New York Mets owner Steve Cohen’s desire for a World Series title outweighs his wish to one day get beneath Major League Baseball’s “Cohen tax,” which is a 110% penalty for every dollar spent after surpassing the league’s fourth luxury tax threshold.
“I’m sure it’s about me,” Cohen said jokingly of the penalty’s nickname, which was administered after he bought the team ahead of the 2021 season. “There’s a lot of Cohens out there.”
The Mets had an opportunity to cut down on some serious money this offseason with big contracts coming off the books. They ended the 2024 season with a $356.2 million payroll, which included the luxury tax penalties that were owed.
While the farm system has strengthened to offer a glimmer of hope toward cheaper self-sustainability, the allure of big-game hunting proved too much for a team that came within two wins of the National League pennant.
Most notably, they signed Juan Soto to a 15-year, $765 million contract, brought back Sean Manaea on a three-year $75 million deal, and reunited with Pete Alonso on a two-year, $54 million pact which pays him $30 million in 2025.
MLB’s luxury tax is set at $241 million this season, with the fourth threshold beginning at $301 million. Cohen said that his team’s payroll is currently at $325 million and could increase to as much as $345 million.
“I’ve always wanted to be more measured in payroll growth,” Cohen said. “And then we get there, it’s never quite there. I have the ability to spend if I have to. I want to win and I want to put the best team I can on the field. Free agency’s expensive. It’s just the way it is. It’s always more expensive than you can imagine…
“I can finance it. Is that the most optimal way to run the team? Probably not,” he said. “I wrestle with that all the time, even this year. I had had a thought of like where I wanted to be and I’ve already blown through it.”
That number is still significantly behind the powerhouse Los Angeles Dodgers, who bested the Mets in six games at the NLCS last October and got even stronger with another spending spree this winter. They created one of the most imposing pitching staffs in all of baseball, winning the sweepstakes for Japanese superstar Roki Sasaki while also bringing in two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell. They will line up with the already-formidable Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Shohei Ohtani — and an estimated payroll of $389 million, per Fangraphs.
“I’m a piker now compared to the Dodgers,” Cohen said.
But his spending this offseason appears to be the price of trying to keep up with a defending champion that looks generationally great on paper. The Dodgers are flush with superstars ranging from Ohtani to Mookie Betts, to Freddie Freeman, to that stifling rotation.
In Cohen’s eyes, the Mets will have something to say about LA’s reign with Soto joining forces at the top of the Mets’ lineup with Francisco Lindor and Alonso. Postseason requirements are now being set.
“We’ve got to make the playoffs. OK, that’s the minimum,” Cohen said. “After getting a taste of being in the League Championship Series, we want to go to the World Series, right, and we want to win.”
