Steve Cohen is a Mets fan through and through, noting in his introductory press conference Tuesday (which was heard LIVE on WFAN) that he went to his first game with his dad at the Polo Grounds, sat in the upper deck at Shea Stadium later in life, and has a father-in-law who is a regular at Citi Field.
So, the day he was officially ratified as Mets owner was “a dream come true,” one he thanked Fred Wilpon for facilitating – both in selling the team, and in originally bringing him in as a minority owner.
And now, it’s all about the fans, who were the second group Cohen thanked after the Wilpons.
“Your support has been incredible. You want us to win, and so do I! New York has high expectations and I want to exceed them. I want an exceptional team that’s built to be great every year,” Cohen said. “Some of you may have noticed I’ve been tweeting with the fans, and that’s because the fans mean a lot to me. We may not always agree, but I will always listen to what they have to say. I want Mets fans to have a great experience with us.”
Cohen remembered some of his favorite Mets memories, including the Cleon Jones catch and Mookie Wilson grounder that won and turned the tide for the Mets’ two World Series titles, respectively – but he’s ready to make new memories alongside the fans as their leader.
“I’m doing this for them; I grew up on Long Island and I don’t have a big ego. I’m a low-key guy, and I relate to the fans,” Cohen said. “I know how they feel, and these are smart fans. If they’re emotional, that means they care. I’d rather have emotional, passionate fans than fans that don’t care. I love talking to them; I didn’t know I would, but I started enjoying it, and I’m gonna keep doing it – even if things aren’t going so well.”
In the 45 minutes he spoke to the media, Steve Cohen laid out pretty much all the things Mets fans wanted to hear – read: he won’t be the Wilpons – but the plan is simple: start with what we have and build a better mouse trap around it.
“I will be an owner who wants to have continued success with a blueprint for winning, and we will hire great baseball people to do it,” he said. “We’re starting with our homegrown talent and building from there, and when we need to fill a gap, we’ll fill it. We’re going to build our farm system, and embrace analytics. You build championships, you don’t buy them; we have a great core on this team, and I plan to make the investments we need to succeed.”
Cohen wouldn’t go into budget specifics – saying only “I do believe this is a major market team, and should have a budget commensurate with that” – but he did note right off the bat two things Mets fans have been clamoring for are at the top of his list of improvements, and he’s willing to spend if the price is right on the right assets.
“I know we need catching, and more pitching; we have the best pitcher in the world, and we want to add to that,” he said. “I can promise you we will act like a major market team. Will we act like drunken sailors? No, because you can spend a lot of money today and tie up your team in bad contracts for years. You want to make sustainable decisions that work for years. We are in an unusual market today because of COVID and financial concerns, and I think Sandy and I want to take advantage of that.”
Oh, and as for any kind of Jarred Kelenic for Robinson Cano-type trades?
“I want to hold onto our chips until we’re close to a championship and need to cash them in,” Cohen said. “There are a lot of similarities between my hedge fund and baseball; one of them is that in my firm, we develop talent, and if I just went out and hired people from the outside, I’d be out of business. So, it’s important that we draft well and develop, and hold onto, our players.”
And with that, there was only one thing left to say:
“In the investing world, I get judged every day. I know you will judge me every day too. I’m all in…let’s go Mets!”
Follow Lou DiPietro on Twitter: @LouDiPietroWFAN
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