Mets owner Steve Cohen’s spending buys him a title: Man of the people

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Behind the main stadium at Clover Park, between practice fields, a large crowd gathered Tuesday morning, with dozens of phones held high for selfies.

This wasn’t for Juan Soto or Francisco Lindor or Pete Alonso. Standing at the mob’s center, surrounded by adoring fans, was a smiling Steve Cohen, cheerfully obliging every photo request.

The session went on for more than 30 minutes. Everyone from senior citizens to grade schoolers. One mom was carrying a baby as she approached Cohen.

“We love you Steve!” a fan called out.

These days, Cohen’s favorability rating is off the charts. Some owners may be bigger celebrities, but none of them are more popular among his fan base, and that’s one of the reasons I didn’t believe Cohen Tuesday when he suggested the goal of reducing the Mets’ payroll — currently at $325 million — to “a more normal spending level” in the future.

It’s understandable why he’d say that. Getting below the so-called “Cohen Tax” — the highest penalty threshold named in his honor — makes sense from a business standpoint. Saves him money, prevents losing draft picks.

But those are things for the other teams (not named the Dodgers) to worry about. As for Cohen, he’s not running an airline here. The Mets are what he does for fun, and being the richest man in baseball definitely helps in the pursuit of that happiness.

Whoever said money can’t buy you love obviously didn’t purchase the Mets from the hated Wilpons, and never knew the rush of wearing ski goggles while partying in a champagne-soaked October clubhouse. We witnessed the joy on Cohen’s face during those playoff-clinching celebrations, soaked head-to-toe in bubbly, surrounded by his giddy players and staff.

Cohen is still chasing that feeling. He can’t help himself. And how do we know? Cohen said so Tuesday when I asked him about wrestling between fiscal responsibility and paying whatever it takes to get the Mets back there again.

Judging by what Cohen did this offseason — pulling out all stops to sign Juan Soto to that record 15-year, $765 million deal, then soaring back into the highest tax bracket in giving Pete Alonso that two-year, $54 million contract — it’s clear which side won. Cohen can balance the books some other time. For now, he wants that October thrill again, at nearly any cost. Even for baseball’s richest man, there’s only one way to get it.

“When you go through that playoff run, I mean, how much fun was that?” said Cohen, breaking into a wide grin. “That month, I hadn’t felt anything like that — I don’t know if I ever felt anything with that type of emotion that was on almost a daily basis. So when you get that feeling, you want more of that.

“That’s really what you’re playing for, the opportunity to get into the World Series, and playoff baseball is sooo much fun. It rises to another level. They’re all playing hard during the year, but everyone takes it up a notch, and that’s a lot of fun.”

Does Cohen sound like an owner ready to put the Mets on a budget? As long as MLB permits teams to spend as much as they want — at least through the 2026 season, when the current CBA expires — it wouldn’t make sense for Cohen to holster his greatest weapon against the rest of the league (and keep him in an arms race with the Dodgers).

Cohen doesn’t just sit on his $21.3 billion fortune (according to Forbes). Unlike the majority of MLB owners, he’s willing to flex his financial might and pour money into the roster on an annual basis. That does more than just make the uniformed guys in his clubhouse wealthy, too. Cohen’s ultra-competitive drive is felt downstairs as well.

“It’s fantastic because he matches the energy that we put on the field,” Francisco Lindor said. “And that’s all you can ask. You pay everything you got to win, to be in the position to make this organization a desirable place — which it already is — and they continue to do their part. The players and the front office are aligned, and that says a lot.”

Lindor was Cohen’s first splurge as owner, and while that 10-year, $341 million contract seemed like an overpay at the time, the value has tilted back toward the Mets over the past two seasons. Cohen was new to baseball ownership back then, only four months into his Mets’ tenure, and overly anxious to change the narrative for a franchise badly in need of a reboot. Now heading into his fifth season, Cohen has sped up the learning curve, especially after finally getting the lieutenant he wanted all along in president of baseball ops David Stearns.

The analytically-minded Stearns came over from the small-market Brewers, so he’s all about stacking Ws as efficiently as possible, and Cohen definitely values that side of the game. But he also realizes the importance of pressing his biggest advantage, and we’re skeptical that’s ever going to stop — unless MLB somehow manages to implement a salary-cap system two years from now. Even then, I wouldn’t bet against Cohen.

“I’ll compete under any circumstance,” Cohen said. “You tell me the rules, and I’ll compete against them.”

That commitment to winning, at any cost, is why Cohen is greeted like a conquering hero as he walks around the Mets’ spring training complex. Just imagine the reception if (when?) Cohen delivers a World Series.