Steve Cohen believes Mets will contend: 'Goal is to make the playoffs'

Mets owner Steve Cohen met with reporters prior to Friday’s Opening Day against the Milwaukee Brewers, marking the start of his fourth season at the helm of the organization.

It has been and up-and-down ride for Cohen, reaching the playoffs once in his first three years, but he remains optimistic heading into the 2024 season.

Here are some key takeaways from his press conference on Friday:

“The goal is to make the playoffs”

Cohen has not been afraid to pursue big free-agents, such as Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander in past years, but this winter he took a different approach, resulting in perhaps lower expectations surrounding the team.

But Cohen dismissed the notion that the team is “resetting,” saying that he would call it a “transition year” and believes he has a team that will be competitive.

“I think the goal is to make the playoffs,” Cohen said. “I don’t want to overthink this… if we don’t make the playoffs, I’d be very disappointed.”

Winning is hard

Having made the playoffs just once in his first three seasons, there is no denying the fact that building a winning franchise is a challenging task and one that Cohen fully recognized when asked point blank if winning in the majors is hard.

“Yes,” he said. “There’s so many variables in human performance. You can write it down on a piece of paper but in the end, between injuries and variability of performance, you just never know.  You never know, is the club going to jell? And all that type of stuff.

“That’s why I keep coming back to sustainability, developing our farm system where we have lots of options, lots of possibilities and incorporating that with being selective in the free agent market to build I think should be a quality team. All you can do is put the best team you can – I always say I can’t hit and I can’t pitch.”

The big picture

A common theme Cohen touched on throughout his press conference on Friday seemed to be about building from within for long-term success. The Mets certainly have a robust farm system after acquiring several highly touted prospects at the trade deadline last year that has well-positioned them for the future.

Cohen stressed the goal is to make the playoffs year in and year out and repeatedly pointed to sustainability as being able to achieve those goals.

“I think what we’re building here is something that’s sustainable,” he said. “I’ve talked about our farm system being a lot better and you need a combination of veterans and young players to make the roster work. You can’t just do it all through free agency, the numbers don’t work. 

"I’m encouraged by what we’re developing. I’m encouraged by how we’re making our players better – in the farm system and up here, too – and I’m encouraged by what we’re building organization-wise that is the type of stuff that creates an elite team.”

Will Cohen reset the luxury tax?

After boasting a $375 million payroll last season, the Mets have certainly cut back but still have one of the highest payrolls in baseball. But Cohen is unsure if the Mets would ever totally reset their luxury tax.

“I don’t know the answer to that. It would be really hard to do,” Cohen said. “I think the only way to do that is through the farm system really produced players in volume. So, that’s possible. We don’t have to do that. I’m happy to finance us in a way – that isn’t a goal of mine. If that were to happen that would be fantastic, but the reality is to be somewhere in the middle.

“Spending $375 million like we did last year seemed over the top. The problem with free agency is you’re dealing with an agent curve. … over time you get a declining performance and yet you’re still paying for that. But we have to find a blend that works. I don’t want to spend money for the sake of spending money. I want this organization to be run efficiently, I want it to be run professionally.”