Steve Cohen has committed himself in spirit, personality and finances for these Mets not to be those Mets.

Few items have made Cohen bristle more in his time as owner than conversations that attempt to equate this version of the franchise with the waiting-for-the-other-shoe-to-drop Mets of, especially, the Wilpon-ian past. He has noted what came before him as a demarcation point of which he had no control over sprayed bleach, or putting Ryan Church on a plane with a concussion, or scores of other dumb Mets tricks that so litter their mainly sad-sack history.

Cohen has made it clear that central to his stewardship is to change this narrative, to make the Mets overflow with competence and serially win, and not perpetually cower that any positive step forward will be countered by two negative ones back. Which is why the past few weeks of lost players, games and sense of destiny has particular resonance with the Mets.

Because they are still trying to shake a poor history of just six first-place finishes, 11 playoff appearances, only twice making the playoffs in consecutive years and never having done so three straight seasons.