Steve Cohen on Spending: “I’m Going To Do It My Way”

Mets owner Steve Cohen sat down for an exclusive interview with ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Cohen, now two years into team ownership, spoke about what it’s taken to make the Mets the highest-spending team in baseball history.

Cohen has the Mets presently sitting at a payroll of $369.9 million with the competitive-balance-tax included. Cohen has been likened to former Yankees owner George Steinbrenner for his commitment to spend to put the best product on the field.

Cohen doesn’t have the legacy of Steinbrenner just yet, but he’s on his way.

“George seemed bigger than life and passionate about baseball and brought a lot of life to the game,” Cohen said. “He made baseball interesting. And he did it his way. I’m going to do it my way. I don’t know if I’m making baseball interesting.”

It’s a humble take from the owner who has other owners actively rooting against him. The new competitive balancing agreement has included penalties specifically focused on him and his spending. They consider it a problem, but Cohen sees it differently.

“I’ve heard what everyone else has heard: that they’re not happy with me,” Cohen said. “I hear things from people who are maybe more neutral — that they’re taking a lot of heat from their fans. I kind of look at that like, you’re looking at the wrong person. They’re putting it on me. Maybe they need to look more at themselves.”

“I’m not responsible for how other teams run their clubs,” he added. “I’m really not. That’s not my job. And there are disparities in baseball. We know that to be true. I’m following the rules. They set the rules down, I’m following them.”

Cohen has made a commitment to the Mets. One he plans to keep. He wanted to win a World Series in his first five seasons as owner and he wanted to build a sustainable winner.

Cohen doesn’t anticipate the Mets need to spend this way in the future once they reach sustainable status. But for now, it’s certainly fun to see the Mets as the most active team in free agency bringing back the faces Mets fans have come to love along with new ones to join the party going on in Queens.

“We’re in New York, and I’m competitive,” Cohen said. “If you’re going to own a team — I came in with a commitment that I was going to put a good product on the field. And I think I’ve done that. I had no idea what it was going to cost to put a good product on the field, but I’m in a position where I make a good income, right? So I can do this.”

Cohen compared this year’s Mets to the 2015 Dodgers. Those Dodgers had a payroll record of $297.9 million that was only surpassed by the Mets this offseason. The Dodgers were 57.6% above the base salary threshold. This Mets team is estimated to be 58.8% above the current base salary threshold. The only difference is there wasn’t anyone saying the Dodgers were ruining the sport in 2015.

The Mets owner still isn’t concerned.

“I didn’t think it was that big a deal,” Cohen said. “I was already going to be in a big bracket anyway, no question. So it’s like the government raising taxes. You’re already in a high bracket. What I think about is making income. If I make income, it solves problems. It’d be great to get the payroll to the point where I don’t have to pay tax anymore. That’s the goal. If we do our job and develop a farm system and get a nice, sustainable pipeline going, we should be able to accomplish that. The [Los Angeles] Dodgers did it.”

Cohen remained mum on the future of Mets spending. It seems as though future free agents like Shohei Ohtani, Manny Machado, and Juan Soto are attainable. But he learned a lesson from the Carlos Correa saga and kept his mouth shut on any specifics.

Cohen wants to cut spending but he acknowledged that his base payroll ideals aren’t the same as other teams. He recognizes he’s a New York team and with that comes sacrifices and expectations.