Mets Owner Steve Cohen Wants To Spend Like George Steinbrenner And Team Owners Are Livid

Steve Cohen bought the Mets earlier this month and he’s already pissing off other MLB owners. Rumors are starting to spread that Cohen left the impression he will be spending “heavy” to build a winner. No fear to open the checkbook forces other teams to spend and compete, so the Mets might change the game.

Sandy Alderson’s appointment as team president directly addresses the very real concern by other owners that Cohen will spend like a drunken sailor. Alderson is known for goal of building sustainable organization combined with targeted spending, and that’s what he’ll do with Mets

— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) September 24, 2020

Theo Epstein leads the Chicago Cubs as President of Baseball Operations now, but the Mets could pry him away. The first step to building a George Steinbrenner-era sequel is to get someone at the helm that knows how to build a winner. Epstein put the candle out on the Red Sox and Cubs curse and Cohen should trust his track record to fix the Mets.

Spending big on guys like Jed Lowrie and Yoenis Cespedes serve as microcosms of the entire Wilpon era and that needed to change. Mets fans, like any fanbase, loves to see spending when it impacts winning. Steve Cohen wants to make sure they spend like the 2000 Yankees and not like any era of Anaheim.

Why ownership will hate Cohen

Baseball’s richest owner (if approved) will undoubtably raise spending expectations across the league that rival ownership doesn’t want. If you look across the landscape of baseball, minor league pay cuts, expendable players released, and no fans. Steve Cohen will likely open the eyes of fan bases to how much more their own ownership can do to fix a failing sport.

Back in the late 90’s, George Steinbrenner pumped majority of his revenue back into the team and that’s not the move right now. Business models have ownership pretending they can’t do more to continue the profits seen under commissioner Rob Manfred. Understandable to shun ownership that undermines business strategies, but Cohen won’t stop.

Brodie said the Mets view Michael Conforto as a long-term piece of the team and they've had preliminary conversations about a possible extension.

— Laura Albanese (@AlbaneseLaura) September 18, 2020

Starting to see words like “long-term” thrown around when past ownership was willing to watch Cy Young candidate Zack Wheeler walk to Philadelphia for nothing. Of course the word “long-term” simply means that player isn’t done contributing to our short-term goal of a World Series title. Epstein already pulled strings in Chicago and Boston that worked, so why not now?

Sure, Epstein is also responsible for giving Jason Heyward $184 million, but even Steinbrenner made mistakes. Never forget the historically great Steinbrenner gave Carl Pavano $40 million in 2005. All Mets fans can ask for is leadership that hits more than they miss and someone unwilling to let a player walk to maintain a business model. Steve Cohen is about to wreck everything Rob Manfred and the rest of league owners want and it’s glorious. Minor leaguers should be praying to God the Mets new win-first attitude works out, because they’ll be the first to see the benefits.