There are two things that are completely self-evident about the Mets right now. One of them was addressed and summarized by David Stearns late Thursday afternoon in a 10-word sentence that should probably grace the letterhead of every piece of official Mets business going forward until Opening Day:

“We were not going to run back the same group,” Stearns said, and that covers it all nicely, and it clarifies the prime theme and thrust of every day since Sept. 28, the day the Mets season ended in one final spasm of ignominy at Miami’s loanDepot park.

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The second is this:

Any concerns that Steve Cohen was having second thoughts about leading with his wallet were premature. This is still going to be one of the most expensive teams in baseball. You may not buy into all that the Mets have decided to do here — you may, in fact, disagree with all of it — but let it be said now, for real: this will be because the roster itself fails on the field, not because of the amount deposited on the first and 15th every month.