Cohen holds court on offseason spending, '25 expectations and beyond

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- At some point, Steve Cohen says, he will cease spending at this level. He’s also well aware that he said the same thing last year, when the Mets blew past the $300 million mark (and the so-called “Cohen Tax,” Major League Baseball’s highest Competitive Balance Tax threshold). He knows he said it two years ago, when the Mets paid out the highest payroll in league history. He knows he’s said it consistently since buying the team.

That time for (relative) austerity is simply not now -- not yet, anyway.

“I wrestle with that all the time,” Cohen said Tuesday from Clover Park, where he delivered his annual State of the Mets address. “Even this year, I had a thought of, like, where I wanted to be, and I’ve already blown through it. And I really wanted to be there. Circumstances just [forced me to] adapt my thinking.”

One of those circumstances was the cost to sign Juan Soto to the largest contract in baseball history: $765 million. Others included the budget lines for Sean Manaea ($75 million), Pete Alonso ($54 million), Clay Holmes ($38 million) and Frankie Montas ($34 million). Public estimates have the Mets’ payroll currently hovering between $320 and $325 million, up a tick from last season. It figures to increase further as the Mets fight through the attrition of a 162-game season.

The “Cohen Tax” kicks in at $297 million, which the Mets have now exceeded for three consecutive years. Its namesake owner would, of course, prefer not to go there. He’s being taxed a 110% charge on every dollar he spends above $297 million, plus lesser penalties for other portions of his payroll. As additional punishment, the Mets had their top 2024 Draft pick moved back 10 places and will suffer the fate again this July. That’s not ideal from a developmental standpoint.

But Cohen, MLB’s richest individual owner, confirmed Tuesday that he has the money necessary to keep spending indefinitely. He offered no indications that he’ll stop until the Mets’ farm system begins bearing enough fruit to help them bring down their record payrolls.

“I want a winning team,” Cohen said. “I want to put the best team I can on the field. And the way [the offseason] went, it just turned out [that way]. … You try to be somewhat measured, but in the end, you have to make decisions.”

If anything, 2024 only reinforced Cohen’s free-spending proclivities. Traveling with the Mets throughout late September and October, Cohen said, was one of the joys of his life.

“How much fun was that?” he gushed. “I hadn’t felt anything like that -- I don’t know if I ever felt anything of that type of emotion that was on almost a daily basis. So when you get that feeling, you want more of that.”

At a minimum, Cohen said, the Mets must make the playoffs again for him to consider 2025 a success. Really, he’d like to go a step further and reach the World Series. If the Mets continue putting similar rosters on the field, he believes, they will win one sooner rather than later.

He no longer shies away from such public bombast. In years past, Cohen has offered regret at one of his first public statements as owner, that he expected the team to win a World Series within 3-5 years. Now well into his fifth year of club ownership, Cohen has since come to understand the challenges of winning on a far more granular level.

Yet when recruiting Soto this offseason, Cohen told the outfielder that he believes the Mets can win “two to four” World Series over the next decade.

“It’s really hard to win a World Series,” Cohen said. “But … we’re putting together not just a team good for one year, but we want to create sustainable success. If we keep making the playoffs, why can’t we get to the ultimate goal? So why not set a high goal and try to make it?”

The bravado, it seems, is back.

“You can hope, right?” he said. “And I think there’s more than hope here. I think we’ve built a pretty strong team.”