With Steve Cohen's approval as owner of the Mets contingent on a vote by the other 29 MLB owners, commissioner Rob Manfred said on Monday that the league is going to try to move things along "as quickly as possible."
"With respect to the (ownership) change, all I'm gonna say on that one is we're gonna try to process this as quickly as possible," Manfred said during the Big Time Baseball podcast with Jon Heyman and Tony Gwynn Jr.. "It's up to the owners, ultimately, as to whether Mr. Cohen will be approved.
"I think given the time of year, we would like to move this along as quickly as possible so that the Mets have certainty as they go into the offseason (and it's) absolutely clear who's making the decisions about how the roster is gonna be put together, what the budget is, and what the 2021 version of the New York Mets is going to look like."
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The talk during the sale process was that the approval of Cohen would potentially happen in November during the owners' meetings, but Manfred seemingly wants things done sooner.
With the offseason kicking into high gear right after the conclusion of the World Series (which will be over by Oct. 28 at the latest), Manfred wanting to have things done before then makes sense.
With regard to the pending approval of Cohen, which would mean Sandy Alderson taking over as team president, SNY's Andy Martino reported on Sept. 24 that while the approval is not a sure thing, "the presence of Alderson should create the needed support to win the vote."
While speaking about Cohen on Monday, Manfred also discussed Fred Wilpon.
"Fred Wilpon has been a great owner of the Mets for a substantial period of time," Manfred said. "He's really well-respected among the other owners. Whatever the outcome, the result, nobody wanted to win more than Fred Wilpon. He desperately wanted to deliver a winner on a consistent basis to Mets fans."