Feb 20, 2026 | 10:08 AM EST
Imago
MLB, Baseball Herren, USA Atlanta Braves at New York Mets Aug 14, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets owner Steve Cohen stands on the field before a ceremony to honor first baseman Pete Alonso (not pictured) for breaking the Mets all time home run record before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. New York City Citi Field New York USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY Copyright: xBradxPennerx 20250814_bjp_ae5_045
Imago
MLB, Baseball Herren, USA Atlanta Braves at New York Mets Aug 14, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets owner Steve Cohen stands on the field before a ceremony to honor first baseman Pete Alonso (not pictured) for breaking the Mets all time home run record before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. New York City Citi Field New York USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY Copyright: xBradxPennerx 20250814_bjp_ae5_045
Imago
MLB, Baseball Herren, USA Atlanta Braves at New York Mets Aug 14, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets owner Steve Cohen stands on the field before a ceremony to honor first baseman Pete Alonso (not pictured) for breaking the Mets all time home run record before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. New York City Citi Field New York USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY Copyright: xBradxPennerx 20250814_bjp_ae5_045
Imago
MLB, Baseball Herren, USA Atlanta Braves at New York Mets Aug 14, 2025; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets owner Steve Cohen stands on the field before a ceremony to honor first baseman Pete Alonso (not pictured) for breaking the Mets all time home run record before a game against the Atlanta Braves at Citi Field. New York City Citi Field New York USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY Copyright: xBradxPennerx 20250814_bjp_ae5_045
As the New York Mets stumbled through a disappointing season, owner Steve Cohen was personally banking over $9 million a day, adding a staggering $3.4 billion through his hedge funds to his net worth last year alone. And after last season’s $340 million payroll, the Mets moved slowly and carefully this past offseason.
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With key names like Edwin Díaz, Cody Bellinger, and Kyle Tucker missing, Cohen’s financial muscle didn’t translate into sharper roster planning. The result?
A disappointing season and a situation that left fans frustrated. And even questioning Cohen in ways no owner wants to be questioned.
“So we’re talking about a rounding error amount of money that he doesn’t even know, he doesn’t have. And that’s why Edwin Díaz is not a New York Met… If you’re a diehard Met fan, Kyle Tucker should be a Met… Like Bellinger, he should be a Met. To me, the real Mets should be the Dodgers of the East.”
“The New York Mets could have had everybody, and it’s less than one 10th of a percent of what he just made in net profit with the hedge fund.”
A recent WFAN Sports Radio podcast explored what the Mets could have been.
"I want my owner spinning like a drunken sailor if he's got it & I now know for a fact he's got it" pic.twitter.com/dJ3rIosaFe
— WFAN Sports Radio (@WFAN660) February 19, 2026
According to Morning Brew, he could have bought the Phillies for $3.1 billion. He could have 67 Juan Sotos, per his current contracts.
So, like the Dodgers are investing heavily and trying to poach the best talent out there, the Mets could have done the same.
However, Steve Cohen, despite being so affluent, is not investing enough in baseball.
Yet, even Barstool Sports’ Dave Portnoy called out Cohen for his stalled approach. He cited losing Pete Alonso to the Orioles. Reportedly, the Mets didn’t even make an offer to Alonso!
Amid all these, Cohen has made another announcement regarding the clubhouse culture.
The Mets’ captaincy discussion faced a new twist
“My view is every year the team’s different and let the team kind of figure it out in the locker room without having the designation,” Cohen noted.
Remember the whole back-and-forth last year between Lindor and Soto over the Mets’ captaincy? For a long time, Francisco Lindor was widely seen as the obvious choice to wear the armband. But now, that conversation has been shut down.
Steve Cohen made it clear on Monday that the Mets aren’t naming a captain anytime soon. In fact, he mentioned that it won’t happen at all while he’s in charge.
While the captaincy debate is officially off the table, the bigger question remains.
Will this help calm a clubhouse that’s already earned a reputation for internal tension? The next few months should tell us a lot.