Back in November 2020, MLB team owners approved the sale of the New York Mets to hedge fund manager Steve Cohen, which was worth a reported $2.4 billion.
The sale price was the most in MLB history, surpassing the $2 million paid by Guggenheim Baseball Management to purchase the Los Angeles Dodgers from Frank McCourt in 2012.
Since then, Cohen has flexed his financial muscle in ways never seen before, going above and beyond to improve the Mets roster with numerous splashy free agent signings and trades. New York finished with the highest payroll in MLB last season and is on track to do so again this year.
Freddie Freeman has watched what Cohen is doing from afar and praised him for his desire to deliver a championship to the Mets, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post:
“I love what he’s doing,” Freeman told The Post. “He wants to win. He’s telling the fans, ‘I’m in this with you guys.’ He’s a fan of baseball, and he’s a fan of his team.”
Cohen’s relentless spending has reportedly upset some of the other MLB team owners, and it led to the creation of a new luxury tax threshold dubbed the “Steve Cohen tax,” which starts at $290 million and first-time offenders at a rate of 80%.
Despite the Dodgers’ relatively quiet offseason, they are still on track to exceed the first-tier luxury tax threshold for a third consecutive year, and president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said there is no mandate from ownership to get below it.
Steve Cohen trying to emulate Mets after Dodgers
When Cohen officially purchased the Mets, he specifically mentioned wanting to emulate the franchise after the Dodgers. L.A. has advanced to the postseason every year since 2013, and in that span, has won nine National League Division titles, three NL pennants and one World Series.
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