Mets: Cohen warns spending won’t guarantee title this year

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) — Mets owner Steve Cohen warned Monday that the team’s record spending doesn’t guarantee they’ll win the World Series championship this year.

“Do you know how hard it is to get into the World Series? We’ve already seen it last year, Cohen said during spring training camp in New York. “The only thing you You can do is put yourself in a position to make things work out for you. Make the playoffs. Heal the injuries. Let the team rest. Let it be on top. And then you’ll see how it all goes. And if you keep going, one day you will get there. Of course, I would like it to be as soon as possible. But it’s something that I don’t control.”

New York won the World Series in the 1969 and 1985 seasons. The Mets had 101 wins last year, the second most in franchise history, but they couldn’t stop Atlanta from finishing first in the NL East after leading the division except for six days. They were eliminated by San Diego in the wildcard round of the playoffs.

Heading into 2023, New York has increased its payroll to a projected $370 million and is expected to break the record set in 2015 by the Los Angeles Dodgers by spending $291 million.

The Mets have increased their investment since 2021, the first season since Cohen acquired the team. They forked out $275 million last year, when they topped the major league spending chart for the first time since 1989.

Cohen pointed to inflation as a factor in overspending.

“Out of the blue, prices went up 20 or 30 percent,” Cohen said. “I was surprised and we had to change our plans, and I had to think differently.”

Cohen’s Mets signed reigning AL Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander for $86.7 million over two years. They also added pitchers Kodai Senga ($75 million for five years), José Quintana ($26 million for two years) and David Robertson ($10 million for one year), as well as receiver Omar Narváez (15 million dollars for two years). New York also retuvo al cerrador Edwin Díaz (102 million por cinco años), el jardinero Brandon Nimmo (162 million por ocho años), el infielder Jeff McNeil (50 million por cuatro años) y el relevista Adam Ottavino (14.5 million por two years).

It is estimated that the amount to be taxed as a luxury tax in New York will be 390 million, so they should pay a tax of around 116 million.

Although team and player negotiators passed a fourth tax threshold last year, a category dubbed the “Cohen tax” in large groups, Cohen said he used his accumulated wealth in hedge funds to spend. The disparity in baseball has widened, including four teams that spent less than $100 million last year.

“They’ve been dealing with this issue for a long time,” Cohen said. “It’s hard for me to come out and say how this is going to be solved, because it’s a problem with multiple edges. At the end of the day, it’s about baseball generating more revenue. And you can’t do that by constantly increasing the price of tickets. You have to attract more people to the stadiums, generate more interest in the game.”