Steve Cohen had plenty to say to reporters at Mets spring training on Tuesday, and he touched on his infamous five-year declaration from when he first bought the team, which has come and gone without New York winning a title, or even winning a pennant.
Many fans focused on Cohen’s comments about fan attendance at Citi Field, but Chris McMonigle was interested in Cohen’s comments about the expectations for the team, which Cohen seemed to cap at making the playoffs and hoping things work out from there.
“When he’s asked about expectations, he gives you ‘playoffs’…the guy just spent $765 million on Juan Soto,” C-Mac said. “Playoffs? The expectations are a hell of a lot higher than making the playoffs. Welcome to the world of World Series or bust.
“You can talk all you want about expectations. Here’s the expectation: win the World Series, or the season was a failure.”
As a Yankee fan, C-Mac is familiar with that refrain, as fans in the Bronx have held World-Series-or-bust expectations for years, but Brian Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner have often noted the parity in the MLB playoffs, which holds them back from calling seasons a failure if they don’t result in a championship. C-Mac believes Cohen had similar messaging on Tuesday, and that shouldn’t be the case after signing the biggest free agent in the history of the sport just months after playing in the NLCS.
“He gives you the talk that the Yankees give you,” C-Mac said. “That the Yankee fans are sick of.”