Steven Cohen is in denial. He is a wealthy baseball fan who owns a team and has invested heavily in it. That’s admirable, but since the casino came on the scene, he has let David Stearns do everything on his own in an empty front office. The Mets are floundering.

Cohen has doubled down, saying he won’t fire Stearns, but changes will occur. Great, so now you’re going to hire someone else to “help” Stearns because he can’t do the job he was hired to do. Even though, in the business world, failing like this would get you fired every day of the week.

Currently, the Mets are the 7th-ranked farm system; that’s good, but everybody they can get to play at the major league level is playing. It’s helped a bit, but it’s not enough. Ryan Clifford is the next one who will hit the majors, so Stearns still hasn’t built enough farm depth with good major leaguers who were looking for a second chance.

Cohen is going to let Stearns make deadline deals, again, and so far, that has been mixed at best. I think I’m being generous. Bo Bichette will probably opt out, and a few others will get moved, but what they get in those deals matters. If they get minor leaguers years away from making it, the Mets will come out of the lockout a bad team once again.

If there is a salary cap coming out of a lockout, then Juan Soto’s salary and Francisco Lindor’s salary will count heavily against the cap, once again leaving the Mets in a bad spot because they don’t have a lot of MLB-ready prospects.

The Mets might get the first overall pick. The year didn’t start with that hope, but that’s what Mets fans are left with besides watching Carson Benge and A.J. Ewing develop while Bret Baty and Mark Vientos continue to struggle.

The Mets divested long-term contracts and took short-term, risky deals. How has that worked out? They still need a first baseman and a third baseman, and fans are getting tired of that. Honestly, the catching spot is missing hitting as well. But that’s another topic for another day.

The Braves hired Mets coaches after they were fired, and things are going well in Atlanta. Funny how that has worked out, too.

Stearns can’t lead. He needs a baseball veteran to bounce things off and point out possible pitfalls. Cohen isn’t capable of doing that while he tries to get his casino built.