Mets’ Steve Cohen gives thoughts on Jose Iglesias situation

New York's billionaire owner refuses to overrule his baseball operations staff, who have so far declined to bring Iglesias back.

New York Mets second base Jose Iglesias (11) reacts during players introductions before game three of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Citi Field. | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Infielder and musical artist Jose Iglesias may have ended up being one of the most influential members of the New York Mets in 2024, but owner Steve Cohen isn't going to force his baseball people to re-sign him for 2025.

Iglesias was initially signed to a minor league deal and after being promoted to the active roster at the end of May, finished tied for second on the team with 3.1 Wins Above Replacement (on Baseball Reference). That Iglesias did that in just 85 games is doubly impressive; the players either tied with him or above him, third baseman Mark Vientos (3.1 bWAR) and shortstop Francisco Lindor (6.9 bWAR), hit their totals in 111 and 152 games, respectively.

But despite the impressive production, Cohen is not going to force the team to bring back Iglesias for his age-35 season. Speaking to Mets On SI's Pat Ragazzo, Cohen made it clear that he does not interfere or dictate decisions to his baseball operations team, explaining that there were other ways to recreate Iglesias' impact on the roster.

Asked Steve Cohen his thoughts on Jose Iglesias and he says chemistry is built in the clubhouse and new faces come and go each year

Bottom line is he leaves it up to his baseball staff to make those decisions #Mets

— Pat Ragazzo (@ragazzoreport) February 18, 2025

For Iglesias, while his production was virtually elite - a .337 batting average and .830 OPS - it was really what he was able to do in the clubhouse that changed things for the Mets down the stretch. Designated hitter J.D Martinez was the first to push for the team to add Iglesias, citing his experience playing with the infielder while on a rehab assignment in Triple-A Syracuse.

Carlos Mendoza asked J.D. Martinez what he was seeing when the Mets were struggling early in the season

Martinez's suggestion...get Jose Iglesias in the clubhouse pic.twitter.com/8ZNNyJht51

— New York Post Sports (@nypostsports) February 8, 2025

"I had a rehab assignment with Iglesias (in Syracuse)," Martinez said. "Being around him and him showing me that song (OMG), I was laughing. I was like, 'wow, this is actually a really good song, Iglesias.' And I remember just going and seeing the Mets and we were down in the dumps. I'd just joined the team and Carlos (Mendoza) was telling me, like, what do you see? I was like, 'dude, if you trust me, you got a to get a guy like Iglesias in here. We got to change the environment in here.' Iglesias does that."

Read more: J.D. Martinez Pushed Mets to Call-Up Jose Iglesias To Provide Spark in 2024

The team made a one-year offer to Iglesias early in February, Mets On SI's Pat Ragazzo reported, but a later signing of Nick Madrigal and an expressed need for more flexibility in the middle infield by President of Baseball Operations David Stearns have made a reunion unlikely.