Are Brandon Nimmo and David Robertson enough to keep the New York Mets in contention?

The New York Mets spent a ton of money last season and it got them into the playoffs. No matter that they were swept by the Padres in the Wild Card series, this was the first foray into October by the Mets in six years.

Now that they have a taste for it, though, they will want not only to make the playoffs, but win.

The Mets have something else that they are not used to. An owner who is not afraid to spend money.

Traditionally, the Yankees were the New York team with the deep pockets and a renegade owner, but now the Mets are getting a taste of that feeling. Steve Cohen has made it clear that he has no fear of the “Cohen Tax”, and has put his money, literally, where his mouth is.

Despite losing Jacob deGrom to the Texas Rangers, the Mets still have two of baseball’s hottest properties in their rotation with Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander both guaranteed first-ballot hall of famers. All of that talent comes with a price tag, though, and the Mets have the biggest payroll in baseball.

Now that payroll has just gotten a bit bigger.

The Mets have managed to hang onto their center fielder by agreeing an eight-year deal with Brandon Nimmo that will keep him in Flushing Meadows for the bargain price of $162 million.

Nimmo is a sound glove in center field, making big throws from the outfield and rarely giving up any errors. In fact he has only three fielding errors charged to him in his entire seven-year career. At the plate is equally solid, where Nimmo slashes .274 / .367 / .433 with an OPS of .800 that put him as the number two available outfielder in this free agency period, behind Aaron Judge.

Having drawn immense interest around the league, with the Dodgers, Mariners, and Blue Jays in the hunt, with the Yankees even reportedly having a sniff around, presumably as a plan B just in case they wound up losing Judge to the Giants.

As it turns out, however, both New York teams will have their outfielders back next season, and while this is a PR coup for the Yankees, the Mets need more than just good advertising. They need production. Brandon Nimmo, like few others around the league, provides that production with the bat.

With the acquisition of reliever David Robertson on a one-year, $10 million deal, the Mets bullpen is taking shape as well, and although they have Scherzer and Verlander in the rotation, they really need one more solid starter to make them the honest-to-God favorites in the National League.

They are close, and Nimmo goes a long way toward helping their offensive production put runs on the board. But as everyone knows, it is defense that wins games, and the Mets have almost the best pitching game in baseball. Almost.

Steve Cohen may need to dip into the well another time or two with a solid bat and starting pitcher at the top of the shopping list, but luckily for Mets fans, he is just the man to do it.