Yankees Announcer Throws Spotlight on Steve Cohen’s $300M Loses as Mets’ Struggling Phase Spirals
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Yankees Announcer Throws Spotlight on Steve Cohen’s $300M Loses as Mets’ Struggling Phase Spirals
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MLB, Baseball Herren, USA New York Mets at Miami Marlins Sep 26, 2025 Miami, Florida, USA New York Mets owner Steve Cohen walks on the field before the game between the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. Miami loanDepot Park Florida USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xSamxNavarrox 20250926_SN_na2_00002
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MLB, Baseball Herren, USA New York Mets at Miami Marlins Sep 26, 2025 Miami, Florida, USA New York Mets owner Steve Cohen walks on the field before the game between the New York Mets and the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. Miami loanDepot Park Florida USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xSamxNavarrox 20250926_SN_na2_00002
Steve Cohen purchased the Mets for a record-shattering $2.4 billion in 2020 with a simple expectation: winning a World Series within five years. He backed up his ambition by turning the Mets into MLB’s biggest spender for three straight seasons from 2022 to 2024. Yet an NLCS appearance in 2024 remains the franchise’s best mark under him.
Losses kept on rising, and a disappointing 24-33 start this season has made things worse, leaving the Yankees announcer, Michael Kay, highlighting Cohen’s costly reality.
“He’s got to be outraged. I mean, the amount of money that he’s spending, the amount of money that he’s losing. I mean, rest assured, it’s a New York team, but the payroll that he has compared to the revenue that he takes in… He’s losing, I’d say, about $300 million a year,” NJ.com quoted Kay as saying via “The Michael Kay Show” on YouTube.
For Cohen, the economy was harsh since he took over. He reportedly spent an enormous amount without keeping enough of a revenue stream open. Apart from spending $2.4 billion to buy the franchise, he totaled $1.13 billion in payroll and $228.7 million in taxes till last year. This includes the humongous $765 million deal. for Juan Soto.
This amount is higher than what the Pirates, Marlins, and Rays spent on their payrolls in the last 21 years.
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New York Introduce David Stearns New York Mets owner Steve Cohen introduces the new Mets President Of Baseball Operations, David Stearns to the media at a press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz at Citi Field in Corona, New York, Monday, Oct. 2, 2023. New York United States PUBLICATIONxNOTxINxFRA Copyright: xGordonxDonovanx originalFilename:donovan-newyorkm231002_npF6Z.jpg
Then comes the revenue streams, where the Yankees, despite having a lower payroll than the Mets, win. In terms of broadcasting, the Yankees profit directly through their ownership stake in their network (YES Network). In contrast, the Mets historically generate less team profit from television because they are bound by a rigid, below-market rights contract with their network (SNY).
SNY has historically been majority-owned by the team’s former ownership group (the Wilpon family). The Mets’ broadcast deal pays them a fixed rights fee of around $80M-$85M annually. Even when SNY generates millions in net profit, those profits largely go to SNY’s shareholders. This structure allowed the Wilpon family to extract wealth from the broadcast network while keeping Cohen at a loss.
And lastly comes the Mets’ on-field struggle.
Apart from advancing to the NLCS in 2024, the Mets lost in the Wild Card series in 2022. That’s their postseason record since 2021. This year, it’s very unlikely for the Mets to secure a playoff berth. As per Kay, all these amounts result in more than $300 million in losses annually for Cohen. That’s more than the 2026 payroll of 28 teams!
Kay is certain that Cohen is not a man to accept such losses.
Kay defined Cohen as a man who “fires traders if they have a bad month. He is a barracuda when it comes to the financial world.” However, proceedings on Wall Street are different from those on a diamond. The Mets’ owner is realising it hard. While Cohen envisioned the Mets to become the East Coast’s Dodgers, for Kay, they became “the East Coast Angels.”
In comparison to the Mets’ current 24-33 record, the Angels are standing with a 22-36 record. They are both basement dwellers in their respective divisions. Considering how the Mets’ marquee names are performing, Cohen’s loss would certainly increase after 2026.
The Mets’ ROI from their roster is worse
Juan Soto had a .288/.419/.569 slash line, with 41 HRs and 128 runs scored. The Mets splashed $765 million to fetch him out of the Yankees. Result? Last year, he batted .263, and although he scored 43 HRs, the impact was not what the Mets expected. He couldn’t offer clutch performance to take the team to the Wild Card series.
This year is no different, hitting 12 homers till now and not leading the NL’s hitting chart. Lastly, Soto’s rhythm at the plate has been repeatedly disrupted by injuries, including a right calf strain and forearm tightness, forcing him to split time between the outfield and designated hitter and spend time on the injured list.
The Mets then invested $126 million in Bo Bichette this year, betting on his .311 season last year. He is batting .225 with 5 home runs so far. Marcus Semien was signed for $72 million for three years, but he is hitting .214 with just 4 homers.
Thus, apart from the broadcast deal and a World Series dream, Steve Cohen is yet to get back his ROI in terms of on-field numbers. A classic example of a Wall Street wizard getting humbled on a baseball diamond.
