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This may well turn out to be a franchise-altering moment for the [URL='https://sny.tv/tags/mets']Mets[/URL], the night they signed [URL='https://sny.tv/tags/juan-soto'][B]Juan Soto[/B][/URL]. But beyond that it is almost certainly destined to be remembered as the night [URL='https://sny.tv/tags/steve-cohen'][B]Steve Cohen[/B][/URL] delivered on all the hopes and dreams the fans in Queens had when he bought the team.

Digging deep and [URL='https://sny.tv/articles/juan-soto-signing-massive-deal-mets']locking up Soto to a 15-year, $765 million contract[/URL] was quite a statement in itself – proof he would stop at nothing to reel in the 26-year-old superstar one way or another.

But outbidding the [URL='https://sny.tv/tags/yankees']Yankees[/URL] for their own player added a whole different element to the equation. It was not just a monster flex of financial muscle by Cohen but the ultimate gift for the Queens faithful who are forever frustrated at the Mets being seen as the little brother between the two New York clubs.

So while it’s not as if he hadn’t already spent big in recent years, this was different. This was the move that left no doubt that, to quote a famous line, Cohen is exactly who everyone thought he was.

That said, it guarantees nothing in terms of the hard part, which is winning championships.

There are huge expectations on the Mets in 2025 and beyond that already make the feel-good nature of the ’24 season, which was defined by everything from OMG to the “My Girl” sing-alongs at Citi Field to the late-inning heroics in the postseason, feel like ancient history.

It’s championship-or-bust now and while that’s heady stuff in Queens, it also adds a certain weight to a ballclub that can make winning more difficult.

Still, that should come with the territory in New York, so Mets fans have every right to be giddy. Not just because of what signing Soto away from the Yankees does for the perception of the franchise but for what it should do toward winning that first World Series since 1986.

Cohen has already made necessary and impactful changes in the organization that set the Mets up for sustained success, from overhauling several aspects of the drafting/developing side to hiring [URL='https://sny.tv/tags/david-stearns'][B]David Stearns[/B][/URL] as president of baseball operations and by extension hiring [B]Carlos Mendoza[/B] as manager.

So the Mets seem to have the right people in place at the right time to make the most of what Soto can add as a transformational offensive talent.
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