thing our fans are feeling. The weight of responsibility on my shoulders because I came in. I wanted to do something great for New York and I'm failing. Six years in, I want sustainable success. We've had moments, but not enough. That's troubling. I'm not used to this. Usually I like to fix things. But I'm going to keep at it. Adversity gets me focused. I'm focused now. I give a lot of rope, and now I need to pull it in and figure out how to improve things. That's what I'm going to do.
Can you drill down on that a little bit Steve? What does focused mean? Obviously you have a very important day job. As you mentioned, almost everything but one thing is going well. I'm assuming stuff with the day job is going well.
We're having an unbelievable year so far. No guarantees, but as bad as the Mets are going, Point72 is going well.
So when you say drill down, can you be more specific? What does that mean for you? Is that more time with David, more part of recruitment, go wherever you go? What does being more involved mean for Steve Cohen?
Yeah, I'm asking more questions, delving in. What's the question on my mind? What the hell happened here? That wasn't the plan. It's a legitimate question. I'm trying to figure out how decisions are made, what happened. Good process doesn't always lead to good outcomes. That happens at Point72 too. With the Mets, we brought in players who got injured. Was it avoidable? Easy to second guess. Ultimately, it's about decision-making process. I haven't reached conclusions. I give a lot of rope, then I pull it in. I hold people accountable. They know it. It takes time.
That's guys, this process is going to take a while. Whatever it is, it is. I'm going into this with the notion that I can help improve things.
What the hell happened is a perfect question. That was pretty good, you came up with it. I guess that's what's been on your mind.
You're probably sitting there, both of you guys thought we were going to have big seasons, right? Make the playoffs. We're all wondering what the hell happened here. That's legitimate.
Right. When I say it, it's 'what the hell happened?' But when you ask David, do you do it inquisitively or with frustration?
I don't use gosh darn a lot.
Okay, that's not really the word.
People who know me kind of like that. That's not the word I would use.
But are you on him? Are you on him?
