2025 Report Card: Steve Cohen, Owner

Steve Cohen, Owner

Age: 69
2025 net worth: $23 billion, per Forbes

Grade: B

2025 Review

Steve Cohen opened the checkbook up wide last offseason, signing Juan Soto to a 15-year, $765 million contract. It was the largest deal in sports history in total value at the time. (Cristiano Ronaldo signed a two-year extension worth up to $936 million with Al-Nassr FC in July. Francisco Lindor‘s 10-year, $341 million pact signed in 2021 remains the seventh-largest deal in baseball history. That, of course, was Cohen, too.)

“It wasn’t an easy process,” Cohen said at a news conference introducing Soto last December. “I mean, there were moments when, you know, there were so many emotions. It took about 10 days and just so many emotions to get to where we got to, but I always say it’s not how you start, it’s how you finish. And we got there. So you know I’m excited by the Mets’ future. I think this accelerates our goal of winning championships. I’m elated. I know the fans are over the top. So let’s go Mets.”

Announcer Gary Cohen called the Soto deal “the biggest and most important transaction the Mets have ever made.” He said it topped the trade for Mike Piazza and the signing of Carlos Beltran.

The Mets didn’t stop after they signed Soto. They re-signed Pete Alonso, Sean Manaea, Jesse Winker and Ryne Stanek. Before acquiring Soto, New York reached deals with Clay Holmes and Frankie Montas and traded for Jose Siri.

Whether the above transactions worked out (Alonso) or not (Siri), the owner’s role is to give his general manager the resources to build a contender.

The Mets had the highest Opening Day payroll in MLB at $323 million, just ahead of the Dodgers at $321 million. The Yankees were third at $293 million. Last in the league was the Marlins at $67 million.

“My goal was to change how the Mets were viewed,” Cohen said at the Soto news conference. “And I think we’re really on the path of changing that. We’re never going to stop, we’re always in a constant state of improvement, but that’s my goal. My goal is that the Mets are going to be a premier, one of the elite teams in Major League Baseball.”

Cohen said publicly that he was disappointed in the attendance at Citi Field in 2024, especially in September when they were battling for a playoff spot. The Mets drew 2.3 million fans in 2024 to rank 18th in MLB. After a run to the NLCS and the Soto signing, some 3,182,052 showed up this year, ranking fifth. It was a Citi Field attendance record, breaking the mark set the year the stadium opened in 2009 by 13,486.

2026 Preview

With a nod to those attendance figures, Cohen seems willing to continue to spend despite the disappointing results this year.

“Mets fans everywhere,” he tweeted the day after the Mets’ season-ending loss to the Marlins. “I owe you an apology. You did your part by showing up and supporting the team. We didn’t do our part. We will do a post-mortem and figure out the obvious and less obvious reasons why the team didn’t perform up to your and my expectations.

“We are all feeling raw emotions today. I know how much time and effort you have put into this team. The result was unacceptable. Your emotions tell me how much you care and continues to motivate the organization to do better. Thank You to the best fans in sports.”

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