New York Mets owner Steve Cohen sidesteps salary cap inquiry during interview

As per Evan Drellich, a Senior Writer at The Athletic, New York Mets owner Steve Cohen displayed his non-committal stance on supporting the salary cap move in MLB. This comes after MLB formed an "Economic Reform Committee" to address concerns about financial imbalances and promote greater parity among teams.

With their record-breaking spending in free agency, they have been in the spotlight. Now, franchise owner Steve Cohen has weighed in on the issue.

"I’m not gonna say for now, but I would need to understand the underlying rules behind it. The answer is, I’ll make that decision when we get there. But I totally sympathize with the issues in baseball, " said Cohen sidestepping Evan Drellich's salary cap inquiry.

Nevertheless, Steve Cohen also mentioned that the extravagant splurge is not a sustainable model and he wants to develop a farm system and decrease the payroll. As per Spotrac, the NY Mets' projected payroll is $336 million for the year 2023.

New York Mets' biggest offseason investments

Mets Introduce Justin Verlander: Mets Introduce Justin Verlander NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 20: Pitcher Justin Verlander of the Mets smiles before he is introduced during a press conference at Citi Field on December 20, 2022 in New York City. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)

With $800 million handed out in contracts this offseason, the New York Mets have signed top players like Justin Verlander, Omar Narvaez, Kodai Senga, Jose Quintana, and David Robertson and re-signed some of their own free agents including Edwin Diaz, Brandon Nimmo, and Adam Ottavino.

"According to sources, Steve Cohen has already been talking openly to upper level Mets people about going after Ohtani this winter." - SNY

Next year, the Mets are eyeing a potential acquisition of the two-way phenom, Shohei Ohtani, one of the league's most sought-after players.