In addition to major league payroll, Steve Cohen has made it a point to invest in the Mets’ minor-league systemGetty Images
The Mets are in the playoffs for the first time in six years, and it comes as new owner Steve Cohen is “applying a hedge fund-like approach” to running the team, according to Burton & Maloney of BLOOMBERG NEWS. As the richest individual MLB owner, he is “pressing his monetary advantage — what traders might call an ‘edge.’” The team has a 2022 payroll of $314M. That is “not only well above the lowest luxury tax threshold” but $24M over the “Cohen tax” limit, introduced at the beginning of the year in the new collective bargaining agreement, at least partially in “response to concerns about his spending.” Sources said that the Mets’ losses are more than $100M annually. It is a “change from the team’s previous owners, the Wilpons.” The family was “criticized for not spending enough after the collapse of Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme ensnared both them and the Mets.” Cohen also is “investing in the Mets minor league system, a long-term play that can improve available talent and reduce the need for free agents.” Another “lesson from money management that Cohen is applying in drastic fashion: the need to cut one’s losses quickly.” The Mets finished the regular season Wednesday with 101 wins, the second-most in franchise history. Money can “help ensure a spot in the playoffs — the teams with the five highest payrolls all…
